Welcome to Tastings Around Town, Charleston City Paper’s new monthly column that shares some of the best bites that our staff has had – you guessed it – around town.
Whether it’s a tried-and-true favorite or something from a hot new spot, our team is always out and about enjoying some of the most delicious food our city has to offer. From the high end to the corner store, we are spoiled with an overabundance of incredible food here in Charleston.
One of the best recent meals I’ve had was a new kid on the block, Cheeky, on Meeting Street just above Broad Street. Every bite I’ve had there has been delicious, but the snapper ceviche with aji amarillo and coconut ($21) and the steamed halibut with leeks and sunflower beurre blanc ($46) were the standouts. Aji amarillo is a South American chili with a bit of heat and some citrus notes. Mixing it with the creaminess of the coconut is a killer combo that complements the fish perfectly. As for the halibut, I love leeks and am a sucker for beurre blanc so it’s a dream dish for me.
What’s the best way to follow up a decadent dinner? A simple, reliable lunch. Beloved Burbage’s on Broad Street is everything you want a neighborhood corner store to be. Cold drinks, candy, deviled eggs, flowers, pantry basics… it has it all. But it’s the chicken salad (weight dependent, but an 8-ounce container is usually under $10) that has my heart. Give me a container of it, a bag of salty pretzels and a Diet Coke on ice, and I am a very happy lady.
Continuing with lunch spots, Park Circle’s Jackrabbit Filly is another go-to. Shuai Wang’s food is transcendent, and I love sitting at the bar at Jackrabbit and overordering (great leftovers!). The pork and chicken shumai ($7) always deliver, and on a recent visit I had the shumai along with scallion pancakes and a Korean chicken salad sub special.
While the brisket, smoked turkey and green chile corn pudding are a usual order at Lewis Barbecue, I somehow missed the Hatch green chile barbecue sauce ($10 for a bottle or a free side with an order of smoked meat) until earlier this year. Since then, the sauce has become a major food group. Alongside the smoked meats at the restaurant? Check. Marinating a flank steak at home? Check. On top of chicken tacos? Check. I have yet to find something it doesn’t go with.
I was also late to the party at Highfalutin Coffee Roasters in Avondale and visited for the first time not too long ago. The matcha latte was great, but it was the breakfast taco ($5) that I can’t stop thinking about. It’s nothing fancy – eggs, bacon, cheese, hash browns and verde salsa on a tortilla – but it’s damn good. A friend told me she often orders the taco online to pick up on the way to work and the Highfalutin staff will run it out to her car. Baller move!
While it’s great in person, El Pollo Guapo on Folly Road has become a very frequent delivery meal for my family. And at $38 for a whole chicken meal with three sides and three sauces, all four of us eat very well. El Pollo’s chicken is perfectly seasoned, the skin is crispy and the meat is divine. Pair it with the sweet and salty plantains that are cut into coins and a bit al dente, and put it all over rice. The sauces – garlic-lime aioli, Sriracha aioli, sweet n spicy vinegar and chimichurri – are all outstanding. While we don’t often have any leftover sauces, if we do, I will mix them together and use them as a marinade. The gift that keeps on giving!
Some favorite tastes from City Paper colleagues:
Kolsch with pretzel and beermento cheese
It’s the magical combination of a crisp beer, fresh baked salty pretzel and the best pimento beer-cheese in Charleston. It also comes with mustard for the purists. This is my Friday go-to and should be yours too! – Cris Temples, associate publisher
- Where: Frothy Beard Brewing, West Ashley
- Cost: $13 for 8 ounces and $15 for a pint
Tacos at Maya del Sol
Yes, the chef’s table experience is incredible, and the rotating menu of classic country Mexican dishes is impressive, but I’m a creature of habit and love a good taco. – Skyler Baldwin, news editor
- Where: Raul’s Maya del Sol, North Charleston
- Cost: varies
Okonomiyaki Japanese cabbage pancake
When you think of comfort food, a Japanese cabbage pancake might not immediately come to mind. But one forkful of okonomiyaki, the deeply satisfying, beloved menu staple at Xiao Bao Biscuit, will quickly change that. Its earthy cabbage base is finished off with chili sauce and furikake mayo, with options of topping with an egg, pork candy or bacon. The result is true taste transcendence. – Maura Hogan, culture editor
- Where: Xiao Bao Biscuit, Cannonborough-Eilliottborough
- Cost: $15
Help keep the City Paper free.
No paywalls.
No subscription cost.
Free delivery at 800 locations.
Help support independent journalism by donating today.
