Sea Salt

13 Degraves st 
Melbourne, VIC 3000

http://www.sea-salt.com.au/

If you are what you eat, then I would be the result of 500 years of interracial marriage. But as dreamy as I find Benedict Cumberbatch, I’m not sure any part of me would be British. I admit that I don’t know all that much about modern British cuisine, but the stereotypical King Henry VIII diet of overcooked meat and boiled vegetables is enough of a deterrent against finding out more. I know, I make for a poor foodie. 

But one dish I would go down to the pub for would be fish and chips. The combination of beer batter, white fish, and lemon just gets me. Whilst fish and chip shops are usually a suburbs thing, the CBD isn’t left entirely out in the cold. On the quieter end of Degraves Street sits Sea Salt – a sushi shop out front and fish and chippery out back. 

It is still the CBD after all, and the fish sits fresh and plump out front, ready to be grilled, crumbed, or fried to your liking. If you pick the grilled barramundi, there’s a selection of four marinades you can pick from. And of course you can have your fish with a salad instead; you can even have it with a healthful quinoa or chickpea salad for just an extra dollar. 

Healthy Pack ($10.9)

I know I said I love fish and chips, but I love the guilt-free version even more. What is guilt-free fish and chips you ask? Ordering the Healthy Pack ($10.9) for myself, and then picking at all the fried goodies on Chris’ plate.  But even if I didn’t have any of Chris’ chips, I would’ve been delighted with this. My fish of the day was a generous fillet of blue grenadier, rubbed with lemon and herbs, resting on a forest of garden salad. Eaten with a side of tartar sauce (served charmingly in a scallop shell) and a squeeze of lemon, it was delicious restorative, and very gratifying.

Sea Salt Pack ($12.9)

Chris is the yang to my ying, the Tweedledee to my Tweedledum. And apparently the grease to my salad. All of his Sea Salt Pack ($12.9) would’ve gone for a swim in boiling oil, if it weren’t for me forcing him to get his fish grilled instead. Whilst his fish was exactly the same as mine, the sides were a study in tactful frying. The calamari rings were sweet and tender in a barely-there batter, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a potato cake that tasted more homemade.

This dinner was actually a return visit to Sea Salt, after we discovered the previous week just how good their deep fried fish was. Sea Salt has something for everyone, whether you want to clog your arteries or cleanse them. And if you don’t like fish, they even have a range of burgers that look just as scrumptious as the seafood. Maybe I could live with being just a teeny bit British. But only if I get the accent as well.

Rating: 13.5/20 – benedict cumberbatch <3

This rating reflects my personal experience at the time of visit.