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This is my go-to place for out of town visitors. I love that they change their menu often so you don't have to get the same cheeses and meats every time you go. There is always something new to discover and a great selection is available. Definitely recommend the flights and wine flights as well. Also share a salad or appetizer and you have your perfect meal! Loved their arugula salad with goat cheese so hoping that comes back to menu for a return visit some time. You might end up spending A LOT OF TIME deciding on your plate. You need to choose 3 cheese & meat combos and 3 condiments. We usually google the name of the cheeses and meats to get an idea what they would look like as there are many from around the world. You can pick your own wine flights or leave it to them to pair up your selection of cheeses and meats. I recommend the mostarda as a condiment highly, it complements well to most of the cheeses. Al The environment is very rustic and dimly lit. Also service is great here. Not sure if I was lucky but we were always given a dessert or an extra appetizer on the house which really shows care and appreciation. Last time I was there our wine flight got mixed up so we were given another complete set for free. I would go back just because I know they appreciate their customers.
as a and i were planning the rest of our foodie trip, salt tasting room was selected as a has never been. we both loved open outcry, sister restaurant to this, and i've actually been with my besties before. plus they have an employee pricing discount going on rn so why not. resos were made for 5:15pm but...we got there a LITTLE early (ok 15mins early - we were eager ok). seán, the owner, was there to greet us and basically called my name once i told him i was early lol. very cute and personal! we were seated, again, safety precaution galore. def felt safe! since i've alr been, seán didn't rly need to explain too much. there is an employee pricing discount (until june 30!) that tasting plates are $8 with a wine flight. or a free tapas if you order a drink. obvsly, we went the wine flight route (because we like alcohol LOL). we actually did 3 tasting plates and flights - sharing the last one. the waitress was great with explaining the meats and cheeses on the board. the wine pairings were great and they will accommodate to your preferences - i.e. you can have reds, whites, rose, mixed or have them match to whatever you picked for your plate. for those that are confused or overwhelmed, there are plates that they alr predetermined on another board that you can pick. you can also get the menu on your phone with the QR code that they give you on a slip of paper. at the end, when seán was helping us with the bill, we got a little confused. splitting the bill was the easiest way but i blame the alcohol. i asked abt whether open outcry was going to be opening on the weekends, and seán stated that it'll just be lunch for now. he was so proud to let us know that he opened that restaurant too! we also asked abt the guinness mustard that is THE BEST - seán did say that they will have jars of it for purchase so we'll def be keeping an eye out for that. the open outcry corned beef, another fav of ours, will be coming to salt soon so....guess we'll be going back to salt sometime soon!
I want to start this review by saying every time I walk into this place I want to smash all the ceramic piggy banks. I imagine this event to have Mario Bros theme music and coins will be flying everywhere. But being banned from having terrific cured meats, yummy cheeses and to-die-for wines has deterred me in doing so thus far. There's a lot to be said for a simple under renovated chic hideaway so I'll break it down: Why: STR supports local Every experience is unique, you can't get bored Good for people who aren't fussy and just want a good experience Easiest thing to do is the chef's tasting 3-3-3, three flights of wine, cheese/meats, condiments. What's so special about this? Well besides all of these being delicious, you'd never think some of this stuff would pair well. Some, you wouldn't think was even edible! It'll run you $16 and then you'll be like omg i want more! And I can afford it! Even with all this HST and stuff! (haha here's me making fun of BC taxes) The lower level is another experience. Concrete walls, bare floors. Glass enclosure of the biggest treasure of wines ever. It's dark, but a whole heck of a lot quieter for intimate conversations and not as tight spaced as upstairs. Huge communal dining hall bench table for a party looked really neat too. STR keeps it simple and does it well. And open late. My go-to spot everytime I'm in town and 4/4 so far.
The staff here are amazing! They're super knowledgeable when it comes to pairing wine as well as go through all the different tapas/cheeses/meats. I usually let them know what I am feeling and am never disappointed when they bring it all out. A great place to catch up and try different things.
This place was the highlight of my trip. I decided to go with Truffle salami, Romani salami, and Brie. As for my condiments and wine..I decided to put it in the hands of my server. And he did not disappoint! Everything was delicious! My most favorite was the truffle salami and "A Sunday in August". Our server is so attentive and generous. Always making sure that we were having a fabulous time and refilling our drinks and bread! This place will be a must have for every time I go to Canada!
I absolutely love the concept of this. You get the chance to try a bunch of cheese and meats that you will never really get the chance to otherwise along with wines or non alcoholic drinks as well for a fair price. As someone that doesn't know much about what pairs well with certain wines or condiments they have premade flights and they also allow you to choose your meats/cheese and leave the condiments up to them. They're super knowledgeable and are great at giving suggestions while keeping your dietary concerns (I have a nut allergy) and preferences in mind. I would definitely come back next time I'm in Vancouver to try some more things out Only thing to note is they're located in some sketchy looking alley so either don't come super late at night, come with friends or approach from the illuminated end of the alley and not the darken side
So much fun!! I absolutely adore wine, and if you have friends that aren't too fond of it, I'd bring them here in hopes to change their mind. I really love how knowledgeable the staff is, especially when it comes to pairings and individuals. My sister and I had almost felt as if they had guessed our palates based off our personality or demeanour. Although we had picked fairly similar meats/cheeses, the waiter chose wines that surprisingly blew us away, individually! She of course preferred her flight over mine, as I did mine over hers - but we still tried each other's to compare. It's great how our waiter was a little daring with his pairings and goes beyond what you usually prefer, as it really broadens your taste to types of wine that you're originally not very fond of. It's a great place to compare each other's palates and give each other a myriad of combinations to try with each flight of wine. Will definitely be back!
