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Halls Chophouse

October 23, 2011

I first learned about Halls Chophouse in my Seminar in Entrepreneurship class where they came to speak to us. I admire that it’s a family run business that is based mainly on quality of service and building and cultivating relationships with their customers. A lot of places talk a lot about customer service, but for many, it’s just that—talk. Halls actually delivers on its promises. They give you great service and great food. Seriously good food. I’ve said before that Husk is my favorite restaurant, but if I’m craving steak, there is not even a competition. Halls would win out every time. Literally the best steak I’ve ever eaten. And this is coming from a girl who doesn’t actually like steak. (Ditto salad. I’ll talk more about the chopped salad later, but trust me—it’s as close to divine as a salad will ever get). I’ve ordered steaks at other restaurants in Charleston before—Peninsula Grill, Husk, Red Drum, 82 Queen, and Grill 225—and there’s no comparison. I haven’t been to Oak yet, and I have a feeling I probably won’t go anytime soon, either. I just can’t imagine they’d be better than Halls.

They’re better than you, Oak, and they know it.

I’ve been to Halls for dinner five times or so. The first time was with my dad and Shay to spend the gift certificate they gave out to my class (that’s good marketing right there. I saved $25 but probably spent 3 times that on the meal for the three of us. And trust me, it was worth every penny). We started off with the she-crab soup which was really good. I hate it when restaurants add too much sherry to their she-crab soup, but Halls does it right. The dominant flavor is the crab, with only a hint of sherry—exactly how a good she-crab soup should be.

Does this qualify as pornography? I hope so.

I then got the Halls Chopped salad, which is Uh- May-Zing. I live for chopped salad. If more restaurants had them, I’d eat salad way more often, and if they all tasted like Halls, I’d actually enjoy eating them. It has lettuce and tomato and celery and black-eyed peas, peppers and bacon and a whole bunch of other stuff in a buttermilk dressing. But it’s perfectly balanced with the dressing. I hate it when my salad is drowning in salad dressing, but the Halls salad is perfect in every sense of the word. I’d say I’d go there just for the salad, but I know there’s no way I’d go there for food and not get a steak.

Touch my salad, and you lose a finger.

Shay got the filet mignon, while my dad opted for the prime rib. This being my first time at Halls (not realizing how amazing their steaks are), I opted for the lobster. The lobster was about 4 pounds and served with plenty of butter.

As it should be.

Shay offered me a bite of her filet (which she’d gotten butterflied and cooked to medium well) and as soon as it touched my tongue, I knew I’d ordered the wrong thing. Don’t get me wrong, the lobster is delicious, but it’s nothing compared to the filet. Did I mention it’s the best filet I’ve ever had? Because it’s the best filet I’ve ever had. The prime rib was top notch as well. I’m pretty sure none of us spoke after the entrées had been delivered; we were too busy enjoying the food to carry on a conversation.

I’m gonna eat you, sucka!

They serve their sides family style, meaning that one side serves 2-4 people. They’re pretty big. For sides we got the asparagus with hollandaise and the pepper jack grits. Now, as a southerner, I am particular about my grits. Quaker sells this instant crap that says “Grits” on it, but trust me—those are not grits. Halls serves real grits. Thick and creamy and delicious. Not cheesy enough so that you lose the flavor of the grits themselves, but just cheesy enough to make the dish feel complete. They are all about balance at Halls. It just works perfectly.

How could you not want to eat that whole skillet?

The second time I went to Halls was for my mom’s birthday. It was my parents and me, and we went all out. We got spicy shrimp and tempura lobster as starters. I didn’t really care for the lobster, but my parents loved it. The spicy shrimp were pretty good, but I was expecting them to be boiled shrimp, like you’d find in a Creole or jambalaya, but they were just fried shrimp tossed in a spicy sauce. They were still good, I’d just had my heart set on non-fried shrimp. I once again got the chopped salad while Tina opted for the roasted beet salad (who orders things like that? Really, Tina? Really?). The chopped salad is better. I almost stabbed Tina for trying to steal a forkful of my salad. I don’t play around. For our entrées, I chose the filet.

Did I mention it’s the best filet I’ve ever had? I did? Ok, well I just want you to understand that it’s THE BEST FILET I’VE EVER HAD.

You can get sauces on the side with your steak, like Gorgonzola sauce, or béarnaise, but trust me—you don’t need any sauce. The meat tastes amazing all on its own (that’s what she said!). I can’t remember what Tina and Russ got, because I was too focused on my own food to take the time to care about their choices. All I know is that there was meat, there was a lot of it, and we ate it all. Ron Swanson would be proud.

