Seasalt Del Mar Seafood Bistro

I loved this quaint restaurant, after a day of hiking with friends and their mother-​in-​law it was nice and refreshing to sit down for some really great, fresh, succulent seafood. What was also nice was the cool breeze flowing through the restaurant that catered to our little Kenny as well. We left happy, satisfied, and with our bellies full.

Second dining experience in a week and a half. First time, dinner, ordered the Crab Stuffed Ravioli with light Lobster Sauce. Just delicious and light. Good wine selection. My dinner guest was equally as pleased with same order.
Today for lunch was four of us. HB order Clam Chowder and Fish & Chips. The Chowder tasted delicious but was too thin. We like thicker chowder. He said Fish was overcooked and mushy inside. Fries were very good.
Other couple ordered the Roman Style Artichokes and Wagyu Beef Carpaccio for appetizer and devoured everything they liked it so much. Then they had the Philly and Angus Burger. Again they were very impressed.
I had the Harvest Garden with an order of chicken minus the bell peppers. Light and pasta was done to perfection.
The portions were huge! No room to try dessert.

I had a San Diego Synergy Gift Card that I’ve been carrying in my wallet for years so I finally used it here. Food was delicious. Service was fast and the servers were all very friendly. We ordered from both the regular lunch menu and the sushi menu and we received complimentary bread and edamame! My sister ordered the crab Ravioli which I was pretty impressed with. Most places we have tried crab Ravioli from generally are small and have little crab. This one had 4 pieces but loaded with crab and the sauce was not too heavy. I opted for a lighter meal of the soup and salad since one of the soup options was lobster bisque — this had lots of lobster and was the perfect consistency. Hubby had the country chicken and he thought it was pretty good. Kids meals were huge. I debated on having my 2 boys share one but they were hungry so I ordered the kids mac and cheese and the chicken fingers. These were adult size portions so definitely worth the kids price ($ 8). Sushi was on the pricier side with specialty rolls $ 16 — the Tarantino roll we had was good, but idk if worth $ 16. But all in all, we all enjoyed our meal and the service here.

I really wish that I could give Seasalt a better review because it would have literally been the perfect brunch spot! Much to my surprise, parking was a breeze and the restaurant was not overly crowded. It is right on the outskirts of Del Mar and though it doesn’t have a panoramic ocean view like some of the other beach brunch places that have sadly shut down over the years, it is close enough to smell the ocean air.
Though we did have a group of 8, it was not busy at all and there was simply no reason why service took so long. We met our party at noon, therefore my boyfriend and I were starving when we showed up as we had not eaten breakfast, assuming we were going to be given large portions. The fact that we did not receive our food until 45+ minutes after we were seated was annoying.
I ordered the Roasted Veggie Fritatta and my boyfriend went with the Classic Benedict. My meal was pretty good and I did have plenty of food. It included a large fritatta filled with a plethora of veggies and cheese as well as 4 slices of toast and breakfast potatoes. The most flavorful part was definitely the potatoes and I really did enjoy those. My boyfriend however, thought his food was decent, but was not happy with the portion. He ate his entire plate and ended up having to snack when we went home because he was still hungry. Keep in mind that my boyfriend is not a «large» guy and this is not a common occurrence. At $ 12.00 for his plate, there definitely should have been enough to fill him up.
I guess I just think this place is too pricey for what you get. My meal was also $ 12.00, but what irked me the most was that my hot tea cost $ 3.50! That is insane for hot water and a tea bag… not to mention that the waiter actually elbowed my friend’s boyfriend in the head when walking by and hardly acknowledged that he did it.
They do have $ 10 bottomless mimosa, champagne or Bellini’s so it’s likely that I’ll be back, but I feel that there has got to be somewhere better for brunch!

Highly recommend this place. Karen was our server and was very friendly and on point. We ordered a variety of apps, salads and entrees and the timing for each was perfect.

