Restaurant: Salty’s
Address: 1869 Upper Water Street, Halifax
Date: April 4, 2010
Fish: Haddock
Cost: $13.95

When we began this adventure of reviewing fish and chip meals around the Halifax area we knew at some point we would end up sampling what Salty’s offers.

Salty’s is a well known restaurant right on the Halifax waterfront. The cool thing about this establishment is they’ve got two distinct dining experiences… a more expensive, fancy upstairs… and a more reasonable priced and casual downstairs. If you haven’t figured out yet by our content and comments on this website, we visited the downstairs.

First off, Salty’s has a great location, smack dab in the middle of Historic Properties, with a great view of the harbour. In fact, if the weather is nice you can eat at a table right on the boardwalk. Here’s hoping the waterfront sewage treatment plant doesn’t go kablooie again this year.

The restaurant wasn’t busy the night we were there, and the service was prompt and pleasant. We were a bit surprised and chagrined to discover the price for fish and chips was actually a dollar more than Salty’s website said it would be. Something like that doesn’t stop us from ordering, but it certainly doesn’t earn them any extra points.

As a result, when the $13.95 fish and chips (the most expensive reviewed thus far) arrived looking a fair bit smaller than pretty well every other restaurant visited, we all looked a bit glum. Not that quantity is everything…. because quality is vital as well. But let’s be honest, value for the dollar is important to most patrons.

We all agreed that the fries, although not home-cut, were excellent. However, each reviewer found some issue with the fish and batter. In the end the fish and chips from Salty’s wasn’t able to overcome the deductions for portion/value to become anything more than an average experience.

Fish and Chips Score: 72

FCP Review Crew

Rachel’s Thoughts

The fish itself had a very good flavor. It tasted fresh. The batter was good, but a bit greasy. Fries were nice, hot and crispy. However the portion of food is not great for the price.

The tarter sauce was very good – possibly homemade. No coleslaw – which is a faux pas in my books!

The view is great and the atmosphere is very nice.

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
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Rachel’s Final Score: 74

Poochie’s Thoughts
The first thing I noticed was how small the portion was, especially considering the price ($13.95). The fish seemed quite fresh, with a decent flavor, but I think it could have stood a bit more seasoning.

The batter was thin and crispy and the flavor was nice – you could taste a hint of the beer in it. However I found it greasy on the top and soggy and wet on the bottom. I’m not a big fan of soggy batter.

The tarter sauce they served was homemade and tasted quite nice… not wowee but certainly better than average. It seemed like mayonnaise mixed with some relish and a nice hint of lemon. The only thing I didn’t like is that it (and the ketchup) came in these large squeeze bottles (like fatter versions of what Subway uses to squeeze on their sauces). It wasn’t the squeeze bottles that bothered me, but the fact that the bottles were greasy to the touch and tarter sauce kept squeezing out from around the threaded lid. Plus we had to return the ketchup bottle for a cleaner one because of something hanging on the squirt nozzle. Not a good thing.

The meal also didn’t include coleslaw which I kind of expect when ordering fish and chips.

The fries, I’m pretty sure, were of the mass-produced variety, so my expectations were not overly high… but they were actually quite good. Cooked perfectly and served hot, they had a nice crispiness but still potatoey inside.

One nice touch was the individually packaged jumbo lifesavers each of us got as an after dinner mint… much better than the ubiquitous green and white after dinner mints most places hand out.

All in all Salty’s was a decent meal but certainly not worth what they are charging.

Fish
Batter
Fries
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Poochie’s Final Score: 71

Minnie’s Thoughts
The fish needed a little salt maybe, or something to boost the flavor. I like the batter but found it kinda greasy. The french fries were good but also a bit greasy.

They had really good homemade tarter sauce which I enjoyed as much as Kraft’s, however I was disappointed in the small size of the meal and that we didn’t receive any coleslaw.

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments

Minnie’s Final Score: 73

Skippy’s Thoughts
First impression? Where’d my $13.95 go?

The fish was decent, nice and flaky… but slightly undercooked and tasteless – a BIG point lowerer. There was no flavor, at least not until I coated it with salt and ketchup.

The batter was average, but again; slightly undercooked. One bite practically slid down my throat.

The fries were nice, hot and potato-y. Really appealed to my taste buds.

Overall I was surprised, given the price. The fries saved this meal. The ketchup bottle was greasy, and had a hair on top! Half points on the portion because I only received half the amount I was expecting for the price.

Tip: Try the cornbread – it has pepper in it!

And, hey – Lifesavers for after dinner mints! Nice touch.

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments

Skippy’s Final Score: 69