The last time I ate at Salt Line it was at their Navy Yard location in the District. I had gone with a few friends before the great Pandemic hit us. The Salt Line in the District is on the water and was very pleasant to pass the evening, those were the good days. When I heard they were going to open a new Salt Line in the Ballston area of Arlington, Virginia I was pretty excited. I remembered they had pretty good eats at their Navy Yard location and was ready to visit when they opened the Ballston unit. I was going to eat with a friend, and I arrived early. Not wanting to take up space without ordering I started with a cup of the clam chowder. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a camera at the time, I lost it in the back of an Uber which is a different story. With no camera I couldn’t take a picture of the chowder, but I can report that it was rather tasty. Not thick, like a New England chowder, but with a thin broth and plenty of clams and diced potato in the chowder. Overall, a good start to the meal and kept me busy as I waited for my friend to arrive.
After ordering the chowder and consuming it, my friend had still not arrived, so I went ahead and placed an order for the shrimp cocktail. After placing the order, the other party arrived, and we were able to get a picture of the shrimp cocktail before eating it.
Full disclosure here, I go bananas for shrimp cocktail and will order it almost anytime it is on a menu. I’ve learned over the years what type of restaurants to order shrimp cocktail from, and I knew Salt Line would be a good place. It came with three large shrimp and a cocktail sauce the way I like it, a little extra punch from horseradish. I have no complaints about the shrimp, they were cooked perfectly and three was just right considering the size of the shrimp. With a little squeeze of lemon and the pungency of the horseradish in the cocktail, I was in nirvana. I like a good cocktail sauce, and this Salt Line has an above par cocktail sauce. What can I say, it’s the little things in life that excite me.
We settled on the Pimento Cheese Crab Dip as an appetizer which was accompanied by what I believe to be spiced rice crackers. The dip was made up of lump crab meat, Tillamook cheddar, green tabasco, and topped with scallions. How can you go wrong with those ingredients? Well, you can because I’ve had a dip made with those same ingredients and it was bad, I mean really bad. Lucky for us Salt Line made a fine dip, and I really liked the crispy crackers it was served with. The crackers were a great texture enhancer and with just a touch of Old Bay seasoning on them, just added more flavor to the dip. It was a nice interlude before the main course came out.
For the main part of the meal I settled on the scallop role which came with fresh cut fries. The scallop roll was served on a top loaded buttered bun with just tartar sauce on the side. I like tartar sauce, but you never know what you are going to get. I’ve had some pretty bad tartar sauce, and I wasn’t going to take any chances. Put it on the side, and if I like it, I’ll use it. The scallops were plump, sweet, and delicious. They were lightly breaded then fried, and happy to say not over cooked. Stuffed in a beautifully toasted buttered bun, I could eat that all day long.
My friend had the famous Salt Line cheeseburger the first time we went to Salt Line in Navy Yard, and he demanded a return performance. The below paragraph is in his own words as I don’t want to take away from his sentiment about the cheeseburger.
“Seafood restaurants aren’t typically the place you expect to get a good burger. Truth be told, I’ve never ordered a burger at a seafood restaurant. But a friend of mine whose brother is a chef and is a bit of a snob when it comes to burgers said that Salt Line had the best burger in the DC area. I was skeptical but eager to try it. It comes with two patties, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, and mayonnaise on a potato bun. It’s simply prepared but so good. It’s juicy and while I am a sucker for bacon and a whole host of other toppings, there’s nothing better than a good burger that doesn’t hide behind a smokescreen of add-ons. If you have a friend who hates seafood, Salt Line’s burger gives your friend a solid, satisfying meal. And if you’re just craving a good burger and fries, there’s no shame in going with Salt Line’s burger. It’s a hidden gem to say the least.”
We now come to the end of the meal where I chose the Almond and Rhubarb Parfait. The components of this desert were almond cake, amaretto crème, rhubarb compote, almond and coconut granola. While I liked most of the components in this creation, there were some things I would have changed. First for the positives. I really enjoyed the almond cake as it was light, not dry, and had great almond flavor to it. I have the same sentiment about the amaretto crème. Amaretto and almond make a great combination and you can’t go wrong with those two. I also enjoyed the rhubarb compote; it was tart and tangy with all the bitterness taken out through the cooking process. I only got the flavor of the rhubarb toward the end and wish I had gotten it through out, from top to bottom. The one component I did not enjoy was the granola. I thought there was way too much of it and a little of restraint may have helped in its preparation. I also wonder if a few crumbled ginger snaps would have been more effective than granola. I think the flavor profile of almond, amaretto, rhubarb, and ginger would have been intriguing.
I definitely give Salt Line a recommend and look forward to returning. One item I wanted to get, but felt I could not eat it, was their famous “Over the Top” Shake. The flavor changes frequently, and at the time we were there it was Cookies and Cream. Just listen to this list of ingredients: Vanilla ice cream, coffee syrup, cream cheese butter cream, chocolate espresso streusel, marble pound cake, and toasted marshmallow. I wish I had a picture of the shake to post. This shake is offered at both the Ballston and the Navy Yard location. We’ll be seeing you Salt line.
| Website: | Salt Line |
| Address: | 4040 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA 22203 |
| Phone: | (703)566-2075 |
| Visited: | June 16, 2022 |
Salt Line
Home of great seafood, famous smashburger, and Over The Top shake.
