Where to eat in Charleston
Charleston is an eating destination, there are many well known restaurants, some focusing on Southern Cuisine, but there are other options too. Prior to our visit, I did a fair amount of researching restaurants and menus to decide where I wanted to eat. In the end, I only made a reservation at Fig for Saturday night and decided to leave the rest up in the air.
I had to set an alarm to get the reservation at FIG. Reservations open at noon Eastern 4 weeks in advance and they go really fast especially for a weekend. I was successful, but I could easily have missed it. There is walk-in seating at the bar that is probably available if you arrive right when they open.
The food was not particularly southern for the most part, there were “southern” bits and pieces, but it was more just fine dining/food cooked well. FIG stands for Food Is Good.
Apparently the Ricotta Gnocchi with Bolognese has been on the menu since the restaurant opened and I LOVE gnocchi, so there was no question about ordering that and it met every expectation of super soft tender gnocchi with bolognese. We also ordered the Salad Lyonaise with duck confit, which was a very nice salad.
My main course was grilled triggerfish which is a fish I’ve never eaten before, served along with spinach, country ham, and potato. And for dessert, sticky sorghum pudding for dessert.
Some breweries: Munkle Brewing & Edmund’s Oast
Not far north of historic Charleston, there’s a high concentration of breweries. It was Sunday night and it had been a cold, breezy, and slightly rainy day. It was pretty quiet when we walked into Munkle Brewing. We selected Munkle because they had some belgian style beers, which is one of my favorite styles. I enjoyed the beer and we also had bbq sandwiches from Palmira which was set up outside.
Our second stop was Edmund’s Oast, which was a very different atmosphere. They have two locations very close together, and we went to the Taproom, which was pretty bustling. We ate some boiled peanuts and a pizza. The beer was eclectic in my opinion and I tried one of the several sour beer options.
We stayed on James Island and when I woke up hungry one morning, I was looking for breakfast options, and came across Dills & Camp Sundries on an Eater Carolinas list of great new brunch places around Charleston. It was practically within walking distance of our Airbnb, so it seemed like the right choice and it really was. The picture isn’t great, but everything tasted great, particularly the gravy.
Rooftop bars seem to be a thing around Charleston. I’m not a big bar person, but it seemed like not a bad idea to go have a drink at The Vendue Rooftop Bar and spend an hour after walking around all day. Except that the weather didn’t cooperate, so the actual rooftop part of the bar was not open, the level below was open, which was more protected, so it was perhaps a bit warmer and we sat and had a drink and it was pleasant.
On our last night, it was time for something different and maybe some vegetables. So we headed to Butcher and Bee. We did not have a reservation and it was busy enough, but we were able to get a table.
We ate the celery root falafel, mushrooms with hummus, and the grilled chickpea caesar.
