Why does salt dissolved in water taste like salt? If it's just Na+ and Cl- ions

When $\ce{NaCl}$ is dissolved into water it breaks down into $\ce{Na+}$ and $\ce{Cl-}$. It stays in this form until the water evaporates and then the ions go back to normal $\ce{NaCl}$. So why does water with salt in it still taste like salt? I am asking because if the molecule $\ce{NaCl}$ is broken down into $\ce{Na+}$ and $\ce{Cl-}$ then how does it have the characteristics of $\ce{NaCl}$?

Answer

When you taste salt, you're not pushing crystalline $\ce{NaCl}$ into your taste buds. It dissolves in your saliva and dissociates. When one tastes salt, the saltiness taste receptors respond specifically to the sodium cation. That type of taste receptor is a cation channel. This is why lithium and potassium cations also taste salty (though they also stimulate other receptors which make them taste somewhat different).

There seem to be at least two types of receptors that respond to saltiness. One responds almost specifically to sodium at low concentrations, but at higher concentrations, the other type responds to many cations. See here