ira

Hi all,
My Lady Wife and I visited Charleston this week for an anniversary present to ourselves.

We stayed at
No. 4 Unity Alley B&B Very nice accommodations. Large A/C room with a jacuzzi tub. The public areas are nicely furnished. Breakfast was good.
Not inexpensive.
Highly recommended.
(Unity alley is very narrow. You won't be able to get a large car or van in.)

We ate at
SNOB for lunch. (http://www.mavericksouthernkitchens....ynorthofbroad/ )
Pleasant room, VG service, VVG cooking.
I had the shrimp & grits w/andouille sausage. My Lady had the crab salad.
The grits were excellent.
Not expensive.
Highly recommended.

The Peninsula Grill for dinner (http://peninsulagrill.com/ )
Located in the Planters Inn, it is easy to walk by it.
Very nice room, tastefully furnished. Excellent service. Very good cooking. VG bar.
Expensive.
Highly recommended
The couple next to us ordered the coconut cake for dessert. It came. She said "Oh my God"! It was 8 layers high.

Circa 1886 (http://circa1886.com/)
It is on the grounds of the Wentworth Mansion, which has been renovated and made into a boutique hotel.
Very pleasant decor and ambience. Attentive, pleasant and friendly staff.
My Lady Wife had the smoked Salmon appetizer, the scallops for a main and the "Key Lime Pie". All VVG.
(The KLP is a deconstructed arrangement of cheesecake filling, Bavarian creme and housemade Key Lime curd)

I had the Tasting menu with wine pairings:
62.5 ̊ Farm Egg over Faro, which I didn't think I would like, was delicious.
Roasted Arctic char (Quite good) was followed by pleasant salad greens.
The main offering was charcoal grilled Antelope, which was only VG. I think that a longer marinating would have made it Excellent.
Dessert was a roasted banana souffle.

The wines were nicely chosen - middle-of-the-menu American (mostly West coast) - with a very good ruby Port at the finish.

The desserts were inscribed "Happy Anniversary".

Lovely Anniversary dinner.

Expensive.
Highly Recommended

Charleston Grill (http://www.charlestongrill.com/web/c...ndex.html#home )
A "see and be seen" place, which was not crowded on a Tuesday night.
We agreed that it rates a Michelin Star.
The Jazz ensemble was a bit too loud, but otherwise everything was top notch.

The menu is arranged as four Themes, from which one can order vertically, horizontally or at random.

Roberta ordered vertically:
Spring Onion & Potato Soup
Grilled Wild Salmon

I ordered horizontally:
Octopus Salad
Ricotta & Iberico Ham
Fried Bandera Quail

Everything was well prepared, well plated and well served.

Very Expensive.
Very highly recommended.

We visited:
Battery Park
The market
Middleton Place Plantation (https://www.middletonplace.org/)
Random places.

Charleston is more convivial and less snobbish than the last time we visited - 1989.

palmettoprincess

Good report.

DebitNM

Heading there in Sept; will be sure to refer back to this report. Thanks!

starrs

Great report! Would love to see that coconut cake.
Happy Anniversary to you and your LW

jahoulih

You can see the cake made here:

http://www.marthastewart.com/994501/...ut-cake-part-1

Thanks for the report, ira.

Suki

We were there the week of April 20th but for this visit we rented a place out on Folly Beach which we enjoyed a lot. We went into town 3 or 4 days to dine or shop. We also ate at SNOB and had a wonderful meal. The highlight for me was my aspargus soup shrimp with appetizer. On another evening we dined at HUSK which was just outstanding. One afternoon we took a cooking class at Charleston Cooks which was really fun and we had plenty to eat. I also recommend a visit to the chocolatier-patissier just off King St. on Society St.
http://www.christophechocolatier.com/index.php?p=ABOUT

Thanks for the report, Ira and I hope you don't mind me adding my experiences.

LSky

Oh my, that sounds good. Thanks ira.

Even though, now you've made me hungry on the day I'm doing a mono diet.

ronkala

Suki, if you ever return to Folly Beach, try Salty Waters Seafood up the other end of Folly Road just beyond the connector and next to Publix.

If you want some real good Gullah Geechee cooking, try the Workmen's Café off Fort Johnson Road behind the Exon station at the Folly Road intersection. Open 'til 4:00 pm Tues-Saturday.

suewoo

Hey ira,

You made some great choices. Your wife is a lucky woman! So glad you enjoyed my beloved Charleston.

Ifnotnow_when

Ira, You and my DH would get along wonderfully. A trip report that centers on restaurants and food choices (and great ones to boot) are at the top of his list.

soogies

I am not a foodie but I enjoyed your report. I could see that it was a special time for you and your lovely lady - Happy Anniversary to Mr and Mrs Ira!

PS: I DO have 8 layer coconut cake on my mind now, though...

maryanntex

We loved SNOB and did not like Husk at all. I've eaten at Husk twice--the first time (lunch), I'd rate it "okay," the second (dinner) was a miserable experience. I'll never go back. For DebitNM and anyone else planning a visit, I highly recommend the Gullah Tour. http://gullahtours.com/ Alphonso Brown is a great guide and you learn a lot that you wouldn't have otherwise.

Daniel_Williams

Ira,

It seems like every restaurant you went to worked out well. Jibes quite well with my dining experience there in 2011 even though we didn't go to any of the same restaurants.

Thanks for this report and 5 new reasons to return to Charleston!

Best wishes, Daniel

ira

Hi Suki,

> I hope you don't mind me adding my experiences.

Not at all.

The more folks who add their experiences the better.

Suki

Thanks, Ira. I reserved at Husk because I follow a food blog, Iowa Girl Eats, and she had just been to Charleston and described several meals (one at SNOB as well.) She wrote of it in glowing terms so I decided t try it. There were four of us and we were all happy.

There are some wonderful pictures of some of her Charleston meals here:
http://iowagirleats.com/2013/04/04/f...urant-edition/

DebitNM

Thanks Maryann!

tower

Ira...you did it up well. Happy Anniversary. I thought I'd add in two cents..while in Charleston, take a few minutes to see the simplest and yet most moving Holocaust Memorial I have ever seen (and due to my work, I've seen such memorials most everywhere in the world).

It's on Marion Square and consists of a list of survivors living in South Carolina and Charleston in particular. The display is a shock to one's soul, in my opinion.

Gretchen

The Husk bad experience (well, not bad bad, but not good/worth it) was also our adult foodie restaurant manager kids' experience. If you're paying that much you need to be able to count on continuity and quality every time.