Mac and Cheese Heaven: Salty's at Redondo

So, if you know one thing about me at all--and specifically me and food--you should know that I love macaroni and cheese. Really, really, really LOVE macaroni and cheese. Mostly, I love my mom's macaroni and cheese with Spam with all my heart, soul and stomach. Mom's macaroni and cheese is the pinnacle of mac and cheesieness. Nothing can touch it. A pound of elbow pasta, 4 cups of shredded cheese, two cans of Spam. Yeah, baby. That's what I'm talking about.

I know what you're thinking. "SPAM? REALLY? SPAM?" And I know you're thinking it just like that, in capital letters. Well let me tell you. You have not had Spam, and you have never had macaroni and cheese, until you've experienced this dish. You will in fact love it, and you will in fact never forget it.

A not-so-close second would be....Stouffer's macaroni and cheese. Wait, frozen mac & cheese? Yes, I admit, I do love the flavor, but it has a big psychological appeal as well: Stouffer's mac & cheese was my comfort food growing up. Skin a knee? Stouffer's. Get dumped by a boy? Stouffer's. In college, and out of money for the semester? OK, the true answer to this question is Kraft macaroni and cheese, but I went for the Stouffer's otherwise. That frozen mac & cheese got me through a lot of rough spots over the years....

So every time we're in a restaurant that offers macaroni and cheese on the menu, I hesitate. Because I already know it can't live up to the perfection I grew up with. On the rare occasions that I do order a mac & cheese dish, I inevitably leave disappointed. Last year, during my birthday dinner at Purple in Woodinville, I got an order of their lobster mac & cheese for the table. Wrong choice, birthday girl! What a disappointment. There was no cheese flavor, no lobster flavor, no flavor flavor. A bowl of semi-cheesy mush with some bland lobster meat stuck on top. Sigh. Like Charlie Brown believing that maybe this time, this one time, Lucy will actually hold the football and he will actually kick it to kingdom come.... No. We both fell on our keisters.

What made me go for the crab macaroni and cheese tonight at Salty's at Redondo? Well, for one, the Salty's chef from the Alki location has blown me away the last couple of years at an annual charity event at South Seattle City College, where I'm going to wine school. And two, I needed some comfort food! (It's a long story, involving a big hole in my kitchen where the fridge should be, and Best Buy delivering the wrong fridge not once but TWICE...a saga that's been going on since December 12th.....!!!!) But really, I just needed a good bowl, a lovely bowl, a cheesy bowl of macaroni goodness.

And Salty's came through. It was most definitely the best macaroni and cheese I've ever had in a restaurant. Perfectly seasoned, a GREAT mix of cheeses, perfectly creamy, with a massive helping of crab chunks on top. It also had a huge mound of arugula piled on top, which I quickly tossed over to the bread plate. A few pieces of it mixed into the pasta were great; a tumbleweed of it: nah. (There were also some teardrop tomatoes in the bottom of the bowl--why?)

I apprehensively put the first bite in my mouth--and I almost cried. Well, not really, but it could have happened after the day I had, you know? I could not believe my mouth. IT WAS AMAZING! Texture+taste+cheese+crab=Yes! Yes! Yes! I ate it slowly, relishing each bite, like I was tasting a million dollar dish.

I will never be able to order anything else at Salty's. It's just how I am. Why try anything else, when you've found the dish that curls your toes? And when you go there and order it, drink champagne with it. You will thank me.

Mr. Foodie, who loved the mac & cheese as well, ordered the "small plate" of grilled salmon with pesto mashed potatos. (Potatoes? Po-tah-tos?) Those green mashers with that perfectly cooked fish was just lovely. And our appetizer trio consisting of crab cakes, calimari and coconut prawns was nice, although the crab cakes could have been crispier. The calimari was my favorite of the three, which is a pretty astounding feat, seeing as I don't even like calimari!

If you know of a great restaurant mac & cheese, let me know. I will continue my search, and report back as details...and dishes...become available.


Salty's at Redondo
28201 Redondo Beach Drive S.
Des Moines, WA 98198
253.946.0636
Tacoma Direct Line: 253.272.0607