Salt's Cure: Overrated and Overpriced -- Needs to Use Less of Its Namesake

Salt's Cure is one of those places I had always driven by and been meaning to check out. I finally did and I must say, I was disappointed. Amazingly, I'm somehow willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, saying it must be more of a breakfast or brunch place. After all, I've seen the long lines forming on weekends (although that doesn't necessarily mean it's good -- think Blue Jam Cafe).

Sadly, I wasn't impressed with any of the food except the burger. It wasn't the best one I've ever had, but it was the most interesting and tastiest thing we had. The burger patty was good -- the meat was fresh and I could tell freshly ground -- but there were some fatty parts that I could have done without (you know, when you chew on it and it's so fatty you can't so you have to somehow get it out of your mouth). The cured ham on top of the patty was ok but I don't think it added a whole lot of value in terms of flavor and texture. The house-made poppyseed bun was an interesting touch but ultimately too dense for its own good. The fries looked promising but were a bit greasy and soggy -- just not as crispy as they could be.

We got the potted pork that message boards raved about but it was clearly overrated as it had an unpleasant porky smell and tasted like smelly tuna salad with too much mayo in it. It had the same texture but what was particularly egregious was that it was far too salty. The accompanying (also house-baked) bread was toasted and hard (but not warm) like biscuits. The also house-made pickles were ok but nothing special.

I was excited to try the house-made (ok, they pretty much make everything in-house) carpaccio -- called raw dry aged beef on the menu -- with leeks, parsley and drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Downer: the carpaccio was too salty on top of not being sliced razor thin as they should be and the texture was too chewy, like it hadn't been cured for long enough. It tasted like fake carpaccio. I've had far better carpaccio at other fine dining establishments.

Don't even get me started on the salad. It sounded promising enough: avocado, grapefruit and red onion salad with greens. I'm guessing the place grows the greens too? Well, for a $12 starter salad, I expect it to look a bit more sophisticated looking than this mush of overdressed greens with other ingredients thrown in. If the ghastly-looking thing tasted half-way decent, I wouldn't mind at all. But the lettuce was literally drowning in an overpowering citrusy dressing and as if to stay consistent with the rest of the meal, was also too salty. The dressing was so overpowering that I could barely taste the grapefruit, red onion or avocado. Not good.

I was pinning my hopes on the dessert but alas, it was too sweet. It was raisin bread pudding with caramel. I'm a bread pudding lover but a picky one so didn't find the texture to be substantial enough. It was a bit too mushy. I know caramel is supposed to be sweet but not this sweet! So I only had a bite or two.

Maybe I'll return for brunch but why go here when I could go to the solid Square One?