MEAT TORNADO

For sides this time, we got the asparagus again, and the macaroni and cheese. Macaroni and cheese is one of my weaknesses. It’s the one thing I seem to be unable to resist. It’s my kryptonite. Even when I’m dieting, if there’s mac and cheese within reach, I won’t even hesitate. I just start devouring it without giving myself time to think about it. The mac and cheese at Halls is good. It’s not great, but it’s good. It’s more creamy than cheesy, and I prefer my mac and cheese to be extra cheesy. The waitress was raving about the mac and cheese (she loves it. It’s her favorite), so I guess it’s all a matter of personal preference. I do have to say that I’m a fan of the squiggly noodles. I’d just prefer more cheesy in the saucey pleasey! Next time, I’d just stick with the grits.

Macaroni skillets are what I dream about at night.

You may have noticed that I clarified both of my visits by saying “The first/second time I went for dinner.” This is because Halls has an amazing bar. Rather, they have one drink that I’m obsessed with called the 434 martini. It’s pineapple infused vodka that’s served ice cold and frothy. It’s not overly fruity, but it definitely tastes nothing like alcohol. Except for the fact that it’s straight alcohol. So you don’t realize how much you’ve actually had until you stand up to go to the bathroom after the 5^th one and you almost fall on your face (that’s actually a true story about my dad the night I graduated). The first time I had one was at a party hosted at Halls for my entrepreneurship class after our final exam. It was a 2 hour reception with free food and drinks courtesy of Tommy Baker (anytime there are free drinks involved, you can guarantee I’m going to make an appearance). I made Lily come with me and we started drinking martinis, excited for some free Halls food. We found out, about 3 martinis in, that the “free food” was actually a veggie tray. Don’t get me wrong, I love carrot sticks, but if I’d known that’s all the food I was going to be having, I would have eaten something hearty before I starting downing liquor. Needless to say, Lily and I had a great time.

Don’t be fooled by how pretty it looks. It’s deadly. And delicious

I took my mom to Halls for drinks before we went to Pantheon for the drag show, and we sat at one of the community bar tables drinking and hanging out. One of the Hall family members, usually Billy or Tommy, came by a number of times to make sure we had everything we needed and that we were enjoying ourselves (we were). We stayed for about an hour, and we getting ready to head out to go across the street to O-Ku (they make these habanero-infused vodka martinis with sugared rims that my mother is obsessed with) when Tommy Hall stopped us to ask why we were leaving so soon. My mother, being my mother, told him “We’re going over to O-Ku to get sugar and spice martinis. They’re my favorite.” Tommy Hall replied “O-Ku is great, but did you know we actually invented those? Why don’t you have a seat and I’ll bring you one.” So we sat back down and he brought us a round on the house. Tina was skeptical that they would be as good as O-Ku’s, so she was quite surprised to find out that she actually liked these more. Apparently the ones that Halls makes are spicier. I don’t really do spicy. I took one sip and then had to chug a gallon of water to be able to feel my lips again.

It’s easy to confuse this with the 434. But, you will know you made a mistake IMMEDIATELY after taking a sip.

I’ve literally never had a bad experience at Halls. Every time we leave, Billy is there to shake our hands, or give us a hug and thank us for coming. Once he even chased us down the street, to make sure he thanked us properly. The service continues, even when you’re not at the restaurant. They sent my mom a hand-written thank you note, telling her how much they appreciated her coming into the restaurant on her birthday. They even wished me a happy birthday on Facebook, even though I hadn’t been to Halls in over 2 months. They’re all about the relationships that they build with their customers. Pairing their outstanding customer service with their delectable food (did I mention the filet is the best I ever had??) and you have a recipe for an unforgettable night out.

I may have forgotten to mention the tray of meat.

Summary: Get the steak and the grits. Drink the 434. Tip your server.

Halls Chophouse
434 King Street
Charleston, SC 29403
(843) 727-0090

8 Comments

Charleston, SC Restaurant Reviews

Slightly North of Broad

October 1, 2011

I dragged Becca with me to SNOB this past week to use a gift card someone had given my mom before it expired. I’d heard really good things about SNOB and I’ve always wanted to try it, so I was super pumped to have someone to go with. It was starting to look like I was going to have to go by myself, and then I would have ended up on that “People Eating Alone” tumblr, and I’m not quite at that stage of hermitude yet (I think I might copyright “hermitude” so that you have to pay me money every time you use it. I always make up the best words).