Such a fun, novel time here. I was excited to try this out as I love meat & cheese platters, and I've never been to a tasting room before. But FYI, this is in Blood Alley, so it's a little hard to spot from the street - you gotta go walk into the alley until you see an upside down salt shaker sign on the glass door. I'm not educated on wine & cheeses, and I won't pretend that I am. But that's exactly what the staff is here for - to impart their knowledge to you & to ensure you have a great time. After all, tasting rooms are for you to taste new things. I loved how accommodating they were in picking out our tasting boards for us. They were patient & eager to work with us on our preferences, and bam, we had our tasting boards & wine flights ready. Our boards & flights were accompanied with papers of the names of the food/wine so we'd know exactly what we were eating as we were eating it. The cheese, the meats & the side pairings were so delightful. They choose high quality cheese and meats. They also came with baskets of different kinds of breads, crackers and rice crackers. I love how tasting rooms are to introduce you to new foods. Everything on my board was something I've never tried, but familiar enough for me to enjoy. The wine pairing just enhanced the experience even more. My first time going to a tasting room & I had a great time. The manager kept making sure everything was okay so that we'd get the best experience. Also learned about some new foods that I will definitely go on a hunt for now, so shoutout to tasting rooms.
This place was really great. We had some time to kill before going to dinner, so my friend and I ordered a wine flight and three cheeses. We had some sort of blue, a goat, and something like a cheddar. I can't remember the names. We also ordered caramelized onions, honeycomb, and some sort of meat as well. Our server was super knowledgeable and she helped us pick out our wines and the pairings. The place was pretty quiet when we got there, but we had a nice time. I was definitely impressed by our server's knowledge. We found the pairings delicious.
The Salt Tasting Room's concept of create your own Charcuterie and build your own wine flights is FABULOUS! If you are my friend, follower, or happen to have read some of my reviews, then you know I am a wine girl! Wine bars are like candy bars for me and I absolutely love wine flights!! Salt Tasting Room offers fresh and unique, small-batch cured meats and artisan cheeses with tasty condiments, so you can design your very own Charcuterie Plate. The ingredients for your Charcuterie are listed on a big chalkboard on the wall. Pick what interests you, both wine and food, and have them paired for the ultimate tastebud experience. Alternatively, have Salt choose and pair the wines and the Charcuterie for you! High quality food, but unfortunately small portions. A wine flight will run you $15 for a total of 6 ounces (bit steep), and a cheese or meat, or mixed board will run you $16. They do offer a three course meal with a tapa of your choice, board of your choice and a dessert for $29, but there is no vino included with that! This place is a little overpriced, which seems to be the general consensus with yelp reviews, but it's an enjoyable and unique experience. It would be nice if they could provide larger portions for these prices, or at least do a happy hour for a discount on those wine flights. I would suggest eating somewhere else before, or at home, because it's not dinner and it likely won't fill you up. As for service, we had a large group of about 15 people for our "Yelp Sipper Club" and the service overall was a bit slow. I did find the server helpful and knowledgeable with the menu, but I hate waiting in anticipation for drinks or the need to use flailing limbs to get our servers attention. I was also annoyed that my first choice Red was sold out at 7pm on a Tuesday. Maybe it's wine snobbery, but I feel that shouldn't happen at a specialty wine bar, or at least there should be a replacement wine of a similar style readily available.
This is such a fun place to go with a group of friends! I love that you get to customize your own charcuterie plate, and they have such a huge selection of meats/cheese/condiments that they rotate through. Honestly, you could have a totally different experience every time you come here, the combinations are endless. It can be a bit daunting because of all the choices, but they also have pre-made combinations if you just want to keep things simple. I came here with a pretty large group of 10+ people and our waitress was fantastic! She was super patient with all of us, and took time to provide suggestions and answer all of our individual questions. Their wine flights are also an awesome way to try different wines! I gave the waitress some general guidelines about my preferences for whites and reds, and she was able to give me some SOLID recommendations which I really really enjoyed. The charcuterie board is really meant to be more of a snack thing, so don't expect to be filled up completely by it. You can definitely order other food and make it a meal here. Overall, for a board + a flight of three 2 oz. pours of wine, it was around $30+, which isn't exactly cheap. But I think Salt Tasting Room is mostly meant to be a fun experience, and I really enjoyed my time here overall! Looking forward to coming back to learn about/try more cheeses/meats/wine!
