John Salt

My first real impression when I walked through the doors was “New York City”. It had a sort of East Village meets Tribeca warehouse feel. I liked the vibe as well, very down to earth but still kind of hip. It had a fresh coat of paint feeling, and although the décor was not luxurious, it seemed well thought out and minimalist. The cocktail menu is short and sweet, serving one of my all time favorites, the aperol spritz, which is still fairly rare to come across in London, and they made it totally classic which l really appreciated. They also had another Italian classic, the negroni, although I didn’t sample it. The bloody mary looked great, served with tobasco, a cheese and cracker, and celery swirl on top of the glass. I also sampled the angel’s kiss made with somerset brandy. It was very sweet and quite delicious, tangy and sour, with a sage leaf floating on top, creating a really lovely scent as you sipped. There is a two for one after work special going at the moment, although I doubt this will last, so popping by for a cocktail if you are in the neighborhood is definitely worth it.

The food is just ok with portions being quite small for some dishes and strangely massive for others. I must point out, I am a rather small person and love to taste food but cant eat too much as i get full fast, so I preferably like to eat bits off of many plates, never really in large portions. So the appetizer portions kind of suited me, and as the food is pretty heavy handed in some cases, it makes a lot of sense to serve such small portions. But my very hungry male counterpart got a little annoyed with how much was given per plate. Therefore the prices seem inexpensive, but you have to order a lot if you are very hungry. I suppose you could also just stick to a main, which is quite a large portion in comparison. For instance, we decided to try four appetizers instead of going for a main, so we could sample a few things and eat a bit light. However, after our four plates arrived, we both realized we would have to share a main as well. The other concern I must mention here is if you are seated at the downstairs in the front, it is an extreme squeeze at a communal table setting. Instead of your date snuggled next to you, as they are across a fairly wide table, you are nestled against other people straining to hear their date with puzzled expressions of “sorry” or, “you’ve just elbowed me” looks which is irritating. Our plates were huge in size for the area of dining we were allocated and they were taking up the space of the other people dining which made us feel really awkward. The tiny portions on the big plates just made them seem smaller as well. All a little confusing. The second time I went, we sat upstairs and was hugely more successful, with a lofty airy feeling about it. So make sure to book for a private table. The staff is really friendly, lots of smiles and good service, and even though I was annoyed about certain things, I really like being treated so well.

The menu changes apparently pretty regularly, and has a southern U.S. spin. The chef, Neil Rankin, is really creative and likes to experiment, which I appreciate being from New York where we have such eccentric cooking and you don’t see to much of in London. The flavors he chooses are all quite in sync and lovely, very challenging on the palette, but it does work rather well and I really admire his curious flare and sophistication. However, you must be open to this kind of cooking as it is a little all over the place. Yet it is quite harmonious, with there being only a couple of dishes that completely don’t work, with the starters being the real gems.

First we started with the sardines. The dish consisted of literally one small sardine filleted over some sweet and sour pickled shallots. Although it was a very delicious two bites, it seemed an extremely small portion. Next we tried the fried oystesr in a batter slightly heavier than tempura, and served with a bit of pork fat mayo. There were only two and quite small, but placed really cutely back into their shells on beds of salt. The mayo and the batter really gave them great texture and flare, but I think at least three would have been fair. They really should sell theses types of dishes as bar snacks or little plates to be honest, and then there would be no room to complain. We shared a very unmemorable scallop dish, also placed in the shell, and honestly it was a bit of a wallflower and completely under seasoned. The sauce went no where and was quite bland. My favorite, however, was the mullet carpaccio. It was slightly cured by its spices, and sliced perfectly thin and pared with green apple and bergamont, which was a beautiful combination. This was the real star for me and I’d love to see it featured in a larger portion as a main.

After our “tapas” (as they really were sized to that description), we ordered one more dish to fill us up, and we chose the mussels. They were large, rich, and juicy and in a beautiful creamy sauce. But again, a very small portion. There were maybe ten to fifteen mussels total in a small bowl that was mostly filled by the large shells. I actually like this kind of size and I appreciated it, but my male date still seemed hungry and rather annoyed, so much so that we talked about it throughout our dinner.

The second time I went, I tried the cod main, served with a romesco sauce and cuttlefish. The romesco was strangely bland and reminded me of canned “Chef Boy R Dee spaghetti” which I ate as a child. But what was worse was the cuttle fish, which was extremely chewy. The cod had very little seasoning, and the sauce was only a few tablespoons for a gigantic portion of cod that was actually undercooked. It was actually really quite bad. Cod has to be seasoned quite well as it is a fish that soaks up flavor and is naturally quite bland, but to serve it raw in the center on top of everything else? I was really disappointed and really confused why the starters were so tiny and my cod was so huge? My date had the Onglet steak with kimchi hollandaise. The steak was fine, very standard, but the mayonnaise was quite interesting and had a lovely kick from the spicy kimchi. The fries were perfectly fine and went quite well with the mayo. My second visit was actually really disappointing and I don’t see myself going back anytime soon, which I am sort of sad about as I really want to like John Salt. There is something kind of cool about it, but it needs some refining. Overall, it’s a great bar with hit or miss food. The mains were really standard. I think the best way to do it is order the eccentric little starters as tapas downstairs in the lounge for a snack to complement the delicious creative cocktails on a two for one night.