My spouse and I visited Henry’s Salt of the Sea on a
Saturday evening in late November 2019. (Although we have lived in the
immediate area for the past 25 years, our last visit to Henry’s was probably 25
years ago.) Henry’s is open for dinner only on Mondays through Saturdays
(closed Sundays). Reservations are highly recommended; call the restaurant to
book a table. In fact, even the nine seats at the bar were available by
reservation only on the night that we dined. (No online reservations are
accepted.)
Henry’s is located on West Allen Street (near 19th
Street) in the West End. (It offers a convenient place to eat before or after a
show at the nearby Civic Theatre or the Civic Theatre514.) Only street parking
is available, which can be a bit problematic if a larger event is happening at
the Civic. The restaurant occupies a long narrow space, with an L-shaped bar at
the front that eventually becomes a food counter for the mid-space open
kitchen. Booths are located on either side of the rear of the space, with a few
free-standing tables in the center. In the main dining area, the make-your-own
salad bar is a favorite feature of most guests. The overall atmosphere is dimly
lit and features lots of dark wood.
As its name implies, Henry’s Salt of the Sea offers lots of
seafood on its menu, although we were surprised to see nearly as many non-fish
dishes available, including beef, veal, and chicken. We dined at the bar, and
space was tight. When we sat down, we noticed baskets of packaged breadsticks
and crackers positioned around the bar, as well as on nearby tables. Perhaps
because of spacing issues, we were not given bread/rolls as some of the nearby
tables (but not the bar patrons) seemed to receive. We shared a crab cake to start,
simply prepared and plainly presented. Afterward, we each made our own salad
from the nearby bar. As our main dishes, we ordered the broiled scallops (very
tiny scallops but a huge hearty portion, again very simply prepared and plainly
presented and quite under-seasoned) and the fried shrimp. Entrees come with a
choice of starch (we had the baked potato and the tri-colored potatoes) and the
vegetable du jour (overcooked snap peas on the night that we dined). We passed
on dessert; the restaurant does not make any of their selections in house, instead
desserts are purchased from Sweet Streets in Reading.
Our dinner at Henry’s Salt of the Sea was acceptable, but we
prefer local seafood-based restaurants that offer a more creative menu and more
interesting presentations for similar cost (for example, Third and Ferry Fish
Market or Emeril’s Fish House or even [gasp!] the Bonefish Grill). But other
diners seemed to be loyal repeat customers who thoroughly enjoyed their
experience.