Amazing! Wonderful! And hidden from the rest! This place is elegant, fancy, and very friendly with an amazing staff, large selection of beer and wine! Amazing cheeses and condiments!
The case of the pickled pubic hair! Salt came highly recommended - both from friends in Calgary and locals in Vancouver. We are big wine and charcuterie fans, so we were looking forward to a date night during a recent trip to Vancouver. Our first (and last) experience at Salt was beyond disappointing. When we arrived, the restaurant was not overly packed. We asked to move to a table with proper seats rather than benches which was accommodated. We each ordered the chef's tasting menus - I got cheese and my boyfriend got meat, thinking we could share our plates. Our salad came out - slower than what I would have thought for salad. It was 8:30pm at this point, so we were hungry! After finishing our salads, our wine pairings came out. We expected our meats and cheeses to come out soon after, so we left our wine to enjoy with our food. So we waited, and waited, and waited. About 20 minutes went by and still no food. Keep in mind that none of the food is actually cooked! Finally the server brought us corned beef compliments of the chef with apologies for the wait. And we waited some more for our food. Finally our food came after our wine glasses were covered in condensation and were warm. We dug into our food...until my boyfriend threw down his cutlery and said "That's it, we're leaving!" I asked him what was wrong, and he pointed to a curly black hair (photo attached) in his pickles. GROSS! We called the waitress over, and explained our disappointment with the meal, service, and now finding a pickled pubic hair in our food. She was not apologetic at all, and did not offer to rectify the situation. She said she did her best, they were short-staffed and this wasn't her fault. So we said, that's fine but we're leaving and not paying for this horrible meal. So we got up and went to Tacofino...where we gorged ourselves with tacos and had an amazing meal! Do yourselves a favour and skip this place - go down the alley for tacos. You'll be much happier and have some more $$$ in your wallet!
3 years ago
Interesting little hole in the wall. Who would've thought there'd be a trendy tapas place like this in the middle of a piss-soaked (literally) alley. Only real marker is a flag depicting a salt shaker in front. To get here, one has to walk past some rather sketchy looking people. Be sure to avoid the puddles, and try not to get mugged on the way in or out. Parking is availalble on the side streets. Try not to get broken into. The layout is quite long and narrow. The decor is classy hipster, with the wood panels up top, and vintage brick walls on the side. Staff are friendly and professional. Food consists mostly of appetizer plates. The typical cheese and crackers type deal, with other things such as olives or dates. Though I didn't try it, the 3 course meal looks really some appie plates with soup/salad as the first course. Great for munching on while making friends. I also tried the wine flight. Not bad for seeing what's out there. The stuff I drank went well with the stuff I ate, though that's not saying much as I don't really know my wines. Neat little place to check out for sure. read more
This is my go-to place for out of town visitors. I love that they change their menu often so you don't have to get the same cheeses and meats every time you go. There is always something new to discover and a great selection is available. Definitely recommend the flights and wine flights as well. Also share a salad or appetizer and you have your perfect meal! Loved their arugula salad with goat cheese so hoping that comes back to menu for a return visit some time. You might end up spending A LOT OF TIME deciding on your plate. You need to choose 3 cheese & meat combos and 3 condiments. We usually google the name of the cheeses and meats to get an idea what they would look like as there are many from around the world. You can pick your own wine flights or leave it to them to pair up your selection of cheeses and meats. I recommend the mostarda as a condiment highly, it complements well to most of the cheeses. Al The environment is very rustic and dimly lit. Also service is great here. Not sure if I was lucky but we were always given a dessert or an extra appetizer on the house which really shows care and appreciation. Last time I was there our wine flight got mixed up so we were given another complete set for free. I would go back just because I know they appreciate their customers. read more
as a and i were planning the rest of our foodie trip, salt tasting room was selected as a has never been. we both loved open outcry, sister restaurant to this, and i've actually been with my besties before. plus they have an employee pricing discount going on rn so why not. resos were made for 5:15pm but...we got there a LITTLE early (ok 15mins early - we were eager ok). seán, the owner, was there to greet us and basically called my name once i told him i was early lol. very cute and personal! we were seated, again, safety precaution galore. def felt safe! since i've alr been, seán didn't rly need to explain too much. there is an employee pricing discount (until june 30!) that tasting plates are $8 with a wine flight. or a free tapas if you order a drink. obvsly, we went the wine flight route (because we like alcohol LOL). we actually did 3 tasting plates and flights - sharing the last one. the waitress was great with explaining the meats and cheeses on the board. the wine pairings were great and they will accommodate to your preferences - i.e. you can have reds, whites, rose, mixed or have them match to whatever you picked for your plate. for those that are confused or overwhelmed, there are plates that they alr predetermined on another board that you can pick. you can also get the menu on your phone with the QR code that they give you on a slip of paper. at the end, when seán was helping us with the bill, we got a little confused. splitting the bill was the easiest way but i blame the alcohol. i asked abt whether open outcry was going to be opening on the weekends, and seán stated that it'll just be lunch for now. he was so proud to let us know that he opened that restaurant too! we also asked abt the guinness mustard that is THE BEST - seán did say that they will have jars of it for purchase so we'll def be keeping an eye out for that. the open outcry corned beef, another fav of ours, will be coming to salt soon so....guess we'll be going back to salt sometime soon! read more
