Henry’s Salt of the Sea

Will be back first time here on the first snow covered Tuesday night. Nicole was great at bar. Had the broiled oyster with crab appetizer, Yummy! OMG seafood in cream sauce with linguine very heavy on sauce but good.

Food was a solid 5 star experience but waitress was HORRIBLE. We are regulars and generally have Joyce but we made a bad decision to go on Wednesday and she was off. Waitress did not offer specials and when we began to order we had to ask her what soup of day was, what types of potatoes, Etc… Food was delivered to edge of table not anywhere near us. She was a very poor example of a waitress and truly diminished any possible enjoyment that could have resulted from dinner out. So no more Henry’s on Joyce’s day off

Absolutely amazing! We walked in and they sat us immediately, even without a reservation (I doubt we would have gotten a table on the weekend). Our server, Adrian, was super friendly. The food was perfect. Came out right as it was put on the plate. It was so hot, I had to wait for it to cool. We had stuffed mushrooms and the snapper special. He had it blackened and and I had is with crab and a cream sauce. It was so big, I had to take some home. SO GREAT! The atmosphere is great, classic music but you can still carry on a conversation. Highly recommend!

Very disappointing. Service was excellent
My wife enjoyed the lobster but my $ 40 Veal Chop was mostly FAT. Maybe 5 bites that were chewable. Avoid the Veal Chop and you should be fine. Crab Pie appetizer was very good.

From the outside this place looks like a dive bar. Once you get inside you will wondering what you are doing there, as it is definitely a dive bar with a bunch of regulars at the bar. Well you’ve heard good things and you are there so you might as well give it a try, right? Oh and you have a reservation. You do have a reservation, right? You need one here.
So you get seated. Maybe you walk past the bar where you see the cooking station. There are two grumpy looking dudes broiling and pan finishing food. Maybe you walk past the salad bar and see a pretty good variety of options and local favorites. You take a look at you menu and notice the brevity. A few pieces of fish or beef, a few unusual choices like Snapper soup. Entrees are all $ 20-​$ 40. The entrée comes with the salad bar, choice of potato, and vegetable of the day. You are practically being forced fed veggies along with your protein.
The waitress comes by. Maybe you find the service rude, or maybe you find it charming as it reminds you of your bossy older sister that gives you some sass but really just wants the best for you.
You pick something out and order. And wait. You are really starting to think this was a mistake ans maybe you should have gone to that place you usually go because you would aleady have the plate of what you always get by now, but you wanted to try something new. At least there are some warm rolls and the salad bar to tide you over.
And then the food comes. Big heaping piles of food. You dig in, and suddenly realize that this place with the décor from the 60s hasn’t updated the décor because they spend their money on having the best ingredients. And the regulars are packed in at the bar because the food is perfectly cooked. And the menu is only two pages because they know what they do well and don’t waste any time on anything else.

Lobster was great. scallops were gross. hostess looked at my hubby and I as if we had no money. Server was friendly but food took to long to come out. I will put this on my list of places not to go or recommend.

Henry’s Salt of the Sea is not somewhere you go because of the hip, modern décor, but it is somewhere you go if you love delicious seafood.
Walking into Henry’s is somewhat like a time warp, it’s an old school place that has been an Allentown staple forever and for good reason. Inside, the place is dark and rather small. There is no kitchen, rather the food is made right out in the open next to the bar.
The menu is extensive and seafood based. It is chock full of classics that emphasize sauces and lots of crab! Again, you won’t find any modern menu items here but the food is good! I started with a cup of snapper soup which was so good. For dinner I opted for the whitefish special with lump crabmeat, it came with a twice baked potato and vegetable medley, you also get unlimited salad bar. Salad bar was great and a big hit with our table as they have ring Bologna… yes I said it! And if you don’t know what ring bologna is, well I feel sorry for you!
Our server was exceptional, she was quick and knowledgable. The place was very busy on a Saturday night, and my understanding is you petty much always need a reservation here.

Always the Best… stuffed mushrooms, soft she’ll crab, oysters with crabmeat, scallops with bacon… some fine wine, a great Staff, Brian and the Team are the best!!!

Been wanting to try this place for a while and finally decided to stop in today on my way home from work. Place is pretty small and not exactly divey, but more of an old school vibe if that makes sense. I had a lobster francaise which was phenomenal. Beer is all bottle aka no taps. Not a big craft beer selection at all so I went with old reliable Yuengling. I came on a tues and the tables were full or reserved… Needless to say reserve a spot if you come. Currently waiting on desert… Crème brûlée? Yes please.

I don’t understand the hoopla on this restaurant. It was dark, dingy, and smelled. Waitresses were rude.
I guess they only cater to and save their smiles for their regulars.
Extremely disappointed!

