3/23/08 Sea Salt ,Berkeley Report- Still Wonderful Unusual Seafood Dishes

[opinionatedchef]

Easter Sunday Brunch. Friendly relaxed staff; no worries. Bright colorful attractive room. On our second annual visit, the clam chowder was still perfect. Complex yet clean thyme flavored thin milky base with lovely clams ,potatoes etc.

Still one of best sandwiches of my life- the crusty warm roll filled with BBQ Eel (Unagi) , with mild slaw and a requested addition of guac.

D loved his poached eggs w/ hash over sweet sauteed trout.

Lots of positive vibes and consistently delicious food.

[jason carey]

Frankly all this "thyme flavored" Clam chowder out her is extremely depressing. I have not tried the Sea Salt version yet, but I find that every single version on the west coast Is bland and tastes like nothing but dry thyme and has very little perceptible clam flavor or texture (or clams for that matter). The chefs out here need to go back to the east coast for a primer on what New England Clam Chowder is supposed to taste like..
and even back there, standards are pretty low these days...

[Morton the Mousse]

Have you tried the chowder at Bar Crudo?

[marty S.]

I'm from the East (New England) and I find the Chowder at Sea Salt very good. It is different from what I ate in New England but still exceptional on its own. Lots of Clam flavor and texture - and bacon. The difference I notice is mainly in the thinness of the broth which I don't mind at all.

[opinionatedchef]

jason, i'm a bostonian and i love the clam chowder at sea salt and hog island oyster co in the ferry bldg. forget over-thymed. you will have a lovely experience w these 2 chowders.

[rworange]

Ditto about being from New England and liking the chowder at Sea Salt quite a lot though it isn't classic. Now that bowl of clams that Fog CIty serves ... well, call it what it is ... steamed clams ... my never ending rant.

I'm going to have to try the clam chowder again at one of the Lobster Shacks to see if they finally worked things out.

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Sea Salt
2512 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94702

[opinionatedchef]

RW-did you mean Fog city diner- or Hog Island whose clam chowder you dissed before?

[rworange]

Yeah, I saw that too late to edit ... don't know what I was thinking at the time ... I meant Hog Island. I must have been reading something else in another link when writing that.

[Robert Lauriston]

Hog Island's "clam chowder" is basically oyster stew with clams instead of oysters, a dish for cream lovers.

[rworange]

Never had oyster stew with the shells still attached either.

[Robert Lauriston]

Sea Salt's chowder tastes of bacon, clams, and cream. My wife is from Massachusetts and finds it next to impossible not to order it every time we go there.