Restaurant Review: SALT 7 – PRIME STEAKS AND SUSHI! By Mark Kent

Located at 32 SE 2^nd Avenue in Delray Beach (274-7258), this two year old modern bistro is open all 7 days. Hours are 3PM to 11PM from Sunday through Tuesday and until 2AM from Wednesday through Saturday. Seating 117 inside and 45 on patio, they have an eclectic dining menu.

Some 10 appetizers are listed and we tasted the fine Chef’s daily Ceviche, a cool treat! Chef’s version of Oysters Rockefeller is smoked bacon cubes, string spinach with roasted garlic, pernod and hollandaise overwhelming a cool oyster. His Calamari rings were tender and tasty with a sweet but very spicy chili sauce for too much bite. A spicy Lobster was tempura battered and, as before, tossed with a tasty, yet spicy, spicy sriracha mayo dressing! None were memorable.

Turning to soups, the crab bisque was a bit sweet, the French Onion had a rich, yet thin salty broth and a crown of gruyere and Swiss. Unfortunately, the miso soup with its seaweed, tofu and green onion was quite thin and dull.

The Salt 7 house salad, sans lettuce, had very tasty mélange of tomato, feta, red onion, green peppers, cucumber and Kalamata olives – a good choice. The Caesar, however, had a too thin a dressing to be called a true Caesar.

The bone-in 17oz ribeye, cooked medium rare as ordered, was the finest…excellent, tender and flavorful- a best bet! The feature 8oz or 12oz filet mignons, 14oz or 20oz New York strips and pork chops as well as porterhouse at 27oz or…for two diners, 47oz.could not be sampled.

Chilean sea bass was tasty with its mango papaya pineapple chutney. The soft shell crab had vinegar slaw and their signature remoulade. Blackened grouper, skillet shrimp, seared tuna, salmon and a lobster and crab cake round out the ocean menu.

Try the chicken Lia- marinated. For 24 hours in a citrus/herb mixture, served with an artichoke, mushroom, caper mélange and mashed potatoes. The Soda-pop skirt steak was only average. We asked for the beef ribs but they were not forthcoming.

We sampled several Sashimi pieces – they were fresh and cold. There are 13 specialty rolls listed as well.

Salt 7 has an extensive wine, beer and cocktail list- pricing seems reasonable.

There is excellent service…from Restaurant Manager Donnie Petullo to Marketing Coordinator Kyle Gonzales to server Jeff!