I may have found a new go-​to for brunch! One of the best parts about living in San Diego is enjoying mimosas on a weekend morning with a coastal view. I’ve been searching for a new location since the Beach House in Cardiff closed two years ago and so far, Seasalt is the best substitution that I’ve found.
I planned a quadruple brunch date for my friends on January 2^nd to celebrate the new year in style. Funny enough, I chose Seasalt because of the $ 10 bottomless mimosa special but then we were all still feeling the effects of New Year’s Eve and weren’t in the mood for alcohol. We do plan to return to give it a try though.
Instead, we stuck to traditional breakfast food, juice, coffee and tea. Everyone seemed to really like their food… except me. I ordered the French toast, which is usually one of my favorite brunch foods, but this was probably the worst French toast that I’ve ever had at a restaurant. Not only was it bland and dry but it also arrived cold. I had to send it back to have it warmed up because it was not even edible… and I never send food back. Once it was heated, it was slightly better but still so boring. Maybe I’m spoiled by Snooze’s incredible French toast but a couple of sliced strawberries on top of the bread is simply not going to cut it. There could at least be a dusting of powdered sugar or a drizzle of caramel or something to add flavor. Even the butter was lackluster; it was just those gold wrapped cubes of hard butter that don’t spread nicely on lukewarm bread. Whipped butter would have been easier to use.
However, despite my disappointment with my meal, everyone else seemed to love their dishes. There were a couple omelettes, some benedicts and two frittatas. I didn’t hear any other complaints so I’m assuming everything was good. My boyfriend, in particular, loved his veggie frittata and cleaned his plate. I stole a few of his potatoes and they had great flavor.
I’ll definitely return to Seasalt but I’ll have to try something other than the French toast.

My mom and I came here for an early lunch on NYE. Not too crowded which was nice so we were able to choose our table.
The food was all delicious. We shared a salad and calamari. At this point I was already pretty full. My mom got the cioppino and I got the crab ravioli. Both were equally beautiful dishes as well as delicious!

This is my go-​to spot for brunch after a hike at Torrey Pines. The view is spectacular and the Mediterranean Harvest is my favorite on the breakfast menu. And the $ 10 all you can drink mimosas are nice too. :) Last time I went, they brought out complimentary warm banana muffins.

After deciding to take a hike in Torrey Pines, we realized that we needed to eat some lunch; especially after not having a good breakfast. We found this establishment on the way into the park and stopped in for a quick bite.
The feeling is modern trendy oceanside. The menu is slightly higher priced than what I would normally go for however we were hungry and it was close enough to grab a bite.
I ordered the Crab Ravioli and was informed they were out of crab ravioli so they were willing to throw in some extra salmon ravioli. I said this was ok and the dish that was presented was a creamy buttery dish that was very tasty. I would have liked a bigger portion, however it was satisfying and worth the impromptu lunch price.

This restaurant has a excellent view and very nice ambiance, however parking is pretty bad so be prepared to fight off people to get a spot.
I ordered the steak and eggs cooked rare, the steak was cooked more medium so definitely not rare but it was still good, needed more salt though. The potatoes were very good as was the egg over easy.
The service was pretty good nothing amazing but definitely not bad.
The overall standing is that this is a pretty good restaurant nothing really special but definitely good for the cost and the view. I went for lunch but I’m sure that dinner you have a great sunset view.

Came here for sister-in-law’s 50^th. It used to be Edamame I believe. Great view, & wasn’t too crowded all night. A bit loud… but maybe that was just my family ;)
I had the Country Chicken entrée… It was good for $ 19…it could use a sauce to moisten it up a bit. The fruity sauce it came with was too little to really add any flavor or juiciness. But good. Everyone else had sushi rolls: Tarantino, 858, Torrey, Yellowpeno, Rainbow & a Tuna roll. Put it this way… NO LEFTOVERS!!!
The service was EXCELLENT!!! Michelange was so friendly, upbeat, accommodating, attentive as our server! He made the dining 5*!!!
I Recommend Seasalt. for the view & sushi & Michelange (it might be Michelangelo but the «elo» didn’t fit on receipt?!)

