Mark’s Score 9.1
A decade ago, when we came down to Salisbury to look for a house, Market Street Inn was the first restaurant we visited. My reaction then was, “it’s ok.” I wasn’t impressed. Over the years I have visited this restaurant on a number of occasions, and each time I walked out thinking, “it’s ok.”
It was a warm summer’s evening on Saturday, hot enough to be sultry, but not so hot that it would be uncomfortable to sit outside. There will not be many more nights like this so I decided to have dinner on Market Street’s patio. I went expecting the food to be ok, I was going for the ambiance, not the food.
Market Street Inn has been a staple in the Salisbury restaurant scene for decades. It originally was a seafood market. For many years it was a local bar and in 1989 it opened as a sandwich shop. In 2001 it became the Market Street Inn when Rob Mulford purchased the property and rebranded as a full-service restaurant and pub. In the early part of the century, it was recognized by both Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast for its extensive wine cellar.
When I arrived the dining room was fairly busy, but to my surprise there was only one couple sitting out on the patio. Yes, it may have been 82F (28C), but there was a slight breeze and the sun was already low in the sky, perfectly acceptable weather for sitting outside, in my view. I had my choice of seats so I asked for a table right on the water’s edge. The patio is actually a barge anchored to the shore and jutting out into the river.
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much (regarding the food) and nothing on the menu jumped out at me, except for the honey apple salad. So, I ordered the salad, and the “parmesan encrusted salmon.” It is so rare that I order salmon, I cannot remember the last time I ate it. I ordered a glass of chardonnay to accompany the fish.
Before the meal arrived, the waitress brought out a loaf of bread with a rack of four different oils and vinegar, I began to suspect that I might be in for a special meal. The honey apple salad was a delightful combination of sweet, sour, crunchy, and salt. It was an impressive opening to the meal. Then the salmon came, it is a misnomer to call it parmesan encrusted. Instead, it was a perfectly cooked salmon drizzled with aioli and a balsamic reduction that perfectly complimented each other and made the salmon memorable, which is a great accomplishment, given I am not a salmon enthusiast.
I regret having waited so long to return to Market Street Inn. My meal was memorable, and I would now rate the restaurant considerably better than merely ok. In fact, I would now rate it one of the best restaurants in Salisbury.
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