I want to start this review by saying every time I walk into this place I want to smash all the ceramic piggy banks. I imagine this event to have Mario Bros theme music and coins will be flying everywhere. But being banned from having terrific cured meats, yummy cheeses and to-die-for wines has deterred me in doing so thus far. There's a lot to be said for a simple under renovated chic hideaway so I'll break it down: Why: STR supports local Every experience is unique, you can't get bored Good for people who aren't fussy and just want a good experience Easiest thing to do is the chef's tasting 3-3-3, three flights of wine, cheese/meats, condiments. What's so special about this? Well besides all of these being delicious, you'd never think some of this stuff would pair well. Some, you wouldn't think was even edible! It'll run you $16 and then you'll be like omg i want more! And I can afford it! Even with all this HST and stuff! (haha here's me making fun of BC taxes) The lower level is another experience. Concrete walls, bare floors. Glass enclosure of the biggest treasure of wines ever. It's dark, but a whole heck of a lot quieter for intimate conversations and not as tight spaced as upstairs. Huge communal dining hall bench table for a party looked really neat too. STR keeps it simple and does it well. And open late. My go-to spot everytime I'm in town and 4/4 so far. read more
6 years ago
The staff here are amazing! They're super knowledgeable when it comes to pairing wine as well as go through all the different tapas/cheeses/meats. I usually let them know what I am feeling and am never disappointed when they bring it all out. A great place to catch up and try different things. read more
8 years ago
This place was the highlight of my trip. I decided to go with Truffle salami, Romani salami, and Brie. As for my condiments and wine..I decided to put it in the hands of my server. And he did not disappoint! Everything was delicious! My most favorite was the truffle salami and "A Sunday in August". Our server is so attentive and generous. Always making sure that we were having a fabulous time and refilling our drinks and bread! This place will be a must have for every time I go to Canada! read more
8 years ago
I absolutely love the concept of this. You get the chance to try a bunch of cheese and meats that you will never really get the chance to otherwise along with wines or non alcoholic drinks as well for a fair price. As someone that doesn't know much about what pairs well with certain wines or condiments they have premade flights and they also allow you to choose your meats/cheese and leave the condiments up to them. They're super knowledgeable and are great at giving suggestions while keeping your dietary concerns (I have a nut allergy) and preferences in mind. I would definitely come back next time I'm in Vancouver to try some more things out Only thing to note is they're located in some sketchy looking alley so either don't come super late at night, come with friends or approach from the illuminated end of the alley and not the darken side read more
So much fun!! I absolutely adore wine, and if you have friends that aren't too fond of it, I'd bring them here in hopes to change their mind. I really love how knowledgeable the staff is, especially when it comes to pairings and individuals. My sister and I had almost felt as if they had guessed our palates based off our personality or demeanour. Although we had picked fairly similar meats/cheeses, the waiter chose wines that surprisingly blew us away, individually! She of course preferred her flight over mine, as I did mine over hers - but we still tried each other's to compare. It's great how our waiter was a little daring with his pairings and goes beyond what you usually prefer, as it really broadens your taste to types of wine that you're originally not very fond of. It's a great place to compare each other's palates and give each other a myriad of combinations to try with each flight of wine. Will definitely be back! read more
Such a fun, novel time here. I was excited to try this out as I love meat & cheese platters, and I've never been to a tasting room before. But FYI, this is in Blood Alley, so it's a little hard to spot from the street - you gotta go walk into the alley until you see an upside down salt shaker sign on the glass door. I'm not educated on wine & cheeses, and I won't pretend that I am. But that's exactly what the staff is here for - to impart their knowledge to you & to ensure you have a great time. After all, tasting rooms are for you to taste new things. I loved how accommodating they were in picking out our tasting boards for us. They were patient & eager to work with us on our preferences, and bam, we had our tasting boards & wine flights ready. Our boards & flights were accompanied with papers of the names of the food/wine so we'd know exactly what we were eating as we were eating it. The cheese, the meats & the side pairings were so delightful. They choose high quality cheese and meats. They also came with baskets of different kinds of breads, crackers and rice crackers. I love how tasting rooms are to introduce you to new foods. Everything on my board was something I've never tried, but familiar enough for me to enjoy. The wine pairing just enhanced the experience even more. My first time going to a tasting room & I had a great time. The manager kept making sure everything was okay so that we'd get the best experience. Also learned about some new foods that I will definitely go on a hunt for now, so shoutout to tasting rooms. read more
13 years ago
