Southern Cooking in Charleston
Feb 7th, 2011 by Alex
A few weeks ago a friend and I drove down to Charleston for spring break, January be damned. We met up with some friends, caught the Ravens game at a local bar, did some sight-seeing, reveled, but we made time to sample some of the local fare.
The first morning after arrived, our host took us to Hominy Grill for breakfast. It’s been featured in the news and loved by many for their chocolate pudding (very very tasty).
Two ordered the Big Nasty, a fried chicken breast served on a biscuit, with cheddar cheese, covered in a thick sausage gravy. It sounded incredible, and while I sampled the gravy (delicious) I had other simple fare in mind that morning.
I opted for the Country Breakfast — “two eggs, any style with hominy grits and toast” — mostly because I’d never had grits before and a coworker from North Carolina swore to me that I ought to try down down south before trying to get them up north. So I did and they reminded me of cream of wheat, but a little finer grit. I had them straight up, mixed in with the eggs. Very passable, and I can see a realm of possibilities by adding butter or jam or other additives. I would consider myself a fan.
Note: Hominy Grill is very busy during brunch hours. They will not seat you unless you’re entire party is present, even if you’re only missing one out of four.
The next morning we wandered across the street to Fuel. It was a touch cold out on the patio, but they kicked on the propane heaters for us.
I went with the waffles, topped with fried chicken. Waffles are waffles, but the fried chicken was excellent. Well spiced and stringy, without any grease at all. Definitely recommended. I couldn’t eat it all, but discovered that it’s excellent cold later on in the day. Since we’d been watching the EpicMealTime and Jim Gaffigan videos earlier in the day, I had to get some bacon. Crunchy, salty, and delicious.
Lots of upbeat music playing here, too. Even early(ish) in the morning. A nice atmosphere.
