From new concepts to old standbys, here’s what our food writers had to say about the best bites they had this year.
Parker Milner
Pork adobo, Mansueta’s
Mansueta’s chef/owner Nikko Cagalanan’s riff on his Filipino grandmother’s recipe is one of several delicious, authentic dishes you can find at his stall in Workshop. Cagalanan uses coconut milk to braise his pork adobo, creating a rich, flavorful sauce.
Chickpea panisse, Babas on Cannon
The restaurant’s chickpea panisse — essentially a chickpea fritter — smells like waking up to a warm stack of pancakes when it arrives piping hot at your table. A little squeeze of lemon takes this pre-dinner snack to the next level.
Vada pav, Tu
When Tu switched to a full-Indian menu in 2019, my girlfriend and I made a habit of stopping in nearly every Friday. We fell in love with several dishes, but our favorite was the vada pav, a fried potato sandwich that’s one of Mumbai’s most-popular street foods. The doughy milk bread and tangy barbecue sauce combine with the potato patty to form a bite unlike any I’ve ever had.
Scallop po’ boy, 167 Raw
There’s a reason that tourists line up outside of 167 Raw at all hours — it’s just that good. You can’t go wrong with a dozen oysters or a lobster roll, but the scallop po’ boy caught my attention for the first time earlier this year. I am late to the game on this one, but it has since become my go-to every time I stop in.
Crab tagliatelle, Chubby Fish
If you haven’t been to Chubby Fish, run there and order the crab tagliatelle. The dish is loaded with large chunks of blue crab, yet the sauce manages to avoid the type of flavor that screams, “This is seafood pasta!”
Vanessa Wolf
Beet chaat, Tu
Alas, the beet chaat — one of the best things I put in my mouth all year — is no longer on the recently revamped veggie-forward menu at Tu, but the ruby root can still be enjoyed along with charred onions and cashews in the handheld dahi puri bundles.
Cucumber salad, KinFolk
Over on the edge of Kiawah, low-key Johns Island newcomer KinFolk made itself at home with its cayenne-coated, Nashville-style hot chicken. While the fiery yardbird is well worth the trip, it’s a simple side dish that made the biggest impression. The cucumber salad is tossed with parsley, dill seed, and a sour cream-based dressing giving the impression that “whoever is making this food gives a damn, and is enjoying themselves at the same time.”
Veg-forward dishes, Herd Provisions
In June, Herd Provisions became the newest member of the Holy City’s abiding farm-to-table scene. Boasting a farmer who also happens to own the tables, Alec Bradford’s heritage Ancient White Park cattle, hogs, and poultry may have snagged center stage in the chic eatery’s name, but it’s the locally sourced salad and other vegetable-focused dishes that truly shine.
D.R.E. James
Crab rice, Hannibal’s Kitchen
My favorite waitress has a gold tooth, there’s a photo of Pharrell Williams hanging on the wall from whenever he came and ate here, Anita Baker, “Giving you the Best that I Got” is playing underneath the bombastic quarreling of some rowdy regulars, oh yeah and they have crab rice — a dish so simply delicious, every time I eat it, I’m partly ashamed that I’d never thought to make this at home.
Jenny Ruth’s deviled eggs, Glass Onion
What I like the most about these eggs is the fact that they’re not all gussied up. The thunder sauce relish is a pinch of razzle dazzle but it’s definitely not rainbow trout caviar, lobster mousse, or truffles imported from the Dordogne Valley. If anything, they’re pretty damn close to the ones your favorite aunt would make for the 4th of July cookout, and you can enjoy them without having to swat away the flies.
Lamb dumplings, Kwei Fei
First and foremost, big ups to Dave for bringing dim sum to the Charleston brunch scene by way of these plump crescents of pure delight. I try to be hip and eat them with chopsticks like all the other cool people around me, but they always get too slippery to stay put so I just pick up them by hand, like the savage I am, scraping them gently through the puddle of black vinegar before devouring them.
Chicken rendang, Xiao Bao Biscuit
I know, I know — how could I not put okonomiyaki on this list? That XBB chicken rendang, though, yanks at my heart strings with a little more vigor. I spent a significant chunk of my life in a Guyanese household, so curry chicken was so ubiquitous that I foolishly thought I knew everything about it, until I ran into its Indonesian cousin. This dish will make you and everybody in Charleston kick the venerable Country Captain to the curb.
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