This place was really great. We had some time to kill before going to dinner, so my friend and I ordered a wine flight and three cheeses. We had some sort of blue, a goat, and something like a cheddar. I can't remember the names. We also ordered caramelized onions, honeycomb, and some sort of meat as well. Our server was super knowledgeable and she helped us pick out our wines and the pairings. The place was pretty quiet when we got there, but we had a nice time. I was definitely impressed by our server's knowledge. We found the pairings delicious. read more
6 years ago
8 years ago
The Salt Tasting Room's concept of create your own Charcuterie and build your own wine flights is FABULOUS! If you are my friend, follower, or happen to have read some of my reviews, then you know I am a wine girl! Wine bars are like candy bars for me and I absolutely love wine flights!! Salt Tasting Room offers fresh and unique, small-batch cured meats and artisan cheeses with tasty condiments, so you can design your very own Charcuterie Plate. The ingredients for your Charcuterie are listed on a big chalkboard on the wall. Pick what interests you, both wine and food, and have them paired for the ultimate tastebud experience. Alternatively, have Salt choose and pair the wines and the Charcuterie for you! High quality food, but unfortunately small portions. A wine flight will run you $15 for a total of 6 ounces (bit steep), and a cheese or meat, or mixed board will run you $16. They do offer a three course meal with a tapa of your choice, board of your choice and a dessert for $29, but there is no vino included with that! This place is a little overpriced, which seems to be the general consensus with yelp reviews, but it's an enjoyable and unique experience. It would be nice if they could provide larger portions for these prices, or at least do a happy hour for a discount on those wine flights. I would suggest eating somewhere else before, or at home, because it's not dinner and it likely won't fill you up. As for service, we had a large group of about 15 people for our "Yelp Sipper Club" and the service overall was a bit slow. I did find the server helpful and knowledgeable with the menu, but I hate waiting in anticipation for drinks or the need to use flailing limbs to get our servers attention. I was also annoyed that my first choice Red was sold out at 7pm on a Tuesday. Maybe it's wine snobbery, but I feel that shouldn't happen at a specialty wine bar, or at least there should be a replacement wine of a similar style readily available. read more
10 years ago
This is such a fun place to go with a group of friends! I love that you get to customize your own charcuterie plate, and they have such a huge selection of meats/cheese/condiments that they rotate through. Honestly, you could have a totally different experience every time you come here, the combinations are endless. It can be a bit daunting because of all the choices, but they also have pre-made combinations if you just want to keep things simple. I came here with a pretty large group of 10+ people and our waitress was fantastic! She was super patient with all of us, and took time to provide suggestions and answer all of our individual questions. Their wine flights are also an awesome way to try different wines! I gave the waitress some general guidelines about my preferences for whites and reds, and she was able to give me some SOLID recommendations which I really really enjoyed. The charcuterie board is really meant to be more of a snack thing, so don't expect to be filled up completely by it. You can definitely order other food and make it a meal here. Overall, for a board + a flight of three 2 oz. pours of wine, it was around $30+, which isn't exactly cheap. But I think Salt Tasting Room is mostly meant to be a fun experience, and I really enjoyed my time here overall! Looking forward to coming back to learn about/try more cheeses/meats/wine! read more
The case of the pickled pubic hair! Salt came highly recommended - both from friends in Calgary and locals in Vancouver. We are big wine and charcuterie fans, so we were looking forward to a date night during a recent trip to Vancouver. Our first (and last) experience at Salt was beyond disappointing. When we arrived, the restaurant was not overly packed. We asked to move to a table with proper seats rather than benches which was accommodated. We each ordered the chef's tasting menus - I got cheese and my boyfriend got meat, thinking we could share our plates. Our salad came out - slower than what I would have thought for salad. It was 8:30pm at this point, so we were hungry! After finishing our salads, our wine pairings came out. We expected our meats and cheeses to come out soon after, so we left our wine to enjoy with our food. So we waited, and waited, and waited. About 20 minutes went by and still no food. Keep in mind that none of the food is actually cooked! Finally the server brought us corned beef compliments of the chef with apologies for the wait. And we waited some more for our food. Finally our food came after our wine glasses were covered in condensation and were warm. We dug into our food...until my boyfriend threw down his cutlery and said "That's it, we're leaving!" I asked him what was wrong, and he pointed to a curly black hair (photo attached) in his pickles. GROSS! We called the waitress over, and explained our disappointment with the meal, service, and now finding a pickled pubic hair in our food. She was not apologetic at all, and did not offer to rectify the situation. She said she did her best, they were short-staffed and this wasn't her fault. So we said, that's fine but we're leaving and not paying for this horrible meal. So we got up and went to Tacofino...where we gorged ourselves with tacos and had an amazing meal! Do yourselves a favour and skip this place - go down the alley for tacos. You'll be much happier and have some more $$$ in your wallet! read more
