Hip and Trendy- Check out Salt & Ash Restaurant Placentia

Looking for a hip new spot with very creative food in North Orange County?  If so, be sure to check out Salt & Ash in Placentia.

Karie and I were browsing through Yelp looking for a new spot to try out, and happened upon Salt & Ash.  After driving by this place for some time now, and telling ourselves we need to try it, we finally did.  Though I think Karie and I had different views of the place, I think overall, it is certainly worth a try.

The restaurant reminds me of something I might find up in Portland.  Hip, cool and trendy.  It appeared to be a well-appointed establishment with upscale looking features.  When we arrived, we were told we had about a 15 minute wait which was no problem at all.  We waited out front, which is actually the back by the parking lot, and enjoyed a beautiful evening.  Our name was called probably within about 10 minutes.  We were asked if would like inside or outside, we opted for the patio as it was a gorgeous afternoon.  There are probably about 8 or so tables out on the patio, and it was nicely filled.

Walking through the restaurant we noticed that there were two distinct bars.  One on the left as you entered and one at the far end that looked like it opened up to the outside.  It looked like there were a good amount of tables on the inside as well.

Here is a look at the wrap around, outside bar area.  Our table was right next to it.

We took out seat out on the patio and enjoyed some good conversation.  It took a while, but a server brought over water for our table.  Nice presentation, but the water was definitely not cold, and almost luke warm which was unfortunate.

We were handed our menus, and got pretty excited quickly as there looked to be some awesome options on both the food menu and the drink and wine list.  Not an extensive drink menu, but some of the drinks sure sounded good.

We perused through the many delicious looking and sounding options and decided on our meals.

Karie opted for the Pretzel Burger.  Voted Top 10 Burgers in the OC Register 2017 list, it sure sounded good.  Bacon, onion jam, pickles, etc., and a delicious pretzel bun to top it off.  I went with the Seafood Gumbo with Ghost Pepper Crema.  It sounded hot, so why not!

Well, we received the menu’s, looked them over multiple times, made our choices and began to wait.  And wait we did.  From the time the menu’s were handed to us to the time we finally had to ask someone to take our order crossed the 40 minute mark.  That was pretty rough.

Once our order was finally taken, we did the fun task of waiting some more.  The food was finally delivered about another 40 minutes later.  We watched a couple of couples come and go in the time we were there.  Oh well, it happens.  The food did finally arrive, and it sure looked good.  And you know what, it tasted really good as well.

Karies burger came out and looked to be cooked perfectly with just the right amount of the onion jam, and some really good tasting bacon.  And the pretzel bun was the perfect touch for the tangy mustard.  Oh, and I can’t forget the fries.  Holy moly!  The fries were very good.  This pic really doesn’t give either their due, but this was a very good burger and fries.

My Seafood Gumbo was equally delicious. I was a little scared of the ghost pepper crema, but this dish had just the right amount of kick.  The heat kind of snuck up on you a few bites in.  This dish had plenty of tender white meat chicken as well as at least a dozen good-sized shrimp.

Here is a little closer look at my Gumbo.

The food was absolutely worth the wait.  It was all very flavorful, and the ingredients tasted fresh and well prepared.  The service lacked a lot, but they were friendly and helpful if and when someone came to the table.  To their defense, it was a Friday night, but not overly busy.  It just seemed that everyone walking around had a lot of things to do.  I even think there was confusion amongst the staff on who was our server.  Just one of those nights.

As I mentioned, the food was really good, so I think I will definitely go back for a follow-up visit.  I’d hate to not return completely based on one trip.

So all of that said, if you are looking for a new spot in North Orange County, and want to try something a little different, give Salt & Ash in Placentia a shot.  Hopefully you will have better service than we did.

Click here to link to Salt & Ash to see their menu an hours.

For more restaurant recommendations and reviews, feel free to click here on Davey’s World.

Happy Eating!

Davey