Salt Kitchen and Tasting Bar

BFF Kristen is back in town, and we needed drinks ASAP. It was the perfect opportunity to take her to Salt Kitchen and Tasting Bar. Been wanting to get down there since they opened recently, and heard lots of good things, so I was very excited! They specialize in Charcuterie, or the craft of salting, smoking, or curing meat. Me, being the wine/cheese and salami lover that I am, was beyond excited for it. Speaking of, my perfect date would be sitting somewhere with gorgeous, warm scenery and enjoying a nice plate of salami, prosciutto, pancetta, ham, brie, pate, and some dried honey figs with a nice glass of red wine. Perfection!

Let's get to the tasting now. Verdict? The food was excellent, but the menu was extensive, so I will probably have to come back a few more times to get a feel for the food. Everything sounded delicious, from the salad to the burgers (which we got a taste of) to the sandwiches. The menu really varies. We saw (or smelled) many tables ordering burgers, and honestly, I'm not a big burger girl, but my mouth was watering. Kristen and I promised we would come back and order burgers next time! Instead of burgers, though, we had their House Charcuterie Plate, their 3 cheese Platter, and their "small plate" of clams. "Everything is meant to be shared," they said. KZ had a glass of white wine, and for me, a nice red Merlot. Everything was amazing, but to be quite honest, I don't know what I was eating, and frankly, don't wanna know. From the salami to the pate to the head cheese to the blood sausage.....all I can tell you is that the names don't do the food justice. Why such ugly names for such delicious food?!!

Cons- 

1. Service. Ok, so we were promptly seated by the bar when waiting for a table, then a table opened up upstairs, and we were seated immediately. Nice! But then, what I didn't understand was that there was only one waitress taking care of the whole upstairs? That's about 8 tables! She really needed more help! It was hard to track her down, plus she had so many orders, she forgot to put in an order of our extra crostinis, PLUS since the menu/charcuterie needs some explaining for newcomers, she spent a good amount of time at each table. You do the math. 

2. Pricing. Ok, three menu items plus two glasses of wine equaling $85? A bit steep I must say. Expect to pay $9-15 for a glass of wine, $9-15 for small plates/burgers/sandwiches, $21 for the House Charcuterie Plate, $11 for the 3 Cheese Platter, or $13 for the 5 Cheese Platter.

3. "Layman's Terms Please?"- Ok, so when our waitress was explaining the Charcuterie, cheese and wine, I honestly didn't understand one word she said. Trust me, KZ and I are cultured and we know food and wine basics, but do you really think half the people in the room plus us know these exotic and french terms you are talking about? NO! And when they bring the food, they just ramble out the names of each thing on the plate so fast, that you know it's been a long day for them and they just want to go home for Christ Sake! Thus, like I said, I don't know what I ate, but the main thing is, that it was good.


Open Monday-Sunday 5pm-1am. Awesome for late night drinks and food!

I'd say, have a try at Salt. What other place in Hawaii offers their very own Charcuterie?

Interesting menus...

3 Cheese Platter with Honeyed Figs

A very nice guy next to us offered us a taste,
when we oohed and ahhed at the smell and look of it.
It WAS as delicious as it smelled.

House Charcuterie Plate-
3 Pates, the fried croquette-looking thing is Head Cheese and was actually super tasty,
the dark blob is Blood Sausage and was good as well,
and salami! All house-made.
There is another platter with imported salamis and the usual prosciutto/meat platter.
Get this House Platter though- you won't regret it.