"Are you sure it's down here?" I peered into the dark alley wondering if we'd made a wrong turn. It just looked like an alley. A very dark and scary looking one. And it was raining. So it just looked like a wet, dark, and scary looking alley. It didn't seem likely that such a lauded restaurant would be down in there. But apparently it was so we walked past a few dumpsters and entered the restaurant tucked away into a brick wall. We had made lunch reservations just in case but it was late and the restaurant was pretty quiet. Once we sat down, we looked to one of the walls which was essentially a large chalkboard with all the offerings on the menu. The way to go is to build your own plate with cheese, cured meat, and condiments. We looked over the choices and decided on the fennel salad and a 'Best of BC' plate which is composed of items that are made locally (You can add on a wine flight for an additional $15). The plate consisted of Corned Beef from J. Beethoven's in Cultus Lake BC, a Piccantino from the Oyama Sausage Company in nearby Granville, and an Ash Camembert from Salt Spring Island. Our condiments were a Guinness Mustard, Piccalilli Relish, Apricot Chutney, and an add-on of Cornichons. The Fennel Salad was crunchy with just a hint of lemon juice and strips of celery. Topped with shavings of French Comté cheese which provided a salty and savory contrast, the salad was a nice starter. The Corned Beef on our 'Best of BC' plate was tender with good flavors from pickling spices and perfect with a dab of the tangy Guiness Mustard. The Piccantino (a salami style cured meat) was a little spicy and paired beautifully with the Piccalilli relish which was mouth puckering but very fresh with a warm hint of curry. The Camembert was rich but a little metallic with mineral notes from the ash and the apricot chutney that came with it tasted so much of the fruit it was made of, you could almost feel the fur of the apricot skin on your tongue. I was glad we ordered the Cornichons as they provided some extra sour and crunch to go along with the meats and cheese. The wine flight we ordered along with our meal was composed of three wines- a ROAD 13 Old Vines Chenin Blanc 08 (white), a Pentâge Gamay Rosé (pink), and the OROFINO"Beleza" 07 (red) all from local and nearby wineries in the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys. The wines were all very unique and lovely in their own way and worked well with the particular foods we had. I also ordered a sparkling tea for myself which on the menu is described as White Jasmine Tea (0.5% alcohol) but it wasn't very memorable. If I had to choose again I'd probably go for my own wine flight or just a glass of the Pentâge Gamay Rosé (a Salt Tasting Room exclusive in Vancouver) which I liked the most from the three wines we had. The service was great- not too intrusive but very helpful when we asked for suggestions. They were extremely informative about their wine list which is always a plus especially since we weren't too familiar with their local regions. Salt Tasting Room is an excellent choice for a light meal and the vibe is very cool and laid back at the same time. I would definitely come back if I happened to be in the city again. Photos and more can be seen here on my favorite blog- http://www.alamodejournals.com/index.php/2010/02/olympic-contender/ read more
8 years ago
8 years ago
What a cool experience! It was my birthday and my friends and I decided to do something different and try out this charcuterie tasting place. Our waiter was very knowledgeable and suggested a lot of drinks he thought we would like. I tried something different which paid off, it was something I probably wouldn't have picked myself but it was really good. I believe it was called a orange peel wine? Definitely very strong but I enjoyed trying something I wouldn't normally. I will say I didn't enjoy ALL the cheeses picked for me, some were a little gross, but others we loved especially with the condiments they were paired with. It was a really fun experience to have with my friends, highly recommend this to anyone who is adventurous and likes to try new things! read more
It could well have been a one line review: This was a really unique experience. Now, getting into more details. This place is slightly difficult to find, you have to take an alley(Trounce Alley) that goes past the Clough Club and Barber and Co. We had already booked a table for 12 on a Friday night. As we got ourselves seated around a huge table in a hipster place, we were offered the menu cards. We were a bunch of grad students, unaware of the intricacies of fine wining and dining downtown Vancouver might offer, and frankly speaking we were intimidated by the range of wines, cheeses and meats on offer. The person serving on our table came up to us and explained us how a typical tasting platter worked. We could choose three meats+cheese, and three condiments for $16. We could then choose 3 wines to go with the three combinations we had made for an additional $15. Well, the first part was not that difficult, we were shown the wallpaper where the cheese+meat choices were jotted down, and we made our choices known. We had limited knowledge about which wine would go with which combinations, and we asked the waiter to choose the wines that would go best with our choices. The person serving our table was nice, patient and cordial. The meat, cheese, wine, heck everything was good. I have been to many food places, and my reviews are generally just me being specific about what I liked in the menu, or what put me off. This review is different, because this place is not just about the variety and quality of the cheese or meat or wine on offer, it is about the whole experience. I should add that this is perfect place for a date night. Highly recommended! read more
8 years ago
11 years ago
My favourite little spot for wine and cheese pairing! This place is always busy any day of the week. I can understand why because they've got a great selection of wine, cheese, meat, and jam to pair. The staffs are very friendly and helpful. I am new when it comes to pairing, so I just asked the girl to surprise me, and she did a really good job. She chose 3 sweet and fruit wine for me, with good meat and cheese to pair with. I loved every bite of it! This would be a perfect spot for a date or a girls night out. read more