No cats allowed? In that case, Sydney. Party of one.

We started with the Curry Butternut Squash Soup, the Prince Edward Island Mussels, and the Tuna Crudo. The soup was amazing, and huge. We were sharing it and still didn’t manage to finish it all (although not for lack of trying). I didn’t care for the mussels. They were really chewy and didn’t really have any flavor. It’s hard to beat my dad’s mussels though, so they had really tough competition to start off with. The Tuna Crudo was really good, too. Simple yet delicious. It was basically a salad with tuna and arugula, avocado, radish, and this really delicious citrus vinaigrette. Superb. The waitress didn’t even judge us for ordering three appetizers like the guy at Poogan’s Porch (I’ll never go back there again. That guy was such a pretentious jerk). Our waitress at SNOB was not pretentious at all, which was unexpected considering the name of the restaurant (buh dum PSHHH).

“Just bring me one of everything, and no one gets hurt.”

For dinner I got the sautéed duck breast (medium well), with a confit duck, goat cheese & green pea risotto, carrots, turnips, topped with a honey thyme reduction. It was, without a doubt, the best duck I’ve ever eaten (don’t tell my Dad). The risotto I could eat for days and days. It was so good. I’m not sure my vocabulary is evolved enough to be able to describe how good it was. Becca got the grilled beef tenderloin, jumbo lump crab cake, béarnaise, green peppercorn sauce. I think it may have come with some potatoes of some sort, but I was too busy obsessing over how good my duck was to notice her food.

LOOK AT THAT DUCK. Sheer perfection.

Being the fatties that we are, we of course ordered dessert (and the waitress didn’t even judge us for it, which was nice). I got the apple crisp and Becca got the banana cream pie, which was actually pretty delicious considering the fact that I don’t usually like anything banana flavored or with bananas in it. It was pretty scrum-didli-umptious. All in all it was a pretty freaking delicious dinner.

Bananalicious.

Summary: Get the duck. Avoid the Mussels. Banana Cream Pie is amazing.

I always have to say the word “Maverick” with a Sarah Palin accent.

Slightly North of Broad
192 East Bay Street
Charleston, SC 29401
(843) 723-3424

Charleston, SC Restaurant Reviews

Zen Asian Fusion

August 3, 2011

The sushi at Zen is amazing. There are no two ways about it. I’ve been there like 6 or 8 times and only once has a roll disappointed me flavor-wise. I like my sushi rolls to have a little bit of crunch to them, whether it be from tempura flakes, cucumbers, fruit, etc. The Sweetie roll, although described as containing “spicy crunchy tuna” was not crunchy at all. It tasted fine (if you like tuna, which I do), but I just didn’t like the lack of crunch. Although, the roll itself was very pretty.

Perfect for the single-cat lady looking to feel extra lonely on Valentine’s Day.

The rolls at Zen are all very pretty. They like to use different color soy papers instead of the standard black seaweed, so the different rolls are different colors. They’re all about presentation. My favorites are the King’s Speech, the Paradise Roll, and the Holy Moly. My dad is obsessed with the King’s Speech. He didn’t even like sushi before we came to Zen, and now he’s a sushi addict.

“Hi my name is Russell, and I have a sushi addiction”

The King’s Speech is tempura shrimp and green apple wrapped in Soy Paper, topped with king crab salad and red tobiko. The sauces are really delicious, too. They’re all different colors. One of them is a light green wasabi with honey, one is a mango sauce, and one is an eel sauce. They complement the sushi roll perfectly. The Paradise roll is unlike any roll I’ve ever eaten anywhere else. It’s a spicy lobster salad, shrimp tempura, and banana tempura wrapped in soybean paper and topped with a mango sauce. It’s the perfect blend of spicy, sweet, salty, and banana. I can’t even describe the flavor, you just need to try it. The Holy Moly roll is tuna, crab, avocado and greens, rolled in seaweed and deep fried. It’s served still warm, and crunchy on the outside with a creamy garlic sauce. This is one of my mom’s favorites.

King’s Speech on the upper right, Paradise on the lower left. Delicious all around.

Also, if you go, you need to get the Tuna-tini appetizer. It’s amazing. Becca and I ate one apiece when we went there. It’s basically tuna and crunch and crab salad with ponzu sauce and and seaweed. But it’s so delicious and flavorful and I could eat 10 by myself. It’s so good. So good, in fact, Becca and I are going to go eat there tonight! (all this talk about sushi has got me craving it, and the hot pocket I had for lunch just isn’t cutting it). The service has also been really good every time I’ve been there. The waiters and waitresses are attentive, courteous, and personable. The atmosphere is really nice, as well. It feels very asian inside, with a lot of dark wood and gold accents. It’s very classy.

