Salt Chinatown

Excellent Hospitality... Highly appreciated the owners attention to detail, and helpful suggestions for meat, cheese suggestions and the associated wine pairings.

Wonderful Evening

Really nice ambiance. Server was very well informed and helped us navigate the menu. We ordered two tasting plates, a wine flight, and a small dish and were pleasantly surprised by the quality and quantity.

Would definitely come back again.

Fantastic wine bar, tapas bar. Super chill vibe and ambiance. Service was just right not overbearing and not ignored. Loved it!

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.

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!

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.

Price/quality (3/4): Quality is never a problem here. You get a nice selection of meats and/or cheeses, which you can (and should) enjoy with a wine flight, which you can ask them to pair for you. However, it does seem a little more pricey than it should be.

Service (1/1): Service is friendly and effective. The wine pairings are particularly noteworthy.

Would I come here again: Yes

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.

We had a great time at Salt... after we finally found it! lol

The place is in a dark alley, and we passed it twice before calling them and making sure we were in the right place. Maybe we were just tired from the trip, as it was our first night in Vancouver. ;)

Once there, the atmosphere is very pleasant and we were treated extremely well, even though we arrived just 30 minutes before closing.

Our server was really helpful and patient in explaining their system, and we decided to try a couple of their predetermined selections instead of pretending we knew what we were doing.

The result was a very interesting, learning experience. We discovered new tastes coming from combinations we never would have selected on our own. Some we loved, others not as much, but everything was fresh and of great quality. The two combinations we selected were more than enough for me and my wife. We couldn't finish it all!

All in all it was a great start to our trip, and we definitely recommend the place.