Salt is a must visit in Hiriketiya. Their food uses fresh, quality ingredients and then adds a few innovative touches to make it spectacular. Like most places in Hiriketiya it's a hip place to hang out, but unlike most the food is excellent to match.
Food
Their Fish Tacos (Rs. 1000) are made of roti, which is actually pretty nice. Another nice little innovation is adding mango. What a touch of genius; sweet, ripe mangoes really complement the alioli and veggies. The mahi mahi in them was toasted to perfection. For comparison, only Taco Bell serves a fish taco (AFAIK), and I know it isn't saying much, but Salt's leaves it in the dust.
The chips were nice and soft sweet potato. Full points.
The Wrap (Rs. 900) had hummus, falafel and mint leaves. The mint leaves really combined everything else into a really nice taste. This generally seems to characterize Salt's approach. Build dishes on a rock solid base and add one or two magic inventions to turn something steady into something spectacular. In addition to the mint leaves, this wrap had beetroot sauce in place of the usual tomato. I actually am running out of words to describe how great it tasted, permanent replacement for tomato sauce please.
Rob's Right Hand Burger (Rs. 1450) had tangy pickles, beetroot and onions which gave out great flavors in combination with the soft and pliant beef.
Maybe the awesome fish tacos gave us high expectations, but the grilled mahi mahi was not the best. It came with grilled veggies and looked intimidatingly good but looks proved to be deceptive, the dish as a whole lacked balance and flavor. The fish was cooked to an excellent consistency though. After some salt and experimenting with the various veggies in turn we improved it a little.
Drinks
The Rosemary Cocktail (Rs. 700) is outstandingly good. The rosemary is so beautifully blended in that you can’t tell if the sweetness you feel is because of the smell or the taste. It's got lime juice, apple juice and raspberry infused vodka. The vodka doesn't dominate the taste. We later discovered that the rosemary is left in the vodka for two weeks before the drink is made, planning and effort that pays off.
Dessert
Our food orgy continued into dessert. The Brownie without the ice cream (Rs. 400) tastes rich and bitter. With the ice cream (Rs. 600) it’s divine. It’s hard to find chocolate this rich. We added some fresh mint on top and made the whole thing even better.
Ambience
At first glance Salt looks like a super straight hipster only establishment. But a closer look reveals a few layers of complexity that makes the ambience at Salt rather nicer than the norm.
Salt occupies a big, open space on the Hiriketiya Rd. As you walk in you are confronted by big signs made up of words like yoga, entirely made of wood. To give you an idea of the contrast this creates, next to Salt there is a small kadey selling egg rotti and local fare with a generic sign that looks like it came out of the same place that makes signs for Pilawoos with a healthy side business in decorating buses.
Service
They didn’t give us salt, and didn’t offer us water, but overall the service was friendly and prompt.
Conclusion
Salt started 3 years ago and has seemingly kept a consistency to their level of quality which is remarkable. A tad on the pricier side but a must visit at Hiri.