Oh, snap! Is that Dexter on that TV screen? How much classier can you get?!

The Thai food from Zen isn’t very good. I got the pad Thai one of the first times I went there, and I could barely finish it. They added something to the sauce, something smoky that rendered it almost inedible for me. And if you know me, you know that something has to be really terrible in order for me to not eat it. I’ve never had any of their Chinese food, or any of the other Asian food they serve, so I can’t speak to how well they do in that aspect. I will say, however, that the sushi is AMAZING (in case you haven’t gotten that from my earlier ravings).

I love sushi like a fat kid loves cake.

Zen Asian Fusion
2037 Sam Rittenberg Boulevard
Charleston, SC 29407-4601
(843) 766-6331

1 Comments

Charleston, SC Restaurant Reviews

Husk Restaurant

June 30, 2011

I love Husk. It’s my favorite restaurant ever. Like. Ever ever. To preface this, I will say that my first visit to Husk kind of rocked my world. I always knew I wanted to go to culinary school and learn more about cooking, but this meal completely cemented that route in my head. Never before has a single meal changed the course of my life, until the day I dined at Husk. I worship Chef Sean Brock. The way he runs Husk, the way he crafts his dishes. The man, to me, is a genius. A god, even.

If he started a cult, I’d be the first to drink the kool-aid… and it’d probably taste like Pork.

Seeing him lose against Michael Symon on Iron Chef America broke my heart a little bit (I still maintain that that one female judge had the hots for Mr. Symon, and that’s why he won. Women. They’re so predictable.) When I go to Husk now, I usually go sit at the bar and order the burger because it’s literally heaven on earth. If you haven’t had it yet, you’re really missing out. In fact, you should stop reading this right now and go order it. I’ll wait.

All you need is one bite and you’ll understand.

Here’s a summary of all of my other experiences at Husk. Enjoy!

The First Time:

My first visit at Husk, I was with Ben and Tommy. This was the first and last time I had good service at Husk. Our waitress was a lady who had a law degree but couldn’t find any law jobs, so started waiting tables at Husk as a backup. Maybe not everyone’s dream, but I’d love to wait tables at Husk. Fancy people go there. I love being fancy. We went all out. It was amazing. First, the benne seed rolls and the pork fat butter, which come with your meal.

I think Ben and I ate at least 3 baskets of benne rolls in approximately 2 minutes.

Next, appetizers. We all split the crispy pork rillettes which are basically a fried meat ball made out of pork belly. Crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside. Which is kind of weird for meat, but, trust me, it worked. It was amazing. The only things Ben and I were able to say during the entire meal were “Oh god. This is so good.” “Thank you Tommy for bringing us here.” All the while, Tommy sat there with his salad, basking in the glow of our affection for and gratitude to him for bringing us to such a magical and delicious place. I lament the fact that I was too busy savoring these tiny little pieces of heaven to take a picture. And then, all of a sudden, they were all gone. I ordered my own personal appetizer of the golden cauliflower soup with duck and goat cheese, which was possibly one of the best soups I’ve ever eaten. Seriously. If you ever go to Husk or McCrady’s, get whatever soup is on the menu. I promise you it will be amazing.

Every time I make soup, I think to myself What Would Sean Brock Do?

After the soup, I ordered the catfish BLT which was, once again, one of the most amazing sandwiches I’ve ever had in my life. Now, before you write me off as being lame for just ordering a fish sandwich (and I hope you said that in your best Ladies Man voice), the waitress recommended it, and so did some guy sitting next to us, I just couldn’t say no.

Stop trying to eat your screen.

Ben got the cheeseburger, and before you write him off for being one of those lame American boys who always orders a cheeseburger, be aware that this is one of their specialties and it is damn good. The chipped fries are delicious as well. Crispy on the outside, potatoey on the inside, just like a good fry should be.

Although he is a lame American boy most of the rest of the time.

Being the gluttons that we are, when the waitress asked the inevitable question, “did you guys save room for dessert?” The honest answer would have been “No. We stuffed our faces with ever morsel you laid before us and our stomachs are already bursting at the seams.” What we actually said was “Yes! Please bring us a menu!” Which she was only too happy to do.

Looks like mush. Tastes like delicious.

