Salt & Sweet Restaurant — Restaurant in Melbourne

Salt & Sweet Restaurant 3092 Lake Washington Rd., Melbourne, FL 32934

5 Stars

I know that the Iron Curtain came down a long time ago, however, it took me years to not see Eastern Europe as a bleak, gray, bullet ridden wasteland peopled by hunched over women in scarfs. These days, I see it as a vibrant, colorful area of the Globe with oft-untouched treasures. That said, I do NOT think of fine dining when I think of Poland. I think meat, potatoes, dumplings and cabbage. I wager you do as well. The fare at Salt & Sweet in Melbourne, FL, has shattered that perception.

Roxanne is my server today. I found her to be extremely honest and hospitable. She answered all of my questions regarding the menu without hesitation. I ordered a bowl of Tomato soup, a Polish Sampler and one of their Special Polish Dishes, Zrazy Polskie.

While awaiting Roxanne's return, I took in the ambiance. I loved the décor and the old-world feel it exuded. The room was so charming that I half-expected someone's Babcia to emerge from the kitchen, berating staff with a cast-iron skillet in hand. Sadly (depending on how you look at it), it was Roxanne and not a loving Babcia who emerged bearing our Polish nutriment.

First to grace the Big Boy's palate was the Tomato soup. Unlike some soups, this was not inspissated, but instead had the perfect viscosity for a Tomato soup and the flavor was complex, savory, and extensive in its taste.

Next, I turned my attention to the Polish Sampler. This includes Pierogi, Golabki and Polish Sausage. At this time, I insist you look at those pictures. Yes, everything looked delectable. On this platter, the Pierogi are Polish-style and not Russian. These are filled with seasoned, minced meat and topped with sauteed onions. By far, some of the best Pierogi I have scarfed down. Never having had Golabki, I was delightfully surprised by the intricate flavors washing over my tongue. This is a Polish delight of meat-stuffed cabbage rolls topped with tomato sauce. In a word, this was, "Wow." Forcing myself onto the Polish sausage it was robust yet frangible.

I turned my utensils on the Zrazy Polskie. This consisted of rolled beef stuffed with bacon, sauteed onions, dill pickles and bell peppers. This is a pretty typical "Gourmet" dish of Eastern Europe. I first encountered its German cousin, Rouladen. This was also out of this world. Everything was prepared with care and love and cooked perfectly. What else can I say? The Big Boy says, "Leave your expectations at home and experience Polish fine dining...

I am giving this restaurant a negative review based on extremely poor service we received from the moment we walked in the door this evening. We walked into an empty restaurant shortly after 5:00 pm and were asked by a very unpleasant hostess if we “had a reservation.” We didn’t, of course; and there’s nothing on their website and nothing about their signage that indicates a reservation is required. We were begrudgingly seated by this hostess, who was clearly annoyed by our presence.

Fast forward 15 minutes ... there are a total of 6 tables in the restaurant with guests; the restaurant is easily 2/3 empty. Noticeably, we are sitting at the table with little more than the water they brought to us. Meanwhile, the other tables have bread, beverages, soups, salads and the two waitresses are making sure they’re getting taken care of. After another few minutes it was clear that we had epically inconvenienced this business with our presence. Here’s the problem: once again, nothing anywhere implies that reservations are required.

I asked to speak with the owner. It was immediately apparent why the staff felt empowered to treat their unwanted guests so poorly ... that kind of attitude rolls downhill. The owner was far from apologetic for our poor experience ... in fact, more so she was argumentative, rude, arrogant and stood behind her staff’s decision to treat us like second class citizens. It was, in short, a total waste of time speaking with her. She clearly expects the world to bow to her feet for the grace of opening her doors.

Word to the wise if you’re going to dine here: call ahead, have a reservation and expect to be treated as an inconvenience rather than a valued guest.

Notice I haven’t mentioned the quality of the food? Isnt that a shame ... because it’s quite good. But based on this experience tonight I would take a lesser quality restaurant that wants its guests to walk through the front door rather than the clear ambivalence and tepid attitude of this...

A hidden gem, Salt & Sweet polish restaurant off of Lake Washington and Wickham in Melbourne.

The location is probably the only downside of this amazing place. It's in the Publix plaza, so when my friend and I planned a girl date for the ballet, it felt a little odd to be dressed up nice to walk through the grocery store parking lot. Again, that is the ONLY bad thing about this place.

Our servers were fantastic. We had a few different people all helping to make sure we had what we needed. We were seated immediately without a reservation on a Saturday night at 5:30. They opened at 5, and already had half the place filled.

We were served with bread and a choice of soup or salad to start. We both chose the salad, with their house made balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Delicious. Salad was fresh and did not come from a bag.

My meal...this is a meal I will never forget. I got the lamb shank. Guys, this thing came out piping hot, and was still hot as I cut through it in the video after I had already eaten half of it. Served with some kind of cabbage slaw, which was fantastic, as well as some potatoes which were cooked to perfection. They were crispy and flavorful, salted just right. But that lamb shank. Wow. The flavor of that piece of meat was indescribable. Just bursting with flavors that complimented the meat so well, and it was so tender I didn't need a knife to cut through it.

My friend ordered the Polish sampler platter. Everything was delicious. We especially loved the pierogis, and the sausage! Everything on her plate was bursting with flavor.

I ordered 2 beers, plus the lamb shank. My meal came out to $38. Friend's meal was just a few dollars more because she ordered wine. Very, very reasonably priced. I highly recommend this little gem...