Taco Boy

On Bridge Run Saturday Taco Boy downtown (www.tacoboy.net) was PACKED. We got there around 6:15 and there was a 45 minute wait - we found two seats at the bar luckily or I would have done a u-turn fast and headed over to Shine (also located in the 'hood).

Hayden had a Dos Equis $2.75 and I ordered a La Palapa $6 (tequila, lemon, soda, creme de cassis). After all of my shenanigans with girly drinks the night before I took one sip and gave the rest to Hayden. Couldn't handle it.
Despite being so busy the service was good and fast - that is why I think it is a good strategy to sit at the bar anyway. They bartender has to pass you by constantly and knows when you don't have food or drink. We started with the salsa trio $3.25. I'd say it's a good value but when you go to a Mexican restaurant you get chips fo' free so I'm not going there.

Yum, yum, yum, but I liked the plain ol' salsa cruda best. Soon after the palate warm-up, our custom made taco sampler arrived!



This included the shrimp, baja fish, tuna, and pork carnita tacos (All $3.95 pork $3.50). They are all served on two soft corn tortillas. They were all okay. Nothing too exciting, the floppy warm corn tortillas kinda' ruined it for me I think. I sat next to a manager who told me you can order them with a flour tortilla, or without a tortilla altogether for the carbaphobes (I am a recovering carbaphobe so I appreciate this). He also said their salads are great. I really do think we suffered from not ordering the right thing or least the way we like it. I really would have preferred these on flour tortillas I'm sure. So I am going to have to go back and explore the menu more. Here are the pluses - their service at the bar is great, they have a parking lot, the prices are reasonable, you can dine inside or al-fresco, and the atmosphere is awesome. The place is full of a whole bunch of people having a good time which will make me come back for seconds.

Charleston Farmer's Market Returns this Saturday!

I just read that the Charleston Farmer's Market in Marion Square is opening up for the season again this Saturday (and every Saturday through December 19) from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.! Besides offering a wide variety of local produce and artisan shops, it is the perfect place to stop in for breakfast or lunch on Saturday while strolling around downtown and it looks like they are going to have some new food vendors this year including:
The Messy Apron - hot and cold soups
BJ's Brats - locally made brats and sausage
Meat House - charcuterie products
Better come hungry!

Cose Belle

Saturday Hayden and I woke up really early and took the dogs for a walk to Starbucks and I happened by this boutique called Cose Belle (http://www.cosebellecharleston.com/) that I have never noticed before on Beaufain. It is off the beaten path - by only by half a block so I cannot believe I didn't know about this place! Anyway I saw that they had clothing and home decor but it was like 7 a.m. so I told Hayden we had to stop in later.
After lunch we hit it up. I am a budget shopper so I was a little nervous about downtown boutique prices, but this place has two things that work for me - the 50% off rack and the 75% off rack. Love a sale. The shop is beautiful, you want to stay a while.
I don't really need anything for the house so I stayed focused on clothes.
The salesgirl Jen and the owner Kathy were SO HELPFUL but not weird pushy like so many can be. They really just wanted to help me find something showstopping. The stuff I tried was just not practical even though it was on sale I wasn't going to spend that much money on something I'd wear once unless I had a special occasion coming up which I don't anytime soon.
So I have recently lost a lot of weight (about 40 lbs)and needed a new pair of jeans. For the right pair - I was willing to pay full price. I asked Jen what she liked right now. I am not brand loyal and my body shape is new so I really don't know what cut and color would look good. Jen pulled a pair of Mike Lane's jeans, never heard of them...but Jen is a genius! For real, I have NEVER felt better in a pair of jeans - it's like it didn't even look like me, the jeans made every part of the lower half of my body look the way I wanted it to. Sold!
While my hubby was lounging on the couch iphoning it, the accommodating ladies offered him a cookie that was to die for! Turns out Kathy's daughter is starting a business in Mt. Pleasant - a cookie shop where she has ten flavors which I just think is a great business idea. I think a simple idea, doing one thing and one thing well, is the perfect formula for a successful business.
The cookie Hayden ate was a dark chocolate cookie with dried cherries which is obviously a fab combination. The cookie was really light and fluffy like a chooclate pillow! He looked so happy eating his cookie, that they gave him another, which happened to be the last one in the house. I wish I could remember the name of her business but I can't! I'll include it in another post if I can find it.
Cose Belle is a great place to find unique pieces on sale. The people who work there know what they are doing. They are awesome! I would have bought two of the dresses I tried on if I had no self control. Thankfully I do. Next time I visit I am going to evaluate the home store items a little closer.