On our usual return trip back to Los Angeles from San Diego, my girlfriend and I love to go dinner hunting for a place that we are not familiar with. Of course, with the help of Unilocal,we may have found our new FAVORITE spot. This restaurant shared the same name I reviewed earlier in the year, but both have no comparison. This restaurant is more intimate and a much more enjoyable location. We take you to SeaSalt Del Mar Seafood Bistro in, of course, Del Mar.
Located off of the I-​5 exit at Carmey Valley Road heading west, you’ll be heading into a scenic neighborhood. Don’t expect to see large businesses or a town shopping center. SeaSalt is located in a neighborhood, but in a small office complex. It is located between Carmel Valley Road and Via Cortina. Before, it looked like it was a home to a Sushi Bar, but no more. It has been replaced by something better. My girlfriend had reserved via OpenTable for 4pm Dinner Reservation. However, it should be updated based off of our experience.
There is plenty of parking and the entrance to the restaurant can be through Carmel Valley Road or through the parking lot. We walked in at 4pm and there was no one at the counter to check us in. We saw a lady who was cleaning tables and told us to pick anywhere to sit. We were greeted by Chris. At first, I thought it was Christopher, but our receipt said Christian. At least, I got the Chris part. He let us know that the kitchen had not yet opened until 4:30pm. Which is a little bummer, but also requires OpenTable to update the program.
SeaSalt has a wonderful view of the marshland. There is a patio if you want to sit outside. For brief moments during our stay, it seemed like we were in Florida. We didn’t even know there were cars passing next to us. Its that scenic. Each table has a cacti on it. The lady told us she disliked them because she kept picking them up. Especially when it looks like a dish that wants to be picked up, but comes with a consequence. The water is served in a beautiful glass bottle like it was from the fountain of luxury.
Chris offered Happy Hour items at a discount, but we wanted some of their delicious dinner offerings. We ordered just two drinks to start off while we had some down time. My girlfriend had a lemonade ($ 2.75) and I had an Arnold Palmer ($ 2.75). Chris has a voice that you just can’t turn down. We thought he was the manager, but he wasn’t. We hope one day he will be. At least, the VOICE of SeaSalt. We heard him at every table and I swear he had a Public Relations Degree or was a Sportscaster. When the kitchen opened, we all knew what we wanted.
As I mentioned earlier, SeaSalt took over the location of what used to be a Sushi Bar… BUT SeaSalt offers sushi as well. I guess its a nice homage to its previous residence. My girlfriend ordered the Halibut Macademia ($ 24). In a Ryan Tradition, I order in multiples. First off, I ordered a Spicy Yellowtail Roll ($ 8) and for my main course, I ordered a SeaSalt Chicken Salad ($ 13.50). Chris was very knowledgeable in answering my girlfriend’s question between the Old Country Chicken and the Halibut Macademia. The wait would be about 15 – 20 minutes. We were given some complimentary bread. YES!!!
My Spicy Yellowtail Roll came out first and, Oh Boy, I loved it. You get eight pieces of sushi. What made the dish beautiful was the exotic presentation. The ginger looked like an actual flower with the sesame sauce lining with it. The sprouts spread across the roll as if it were trying to capture it. My girlfriend is not a big sushi eater, but this was a place she knew she had to try it. She liked it! I am a sushi fan and although its not meant to be a main place for sushi, just come on down.
Then the main course came in. Her Halibut Macademia was amazing to just look at. As for me, my SeaSalt Chicken Salad was super simple. Its just spinach, lots of beets and goat cheese. With the grilled chicken, it melts the goat cheese in the salad to make the salad very sweet. Whatever the vinaigrette that SeaSalt used, KEEP USING IT. The vinaigrette covered the apple slices that I loved it! Of course, I finished it. That was the saddest part of the evening. I tried some of my girlfriend’s Halibut Macademia and was very impressed with it. I was equally in love with just the cooked macademia nuts with the mushrooms and bell peppers. I think I am trying this dish out next time.
Despite mix reviews, SeaSalt does get my attention. There was a little downtime for 30 minutes as we walked in and wait for the kitchen. However, Chris did make that up by providing great customer service. First impressions are always comes to mind. I don’t think of SeaSalt’s sign that you see in the front of the building. I hear Chris’ voice. The food was excellent and prices are very reasonable for quality food. If you are headed up and down the I-​5 Freeway, stop on in to SeaSalt Del Mar.
Unilocal…I Live, Breathe, and Share my Reviews for everyone to read. Come Join Me!