I had been wanting to eat here for a long time and was surprised when I was taken here for my birthday dinner. I can say that I was not disappointed at all.
The place is relatively small and reservations are recommended. Upon entering, you’ll notice that it’s dim. The windows have been covered up and the all wood interior makes you feel as though you’re on an old wooden ship.
If you like seafood, just taking a look at this menu should be enough to entice you there. My 6-​year old daughter ordered the escargots as an appetizer and I can say that there was probably twice as much as the usual six pieces most places give you and both she and her brother devoured it all.
My two kids were sharing the seafood scampi and the kitchen was thoughtful enough to split the plate in advance and when they came out, I was shocked by how large the portions were — it was as if they each were given full servings instead of half plates. And they were an abundance of seafood in each which I was again, surprised to see since most places will give you more pasta than seafood.
The amount of food that passed through our table was more than I had bargained for. All meals included the salad bar, steamed veggie sides and our entrees also included a potato side. If I absolutely HAD to criticize, my one «complaint» would be that the portions were insanely huge — but they will package leftovers into containers for you to take home so in reality, you’re getting two meals out of this.
Our server, Joyce, was an absolute delight. She was friendly, helpful and made my time there feel special! Brian the owner and chef was kind enough to even treat me to a slice of cheesecake at the end of my meal! Seriously, who does that these days? Nobody! And it’s generosity like that (and the delicious food) that will make me go back and support this local establishment again and recommend it to all my friends.

A hole in the wall in center city Allentown but food and service were great. Will be back.

Not a fan! The food is not seasoned. They use butter as their main form of seasoning, drowning out the flavor of the seafood.

A trip to Henry’s never disappoints. I had a business dinner here tonight and my guest was in culinary heaven. They had no trouble modifying a dish for our appetizer. The lobster Francaise was excellent as always and the Tira misu was superb. Our server was attentive, prompt and friendly. What more could a gal ask for?

Great seafood restaurant. Especially good considering area /​relative to nearby options. The French onion soup is also excellent. They have a salad bar that’s included with meals.

I had the crab stuffed rainbow trout tonight… WOW!!! OUTSTANDING!!! Highly recommend!

Best in the West End. Where else can you get a side car with your drink? Delicious jumbo lump crab and very good filets. Fresh, clean salad bar. Courteous, comfortable service in a warm, ‘come as you are’ atmosphere. Don’t expect the latest haute cuisine; expect a quality, well made meal.

Went here last night with another couple. Atmosphere does not reflect $ paid for dinner especially when dinner was not good. A bottle of wine, 1 mixed drink, three appetizers and 4 entrees and bill was over $ 200.00. The special oyster appetizer was pretty good, raw oysters not so much and the cab cake appetizer was just ok… nothing to go out of your way for. Entrees that were ordered was twin lobster tails — over cooked, sea scallops — floating in something and very salty/​scallops looked too small for sea scallops, and two specials — Chilean sea bass; not very flavorful. We needed to be elsewhere so we didn’t have the time to vocalize our complaints. What I would say is that not everyone has the same tastes and I realize that however, we won’t be going out of our way again to visit this restaurant. Good luck to those that do and try to choose wisely.

Love this place service is always spectacular. One of my favorite places in the LV area. Chef Custer makes great dishes.

So I think I read all 30 reviews, and the conclusion I came to is basically dead on and what I’m going to write here.
1) The food is fantastic and I thought worth the money. Wife got the Fruit des Mer… which was LOADED with seafood… more than pasta which was under it. Stuffed Sole was excellent too. Appetizer of stuffed oysters was excellent too. As for all the complaints on the «over sauced» items… no…nothing was over sauced at all. It was tastefully put on and not overabundant. Also tasted rather light.
2) Atmosphere isn’t great… not trendy at all… in fact… almost outdated. Thus… the expense is all the food and service. Also, the place is indeed small. I ended up with a reservation at the bar… tight seating there… and was right next to the hostess. She turned several people away as there was not one seat at the bar or table until after 8:30 pm (this was a Saturday night).
3) Service was very friendly. I didn’t get attitude from anyone, and no arrogance at all was sensed. In fact, I think they were pretty darn attentive.
All in all… I’d go again… but to be fair, I highly recommend NOT sitting at the bar. It’s tight, not modern, and you can’t really have a conversation without involving the people next to you (which we did and met a very nice couple, but doesn’t mean you could just «relax» if that is what you wanted to do).
Go in knowing the above and you’ll be fine. This is where you’re grandmother and grandfather used to get a Harvey Walbanger or a Wiskey Sour and talked about what life would be like in the 1990’s. It is like a blast from the past (just with today’s prices)