Weekend Roundup 3/26 - 3/28 Fast and French

Hayden and I met friends for breakfast Saturday morning at Fast and French (http://www.fastandfrench.org/G&M/G&M_index.html). Some bridge run people trickled in but it was relatively quiet. They have THE BEST french pressed coffee in Charleston. You'll float right out of the restaurant no matter how many croissants you inhale.
Speaking of inhaling croissants, Hayden ordered the chocolate croissant which is huge and toasted up perfectly. The chocolate spread wasn't nutella - I don't think - but something similar. One friend ordered the breakfast special which serves up a huge portion of french bread she couldn't finish along with ham and cheese and fruit and our other friend ordered the ham a cheese croissant which was the star of the show. I ordered something boring but delightful...the 8 o'clock which is cream cheese on rye with raisins. The sweet and salty with crunchy toast is the ideal light breakfast for me. That will be my go-to there from now on. Love this place - love this place!!! It gets double whammy approval for great food and uncommon charm.

Weekend Round-up 3/26 to 3/28 - Fish/RDJ

This weekend was action packed and I have a lot of food to review. I started by meeting a friend for drinks and appetizers at Fish. I have only been to Fish once before, maybe 3 years ago. I remember it being a good meal. My husband isn't a seafood fanatic and when we do the downtown restaurant brain scan, it never pops into my head. They have happy hour specials, though I'm not sure what they are specifically after looking at my receipt, but this gourmet snack didn't break the bank.
I am all for girly cocktails and Fish delivered. We each started with the Ginger Fizz cocktail followed by the Fluer Bresilienne which I preferred of the two. The premise of Fish is French Asian fusion and the menu reflects that. We ordered Croque Madame with duck confit. The egg was great and the duck with rich and delicious but this was a very gourmet looking dish - not homemade or traditional looking at all and the bread was too hard. Too hard to cut and sop up the flavors which it really the point of the raw egg and bread combo. We also ordered the calamari which was served with a sweet chili sauce. The flavor was good and the batter was light but I won't order it again. Pretty standard. For my vegetable we ordered the steamed artichoke which came out with this amazing mint lime sauce for dipping. Delicious and nutritious? I think so. And that's what I focus in ordering when I go out - I am never going to steam myself an artichoke at home - loved this menu item. What was interesting and makes me want to return was the dim sum menu. You choose four and they give you two little pieces perfect for sharing and sampling tiny pieces of food. We had the crab wonton, snapper roll, duck confit steamed bun, and shrimp spring roll. They were all interesting little bites. They also brought us two pieces of some kind of insanely tasty sweet fried bread to start. I don't know what it was but it made the experience unique.
So we just shared those apps and nothing else. I do want to go back and try an entree I heard the naked fish is where it's at - just the freshest local fish cooked with salt and pepper - that's what I'll be ordering next time.
I met up with my husband after Fish and he hadn't eaten dinner yet so we walked over to Rue de jean and he ordered a burger and fries and I, in keeping with my Asian infused palate, ordered with the seaweed salad and umami - BBQ eel. Now I realize my whole night was Frasian themed (French/Asain). What a winning combo!

