Saltie Girl

Saltie Girl is a seafood bar on Dartmouth Street in Back Bay, close to the Fairmont Copley Plaza. The Boston original has since been joined by a branch in Los Angeles, but this is where the concept began. The menu is built around seafood in many forms, from a raw bar to tinned fish and caviar.

The tinned fish is the house signature. A tin board arrives with bread, piparra peppers, a trio of salts, piquillo pepper jam and butter, alongside the tins of your choice, and it makes a good shared starter or a light meal with a glass of wine. The warm lobster roll is the other well-known order, and the raw bar covers oysters, clams and crab claws. A caviar service is also offered for a special occasion. The full menus for Boston are on the website.

The restaurant is open from 11am to 10pm Monday to Wednesday, from 11am to 11pm Thursday to Saturday, and from 11am to 9pm on Sunday. Weekend brunch runs from 11am to 4pm, which is a good time to visit if you would rather avoid the evening rush. Reservations are taken through OpenTable, and as a general tip it is worth booking for dinner, especially at weekends.

Saltie Girl suits couples, small groups and solo diners who like to sit at the bar and try several small plates. Larger parties should book well ahead. Prices are mid-to-upper range, and costs rise quickly with caviar and lobster, so the tinned fish and raw bar are the easiest way to keep the bill reasonable while still getting a good sense of the place.

If it is your first visit, a tin board and a few oysters between two people is a good introduction before deciding on a main. Weekend brunch is often easier to book than a prime dinner slot, and sitting at the bar works well for solo diners.

Dartmouth Street is in Back Bay, so the restaurant is easy to combine with an afternoon in the neighbourhood, a visit to the Boston Public Library or View Boston at the Prudential Center. The Fairmont Copley Plaza lists Saltie Girl among its nearby restaurants, which gives a sense of how central it is.