Sel De Mer

374 Graham Avenue, Brooklyn, NY

8.0

map & more

Neighborhood
Brooklyn
Williamsburg

Cuisine
Seafood

Nearby
Union Pool
Warsaw

718-387-4181

Official Website

By Andrew Steinthal
October 25, 2011

In another life, if we weren’t programmed to be music biz douchebags and quasi-professional eaters, we’d be more than happy being beach bums. A life of surfing, fish tacos and girls in bikinis sounds pretty damn good right about now, especially with winter closing in on us. Sadly, NYC is about as far away from a beach town as one can get and fresh seafood right off the boat isn’t that easy to come by. The majority of our fish comes dressed up on a fancy plate, served in elaborate ways with style and flair. While that’s awesome and we’ll happily get down like that, there’s something to be said about seafood in its simplest form. It doesn’t get much better than a steamed lobster with drawn butter, yet finding it is a challenge.

Enter Sel De Mer. This East Williamsburg neighborhood staple is worth a trip for any Quality Fish lover, especailly those who enjoy their scallops with a side of Wu-Tang Clan, which was on the stereo all night. The prices are amazing (a full lobster for $19) and the food is fresh and well prepared. The plates aren’t sexy; many of our dishes had dark brown hue to them, but appearance doesn’t matter if it tastes great. Aside from a bunch of hanging portraits of dudes resembling The Gorton’s Fisherman, the decor is minimal and space limited. Sel De Mer let’s the food, and the music, do the talking. Sel Del Mer only has about 8-10 tables, so be prepared to wait. Kill time around the corner at Infatuation approved drinking establishment Harefield Road. One thing to note – Sel De Mer is strictly a seafood restaurant. Make sure you plan accordingly, because if you go with anyone who doesn’t really like fish, they won’t enjoy this experience.

Sel De Mer may temporarily bring us steps closer to the ocean, but unfortunately I’m still awoken at night by the screaming drunk assholes at the bar downstairs and not the crashing of waves against the sand. It’s 3:30am on a Monday night for f*cks sake, go to sleep people.

Photo Credit: PNut

Food Rundown:

Oysters
Not a lot to choose from, we had some creamy Malpeque bivalves and sweet Nootka Bay’s. While the oysters were great, it was the pickled watermelon mignonette that really did it for me. Wow. As someone who thoroughly enjoys a good mignonette, this one ranks right up there with the peppery ridiculousness at John Dory Oyster Bar as one of my favorite oyster sauces ever.

New England Clam Chowder
Thoroughly enjoyed the chowder. It’s thick, but not too thick, tasted of corn which I love and the potato chunks were just the right size. Considering that the last five times I’ve had chowder has been from Hale & Hearty, it was nice to eat a proper bowl.

Fried Green Tomatoes
Three huge slices of tomoato, fried, and served with frisee, brie and saffron aioli. An excellent dish to share, we were impressed with the firm texture of tomatoes, they held their ground in the fryer.

Watermelon Salad
Another winning appetizer. We enjoyed this salad of watermelon, arugula and feta in a lemon vinaigrette.

Fish Cake Sliders
Loved the fish cake sliders, which were literally just like mini char grilled burgers, but with white fish, but hated the slaw that came with it. It tasted like cab driver. Order the cakes, just get a different side.

Seared Sea Scallops
If they’ve got scallops on the menu when you go, order them. These were fantastic. The plate wasn’t pretty, it actually looked like a brown quinoa mess, but it tasted delicious. The scallops were served atop a bed of quinoa with corn and thyme butter.

Gooseberry Cove Cod
Another winner. This was the best looking plate of the bunch, a beautiful piece of cod served with a red potato and cauliflower puree with minced sausage and lobster. Yup, it was as good as it sounds.

Grilled Swordfish
This was OK, but suffered through a little bit too much time on the flame. If it wasn’t overcooked, it would have been spot on as the flavors were good. But Swordfish is sensitive, if you overcook it even a little it dries out quickly.

Whole Steamed Lobster
$19 for a nice sized lobster? Yes please. Served with drawn butter and french fries. Life is good.

Pasta Du Jour
It changes every night, when we went we had some form of creamy pasta with artichokes and it wasn’t very good. Stick to the seafood.