"Egh...am I in the right place?" With my heels and summer dress I stepped into the Blood Alley feeling a bit nervous seeing the man peeing in the corner and another ruffling through the garbage can few feet away. Salt Tasting Room deserves two thumbs up for the bravery of opening up a shop in this bloody alley, I mean the Blood Alley. With some relief I pushed the door open to the spacious and industrious looking minimalistic setting. The exposed brick wall juxtaposed with the zinc bar is quite pretty and guests can crowd along the long communal table to nibble and sip on flights of artful pairings, which can also be put-together by the friendly staff, should you are daunted by the extensive list of the day's selection of charcuteries, artisanal cheeses and condiments, all scribbled on the large blackboard (re-written daily). The highlights that stood out for me were: - Local honeycomb with blue cheese - Soft and buttery Chevre with ripped juicy dark cherries - Smoked beef with Jalapeño pepper Salt features picks from the Oyama Sausage Co., J,N, & Z Deli, and Salumi (in Seattle). As well as imported cheeses from Neal's Yard in London, and from our backyard of Salt Spring Island. Not to mention the cool condiments such as Spanish Marcona almonds and rosemary-marinated olives. They all speak to Salts' commitment of bringing innovative culinary experience to Vancouver. My nibbles were all beautifully paired with JOIE 'Noble Blend' 11, HAHN Pinot Noir'10, and SIX HATS Shiraz '10, all from the fantastic list of some 50 wines ranging from bubbles to Sherry, to Sake, and Birch Beer. I wish I'd come here earlier, now that I've discovered a cool tapas spot, I'll be back. Cheerios~ read more
I went here for the first time with an expat friend of mine who was visiting from Louisiana during the 4th of July weekend. I was always meaning to go here and be all fancy pants because of good reviews, and yessss, I finally made it. We had to go through Blood Alley to get here, but hey, if little old Chinese ladies can walk around Main & Hastings, we can walk around Gastown alleys with all the dumpsters and piss. Anyway, my friend has had way more experience with wine tasting than me, and I have a non-existent sense of smell (yes I can taste, no I won't explain) - but I still appreciated the different tastes we had and how the flavours went together. We ordered 2 Daily Plates (3 meats/cheese with 3 condiments) paired with 2 Wine Flights (3 different wines), for $15 each. We also got a plate of a variety of breads to go with everything. The waitress was very knowledgeable and went over what to expect with each wine, and the flavours of the meats/cheeses, and recommended what we should start with. ----- Best of BC Plate (all ingredients and wines from BC) 1. Vista d'Oro Pinot Noir with Corned Beef & Guinness Mustard I'm not really too into corned beef, but it was really good with the mustard! I'm not really into pinot noir either, but ahhh well, good to try. Little strong tasting. 2. Joie Reisling with Kulen & Picadilli Relish Mmm! This wine was refreshing (I think it was sparkling), and Kulen was divine...I love this kind of meat. 3. Black Widow Oasis with Ash Camembert & Similkameen Honey OMG, this was a very tasty wine for my inexpert palate. Very refreshing and light, and lovely sweet finish. My favourite. The camembert with honey went really well with the wine...my mouth is kinda watering just thinking of the combination... ----- 4th of July Plate (some ingredients from the US) 1. Cannonball Cabernet Sauvignon with Bermuda Triangle & Similkameen Honey I don't really remember this wine - but it was my friend's favourite. The cheese (goat's milk) was a little strong though...hmm. We had a hard time finishing this one - it took a lot of bread and honey. 2. Dutton Goldfield "Dutton Ranch" Chardonnay with Humboldt Fog & Fig Bread This wine was also nom-licious, but I lack the knowledge to really describe it. The cheese was also from goat's milk, but was much milder and better tasting than the Bermuda one. First time trying Fig Bread - it's very sweet - can't have too much of it. 3. Domaine Chandon Blanc de Noir with La Quercia Proscuittio & Piparras Peppers Now we're getting into specifics...I'm pretty sure I liked this wine, but again, don't remember much. But ohhhh proscuittio! and spicy sweet peppers! I could eat you all day long! Okay, so I kind of treated myself, as this cost me $30 plus the damned HST...but so lovely to spend my afternoon here with a wine lover and trying all sorts of foods I had never had before. I hope to revisit this place with other people - this is a great place to chit-chat with friends and get to know someone a little better. Five star love! read more
I've only been to Salt to host wine tasting events, and I have to say they are excellent to work with. From booking the event, to how it runs on the day, everything is smooth and easy - Tammy Gamel did the guided tasting for us and she is awesome! She ran all the wines by me (because I am a BC wine snob, I admit it!) and was super accommodating for all the little changes to food etc. that we wanted to make, and did a really great summary of the wines and food pairings on the day. The Salt Cellar is also a great space - the booze cabinet is beautiful, and I love that the walls are chalkboards so you can write personalised welcome messages to your guests. The servers were also prompt and helpful. I have yet to come here while not working, but hopefully it'll be a similarly excellent experience! read more
7 years ago
15 years ago
Walking down the creepy "Bloody Alley" made me a little nervous but I wasn't going to let that keep me away. As soon I step in, Amazing! Very small and intimate, reservations are highly recommended BUT silly me, I hadn't called ahead. My fiance' and I were so sad assuming we wouldn't be able to get a table but luckily a table opened up! YAY! :) Being cheese fanatics we felt like kids in a candy store! The menu is written on a huge chalk board where you can select between quality meats, cheese and sides. When we finally made up our mind, we decided on sampling three very different kinds of cheese and asked our server to pair it with sides that she felt would compliment our choices. Genius! The parings were perfect, honey, peppers and chutney along side our salty, milky and nutty cheese. The honey alone was delicious! Excellent for the wine connoisseurs and cheese lovers. I am a Salt fan and plan to return on my next trip back to Vancouver! read more
