You can’t help but want to go to a restaurant called Salted Lime. It just sounds fun—and it is. One of the newest restaurants on the very eclectic Somerville dining scene, this Latin-inspired restaurant is casual and fun and, most importantly, absolutely delicious.
The colorfully decorated eatery has a large bar and dining area, and in warmer months, nicely arranged outdoor seating.
The menu is a collection of modern takes on classic dishes from all over Latin America. The best way to enjoy the menu is to order a few plates to share. Order what you want—and you can always order more. Start, of course, with a drink—and a margarita is the way to go. (When it’s hot out, opt for the frozen version.) Of course, you can also check out the cocktail menu and large assortment of beers.
The Menu
The dinner menu is broken into sections: Chips and Dips, Small Plates, For the Table, Bowls, Tacos, Hand Helds, Large Plates, and Sides. Take your time deciding – though you can’t go wrong with any choice. And you can’t start a Latin meal without the requisite chips, so order the guacamole ($9) or the salsa of the day ($6). But save room for all the food yet to come.
Our Visit
On a recent Saturday evening, my husband and I started with one of the small plate options of cornbread arepa: Housemade arepa (they’re made of ground maize dough), panela-griddled cheese, charred corn, local honey, spicy poblano crema, and scallions ($10). It was delicious and my favorite of the evening, though it really was hard to choose what we liked best.
The charred corn sauce really made the dish, and I was left wanting more. But our next course was coming out of the kitchen. Next time I plan to also order this small plate: sobrassada and toast—griddled Mallorcan-style sausage, local honey comb, tomato peppercorn compote and French bread ($10)—definitely tempting.
For the Table
Everything we ordered was plenty to share for two. Next we ordered Requeson, which is in the For the Table section of the menu—housemade Mexican-style ricotta, local honey, sugar snap peas, ancho dust, thinly-sliced Iberico de Bellota chorizo and toasted bread ($10). It was a wonderful choice and another favorite. The ricotta was creamy and rich and sweet from the honey. You spooned some of it onto the toasted French bread and topped it with the chorizo and grilled sugar snap peas, and it was delicious. Not something I have seen anywhere else, and I would order it again and again.
Among the other choices in that section of the menu, the Lulo Wings with a Colombian citrus sweet and sour glaze, mango coconut aji sauce, crispy shallots, peanuts, cilantro and pickled fresno ($14) were very tempting. We skipped the Bowls section of the menu with the choices of shrimp mango bowl, corn and watermelon; Tulum tomato salad, and quinoa bowl and onto the Taco list we went.
Tacos
Tacos can get boring and not very filling, but these were different. With a choice of chicken, pork, shrimp or portobello, we chose the pork carnitas on flour tortillas (or you could opt for corn tortillas). The pork carnitas were made up of citrus braised pork, spicy mojo aioli, pico de gallo, cilantro lime, crispy ancho pork skin ($13 for two tacos). They were overflowing with shredded meat and, again, were wonderful.
On to Dinner
We should have been full by now, but we ordered another round of drinks and perused the menu. We didn’t want a handheld sandwich, though the Cuban sounded tempting. We also didn’t feel hungry enough for a large plate to share, though the corn coconut tamale, the Happy Family chaufa, and chipotle chorizo mussels all sounded good.
I was also tempted by the fried sweet plantain side, but we backtracked a little on the menu and ordered Chori Papa: Local Colombian-style sausage, crispy papa criolla (potatoes), salsa rosada, cotija crumble, citrus onions and scallions ($10). This dish was big and filling. And we were full.
Unfortunately, we had no room for dessert. Everything on the dessert menu looks very tempting, especially the churro crullers, a modern take on the Latin classic, served warm with cinnamon sugar, Mexican chocolate pot de crème and dulce de leche ($9). Maybe next time. Because there definitely will be a next time…there also is a lunch menu after all.
Salted Lime Bar & Kitchen
46 East Main Street
Somerville, NJ
908-864-4403
Prices are subject to change.