Amen Street Lunch

We stopped in Amen Street for lunch. We wanted to go to Pearlz but there was a long, long line out the door because I'm pretty sure they had bridge run specials, and I'm not going to wait to eat in this town when I am a) hungry and b) surrounded by good food. Hayden and I recently went through the DISH guide from the City Paper (http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/dish-dining-guide-winter-2010/Category?oid=1761110) and circled all the restaurants we haven't tried together yet. Hayden remembered Amen Street. Perfect! I have been there once before at night for drinks and had the calamari which was just weird. My friend loved it but the texture was like no calamari I have ever seen/heard of/eaten. It's like poached and odd. My friend went specifically for this dish so - different strokes for different folks. We also had the tuna tartare that night and that was pretty fab.
Hayden and I took seats at the bar. Since this was a post bridge run event, there were lots of drunk people downtown early in the day, so we we enjoyed free entertainment while dining.
Onto the meal - I really wanted to go healthy and light for lunch. They have plenty of healthy options on the menu. I ordered the marinated tomatoes to start which were really light and flavorful. There were three thick slices of tomato over greens served with a giant chunk of Gorgonzola which Hayden ate most of.
Then we split a dozen gulf oysters. The menu offers several different options of fresh raw oysters but we went with the most reasonable option and they were perfect.
The highlight of the light lunch was the flounder ceviche:

First of all, I can't believe Hayden agreed to order this, but he loved it. It was perfectly seasoned and came with sweet cubed mangoes, super spicy Serrano peppers, and red peppers. It was served with tortilla chips but I just forked it. This is a good, refreshing, light dish.
I think Amen Street is a a great place to meet for a light dinner at night when the bar is full. The atmosphere at lunch wasn't as exciting as I remember before. I feel like we really lack good seafood restaurants here in Charleston and this helps to fill in that niche a bit.

Lucky in the Lowcountry

I met a girlfriend last week who I haven't seen since my wedding 5 years ago. She played on the College of Charleston tennis team with me and moved out to L.A. for Medical School after college. She grew up in Mt. Pleasant so I was curious to get her take on what I thought would be the glamorous life of a young, single, female (and doctor I might add) living in L.A.
So we planned our reunion at Samos Taverna (www.samostaverna.com) on Coleman Boulevard in Mt. Pleasant chosen for great happy hour specials which include half price appetizers and $3 house wines and well drinks. We ordered the cheese plate which had 3 different types of cheese that were all delicious, served with warm pita toasts, walnuts, grapes, and a fig paste (yum!). We also ordered the stuffed grape leaves which I am going to say were the best I've ever had but I think I've only had them twice before so that may not be saying much. We shared the fava bean dip which is basically the fava bean version of hummus with a more buttery flavor. These also came with warm pita toasts. Of course we rounded the meal out with a vegetable - the roasted beets. I would order every one of those dishes again.
So after diving in the food and cocktails I asked for the skinny on life in the Sunshine State. Shoulda' known - she wants to come back! Of course she does! She lives in Santa Monica which she says is much more low key than the glitzier areas, but she listed the things about living in Charleston that she misses. Life is just simple here, people are friendly and laid back, going out isn't a big production, a beer isn't $10. She said simple things like going to the gym or grocery store, even just meeting a friend for a drink - you have to take a chunk of time - sometimes hours out of your day for the simplest of errands because of traffic.
I know that's one thing I take for granted living here on Daniel Island. I have my bank, doctor's office, gym, grocery store, dry cleaners, over a dozen restaurants all within a 60 second drive from my front door. In fact these places are so close, I choose to walk when I have time.
Even all of the other little subsections of Charleston are convenient. I can knock out all of my Saturday errands in Mt. Pleasant in less than an hour - same in West Ashley. Life is here is so easy and practical no matter where you live in the lowcountry which means we have more time to enjoy our friends and family as well as all of the activities going on here. This really is such a "social" town. There is so much to do, all the time! Hayden and I have to negotiate our social schedule every week it seems!
Our quality of life here is distinctive. Where else do you get the beach, historic and sophisticated downtown, several colleges and universities, world class events such as Spoleto and the Wine and Food Festival in such a small city? But I'm not going to feel guilty about all the fun I'm having...I'm just going to say I'm lucky!
So for my friend's sake, I hope the opportunity comes her way that brings her full circle back to the town she loves. And in the meantime, I'll be just happy to be here waiting for her.