Located in a small, yet well lit alley, Salt is a dime in a dozen. I'm sure there are many small cured meats restaurants in Vancouver, but as a first-time visitor, my sister, friends, and I were happy to find this gem. The menu changes weekly if not seasonally so that no one wine or cheese is repeated. When asked if we could purchase the wine in the restaurant, we were quickly directed to specific stores that had them, so that it was helpful. No reservations are needed since the restaurant is quite small, but there is both a dining room and a drinking only area. Order the flight because it gives you a good chance to try as many cheese, cured meats, and wine as they provide. There was one Belgium cow cheese I could only purchase at this one small grocery store in Vancouver and I never did. It displeases me that I had no traveling time to get it because it was on the other side of the city and we were running late for a dinner back in Seattle. Given the chance, I would revisit Salt and hopefully find out the name of this mysteriously delicious cheese. read more
We tried this place for the first time today with two other friends. We were seated in the basement ( almost dungeon-like room). It was beside the wine cellar. I didn't mind the room as it was private and away from the noisy crowd but it could be a little creepy for some. We each ordered a charcuterie plate and we shared a salad. The cheeses and meats were delicious but definitely not filling. We were still hungry afterwards. Wish they had other appetizers but there was nothing else on the menu. It would have been nice if they had some other food options on the menu . This is definitely not a dinner type of restaurant unless you are not hungry and want to just have some drinks and a small snack. But the cheeses and meats were good and worth coming back for. Corkage fee is $25. Service was pretty good. read more
11 years ago
17 years ago
Give 5*s to Salt Tasting room for hosting events like these and to make me crave meats from Oyama over and over again! Give 5*s to Oyama Sausage for the always giving me a variety and educating me on cured meats and cheese to the point where I have now become an addict. Give 5*s to Vista D' Oro winery for complimenting the meat and condiments so nicely and allowing me to experience such different flavours, even if it wasn't my cup of tea... i mean glass of wine. My co-worker thought this would be interesting and I thought - what the heck. For $50.. I didn't want to do it because I'm always looking for a good deal and thought the price was a little steep, but in the end it was all worth it. We started off with a pear appertif, the smell of pear was so aromatic, quite different than when you actually drink it, more subtle and bitter but tasteful. As we sat down, our flight of wine was already on the table, two reds and a white........ little did I know that we were going to get TWO flights that night! That's like two meals!!!!!!!!! Two gentleman from the respective shops and winery would explain what we were eating, how things are made, and we would EAT! I'm just going to say everything went nicely with one another, from the meats, to the cheese to the condiments, there was a variety of textures, tastes and colour. The wild board salami was softer in texture and the cipolini sweet onions balanced its salty taste. I love the picollini relish.. wish there was a huge bowl of it and the bajonne ham was as good as the proscuitto I've been eating from oyama lately... the lonzo was a little more strong in taste, and I wasn't a big fan of the fig bread, but none the less.... it went together somehow. The breads and crisps were constantly filled so it was never empty and our table of 9 had plenty to eat.......and I was pretty much full.. until: "You can now turn over your sheet of paper for your second flight"!!! holy smokes, meat and cheese overload! The sherry beef from the second plate was too dry for me, so I didn't like too much. The duck liver mousse was super rich.. again not my thing but still extremely complicated in tastes... the olives definitely helped. The last meat - the grelots were my favourite of the whole night. It is a salami with hazelnuts in them. I mean who thinks of that!!! It was so good that I think I'm just going to have to buy some and share with my bf (because sharing is caring!) The bassett stilton blue cheese that came with the honey was absolutely divine, I wish there was more honey! I wish I could comment more on the wine but I'm no connesieur. All I can really remember was that the Pinot Noix (not Noir) had this crazy smell that I have never even inhaled from wine. The taste was really different, not in a good way and tasted a little like wooden stained fence. I know it sounds disgusting but I'm sure that many others would love it. The Syrah, was a much lighter wine which was nice with the much stronger sherry beef. and the D'Oro 07 that went with my favourite grelots was also my favourite.. similar to a dessert wine that just touched all the different tastebuds on my tongue. There was one more dessert wine, at the end of the night, to finish things off which just made me completely satisfied. So was it worth it? On average - one flight of meats and cheeses with a flight of wine would cost $30. For $50, I had two flights of meats/ cheeses, and wines, and two additional tasters at the beginning and end. With good conversation and a lesson on meats and wine.. I really do not think that it could've been any better.... BUT WAIT.... there was an apple trio for dessert.... and I was too full to try it (WHY!!!!!!) I'm just going to have to call them and hope that they'll have it again - watch out :) read more
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