Whenever we take our monthly trip down to the San Diego area, we’re always hoping to discover some of their amazing seafood restaurants. Thanks to Unilocal,we were led to Seasalt and we couldn’t have been happier to have come across such a wonderful establishment.
Seasalt is located on the corner of Carmel Valley Road and Cortina. You’ll see the restaurant which shares a building with a few other businesses. There’s plenty of parking in the rear as well as along the side of the building. The entrance to Seasalt is in the back of the building, just beyond a large wooden door. The pathway leads straight to the restaurant but be sure to ignore the stairway to your left as Seasalt is a single story restaurant.
When we walked into the restaurant, the hostess was busy helping out on the floor and we had to flag her down. I stated that we had a 4:00 reservation via Opentable and we were seated soon after. At this point, our experience took a turn for the better. That was when we met Christian! He is well-​versed and knows not only what’s on the menu but is also familiar with the quality of each dish. Well Christian informed us that dinner is served around 4:30 and we could choose from the Happy Hour Menu or wait until 4:30 to order from the dinner menu. Since we we had our hearts set on specific dinner items, we waited until 4:30. We ordered a lemonade and an Arnold Palmer while taking in the beautiful view of the greenery through the window.
As soon as the clock struck 4:30, Christian was back to take our order. I couldn’t decide between the old country chicken that appeared to be lightly breaded or the macadamia nut halibut. Both meals came highly recommended but I try to eat more seafood than anything so I chose the halibut. This was a decision that I did not regret!
When our meals were placed on our table, it seemed like they were too pretty to eat! It was like a work of art! The halibut filet was evenly covered with a generous encrusted coating of macadamia nuts. It rested on a bed of garden risotto to include a melody of mushrooms, peas, red peppers, and possibly hearts of a palm. The risotto was a conglomerate of flavors, perfectly blended to satisfy the pickiest foodies in town. As for the halibut, it was flakey and smooth without being overlooked. The macadamia nut layer on top was crunchy and complimented the halibut quite well. My boyfriend even said that maybe he should have ordered what I ate because he really liked how well it was prepared. He even said he’d definitely come back to this location as Seasalt did not leave us disappointed!
Before long, Christian checked up on us and asked how we enjoyed our meal. Honestly, our meal was superb and service was amazing! We were so glad to have had Christian as our server tonight because he was very personable and seemed passionate about what he does for a living. We can definitely see him becoming the manager for Seasalt in the near future.
We would definitely return to Seasalt when we return to the area. There’s so much on the menu that leads one to wonder about the possibilities of what we didn’t discover during our first visit to this location. Seasalt is a romantic but small restaurant that provides and intimate setting for friends, family, or even a romantic date. If you haven’t discovered Seasalt for yourself, you’re missing out on a golden opportunity.

Came here for lunch today and found the food to be very average. The fried calamari is probably the highlight of the menu here. I did not enjoy their lobster bisque — had some lumpy parts to it that were not lobster… Very odd. I also had the Caesar salad which was fine, but adding the shrimp option for $ 6 – 7 and getting three pieces of shrimp was pretty disappointing.
Views here are nice and the prices of most of the menu items are actually fairly reasonable. Service was fine — took a bit long for the calamari to come out (after all of our lunch entrees) though.

I’ve been here three times now, and although I’ve only ordered two items, I can confidently rate it just okay.
The view is great – overlooking Torrey Pines. Service is decent, and the food overall is okay. If you’re not from Del Mar, you might think the food is overpriced though.
When I ordered a Rainbow Roll, this beautiful plate arrived with cute little sauce dot designs. It didn’t look like any other Rainbow Roll I’ve had before. It had two sauces on top and crunchies. It tasted like it should have been $ 7 instead of the double in price I paid for it. My fault for ordering sushi at a non-​sushi place (but I was craving sushi dammit).
I’ve ordered (on two occasions) the Seasalt salad with shrimp added. It comes with baby spinach, endives, sliced beets, sliced apple, and crumbled cranberry goat cheese – all tossed in a white wine vinaigrette. It’s actually pretty tasty. While eating it today though, I realized I was paying $ 2 per shrimp. Some might think that’s steep. I guess I didn’t think so the first time, but today after demolishing it and still feeling hungry, I did feel a little resentful.
I’ll probably still come back and try something else. Definitely something more filling.

Seasalt is really nothing above average IMHO at least as far as the food is concerned… The views from the outdoor patio on the other hand are gorgeous and will catch your attention nearly the entire time. I used to frequent this place when it was edamame and now that it’s Seasalt, I have only been once and was not overly impressed. Ordered the shrimp pasta and would not recommend it, the pasta was slightly undercooked, the sauce was bland and the shrimp was just average. Overall, maybe I ordered the wrong dish or the food here just isn’t all that terrific. I will say that the service was solid and the draft beer was chilled to perfection, positive marks in my book.
Pros–
Beer
Lagoon Views
Outdoor seating
Service
Menu options
Location
Cons–
Average good taste
Parking stinks
A tad pricey