Ben ended up with the heirloom bread pudding while I opted for the inverted black bottom pie (unless you look at the receipt, which shows that I ordered a Plack bottom pie. I have no idea what that could be).

Plack Pie Heaven.

The Second Time:

The second time I dined at Husk was with Lily and my dad for lunch after The Incident (it’s kind of like Fight Club. I don’t talk about it). Anyway, I wasn’t nerdy enough to remember to take a picture of the receipt (or any other pictures for that matter), so I’m going purely off of memory here.To start off with, I ordered the pork rillettes, not realizing that these were regular pork rillettes, and not the crispy ones. So I was a bit disappointed when something like paté arrived at our table. Nonetheless, it was still delicious when spread on toast.

I’m still not sure how I feel about spreadable meat. Photo via Gourmet Pigs

For the meal, I got the burger, Lily got a pork belly sandwich, and Papa Bear got the shrimp and grits. Everything was delicious, even though pork belly makes me nervous, the Husk version was delicious. For dessert, I got the Plack bottom pie again, and dad got something else, that I’m sure was delicious, but I cannot remember what it was.

All in all, a delicious second visit.

The Third Time:

The third time I went with La immediately following our dance class. I’m pretty sure it was during restaurant week, which really made no difference since we were there for lunch. If I was on “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” and Regis Philbin said to me “For ONE MILLION dollars: What did Lauren get when you went to Husk for lunch?” I’d lose all the money. I’d go down in flames on national television. I seriously have no friggin’ clue what she ordered, once again I forgot to take pictures. I’m full of failure, I know. It was probably something lame like a salad.

Lauren’s idea of a good time. Photo via Flickr / Libby Telford.

I, on the other hand, ordered the chipped lamb BBQ sandwich which was without a doubt the best lamb I’d ever eaten. It wasn’t fatty like most lamb is, and it just melted straight in your mouth. The BBQ sauce was subtle, not too overpowering, and was a good balance of tangy, spicy, and sweet. It was seriously amazing. Lauren passed on dessert because she’s lame (see picture above). Meanwhile, I splurged on the “Coffee and Donuts” which is a coffee cake donut and Krispy Kreme ice cream. Apparently the pastry chef at Husk knows how to smoke ice cream. Whatever it is he does works, because it tastes like you’re eating the real thing. I’ve had Krispy Kreme donut milkshakes before, and they’re nothing compared to this. Luckily the portion size was small enough to prevent me from hating myself after the meal for eating so much.

The Fourth Time:

The most recent time I visited Husk was with my mom and her friend Jenn. We went for brunch and I was in a hurry trying to fit it in during my lunch break from work. As I said before, I am picky when it comes to breakfast food (I like my eggs scrambled and with cheese. And that’s the only way I will eat them. I’ve tried. I really want to like fried eggs, but I just don’t). So brunch is usually hit or miss with me. I was hoping, since it’s Husk, that the meal would be a hit, especially since I’d talked up the restaurant so much to my mom.

Source: How to cook eggs for the Queen of the Food Age

The service in the restaurant was atrocious. It was hardly packed, there were a number of empty tables, and yet it still took the waiter ten minutes after we’d sat down to even come and give us water. Another fifteen minutes after that to ask about appetizers. Ten minutes after that to ask about Entrees…….did I mention my lunch break is only an hour long and that it’d taken us ten minutes to get there? I think you can see how this is going to end for me.

Not well.

The Food: We got the biscuits and gravy and the crispy fried chicken skins to start with. The biscuits and gravy was amazing. Probably the 2nd best I’ve ever eaten in a restaurant (the best would be at the Lost Dog Cafe. The best overall, not at a restaurant would be my Uncle Ed. He uses unusual meat). We were a little disappointed with the chicken skins. The way the waiter described them made them seem as if they were going to be like a pork rind, but instead they were like a chicken skin, dipped in batter and deep fried. Slimy and crispy, but still very chewy. And there were so many in that little bowl. Way more than we needed/wanted to eat.

I spy with my little eye, something that’s greasy and disappointing.

For the main course, my mom and I both got confit duck “Monte Cristo” with gouda and a fried egg with sausage and potato hash on the side. I liked everything but the fried egg. I could eat duck confit every day of the week. Tina was less than impressed with hers. I was pretty disappointed with the breakfast. Tina said that it was “awful,” but I wouldn’t go that far–it just wasn’t up to par with my Husk standards. Jenn got Beef tenderloin, sunny side up egg, and the sausage and potato hash on the side, and I’m pretty sure she ate all of it.