thanks to Unilocal,I found this gem near my hotel in La Jolla on a weekend getaway. I lived on the Southeast coast for 17 years and I do not eat seafood in the desert. Oh hell no. So I was jonesing for some fresh seafood!
This is a quaint spot not ON the ocean, but near the waterway off the ocean and it’s lovely. There is a large patio overlooking the beautiful views and the windows inside are large enough for you to see outside as well.
A wide variety of menu options with everything from pasta to seafood stew to meat options are available. So if you have a non seafood person, they have options.
I ordered the coconut shrimp: huge and delicious. I also got the spicy mussels. These are both appetizers, but are large enough to be entrees. I couldn’t finish both. The mussels were ENORMOUS and the sauce was delicious enough to stand alone as a soup.
My watier was attentive and fantastic and not overly in your face to be annoying.
GREAT unpretentious spot in a very pretentious area. ;)

Seasalt restaurant took over the Edamami sushi joint that was previously there for a few years. The view is gorgeous, overlooking Los Peñasquitos lagoon as well you can catch a gimps of torrey pine beach.
I didn’t noticed that they did many new changes to a layout or décor of the place.
The menu consists of mainly seafood dishes, but as few other reviewers pointed out the variety of cuisine its a bit confusing, is it Italian fusion restaurant or Mexican? The waiter with Italian accent told me that they serve a little bit of everything …
We’ve tried scallops with risotto and macadamia crusted halibut, both dishes were be beautifully presented and the flavors were spot on. The halibut was soft and flaky as it should be, with mild taste. Risotto complemented the fish very well, it wasn’t too overpowering, light and creamy.
My scallops were perfectly cooked, just slightly seared. I thought saffron risotto and lots of grilled bell peppers and onions were a bit too much flavor for the delicate scallops, nonetheless i enjoyed the dish overall.
Looking forward to come back for dinner and catch the sunset views next time.

Came here lookin for edamame sushi. To my surprise they closed down and this place has been open for 2 months. We didn’t have a reservation but we got seated with a nice view on the balcony overlooking the water.
Ordered the peachtini, very delicious, it’s sweet and his a sugar rim. Definitely a girly drink.
I also ordered the scallops and shrimp pasta. The sauce is delicious, but it didn’t stick to the pasta. So when the pasta touched my mouth, the flavor was bland and the sauce was left on my plate. I recommend them making the sauce thicker.
Customer service is amazing! The workers are always checking up on you, and with the best manners/​accents. The come from italy (:
This place is kind of on the pricey side.
I would come back again!

OK, so. Came here for lunch because it’s close to my office. Was excited and ready to try something new. I wasn’t too hungry, so I ordered the vegetable tempura side dish for $ 5. It came with carrot, zucchini, broccoli, and cauliflower. Cauliflower was a new one for me because I’ve never had that in a Japanese restaurant and I’ve never had it at my Japanese relatives’ homes.
The serving was definitely big enough for one person to eat as a meal and not share. I wasn’t too hungry thought and I didn’t finish it.
The 2-​stars are because:
(1) the tempura came with two different types of sauces, neither of which were the actual tempura dipping sauce. One was spicy mayo (I’m pretty sure) and I’m not sure what the other was. Looked like tartar sauce, but not sure that it was. WTF?! I can’t be the only person who is surprised by this vegetable tempura presentation.
(2) the tempura wasn’t even battered in PANKO. PANKO IS JAPANESE (as is tempura) AND IT’S WHAT JAPANESE PEOPLE USE TO MAKE TEMPURA. My vegetables were dipped in what seemed like beer batter. The kind of batter you get when you order fried fish tacos.
(3) without any sauce, the tempura-​ed vegetables were very salty.
I might come back here to try out the Truffle Mac and Cheese because it’s only $ 5. Might be worth trying again to see if the tempura is just something to stay away from.
My coworker ordered the fish and chips (today it was Salmon) and she didn’t like it.
The décor and overall inside of the building is nice and very modern. There were two waiters, but only a couple people inside (including me and my coworker). The waiters were very nice and attentive, but looked bored because there wasn’t much going on. Came here for lunch around 11:45 on a Thursday.
Also, I shouldn’t have to wait to eat at a new place to let them get their stuff together and work out their kinks. That’s something that should already be processed, reviewed, and fixed before their grand opening. Serving tempura that is not fried in actual panko crumbs is not a «kink». That’s a grave mistake and an insult to a Japanese dish.