Charleston In the Fall: Resturant Review

I'm a dietitian and food is my life. I get more excited about the food when traveling than site -seeing, so I'm doing a seperate review for the resturants and cafes from our visit. We had a quick yogurt and fruit breakfast at the hotel every morning while we were getting ready for the day so all the reviews are either for lunch or dinner.

Poogan's Porch - Dinner Entree - Crab Cakes served with Hoppin' Johns, green beans, Cajun remoulade and Southern Style biscuits with homemade honey butter.

Rating - Good

"We chose Poogan's Porch because it is a renowned hotspot. It has been featured in movies, many celebrities have visited and it has been rated the third most haunted building by the Travel Channel. Poogan was a dog and they actually barried him in front of the resturant."

Sweetwater Cafe - Lunch

Entree - Shrimp Po'Boy served with a side of fruit

Rating - Excellent

"This sandwich had jumbo perfectly seasoned and fried shrimp, so many in fact I had to eat it with a knife and fork. Mom ordered the cheeseburger in paradise (100% Angus beef served on toast) and said it was the best burger she has ever eaten. It was a great local hotspot."

Hyman's Seafood Resturant - Dinner

Entree - Carolina Delight (scallops served in a homemade cream sauce over grit cakes). I chose collards as my side item and the meal came with beer flavored hushpuppies and boiling peanuts to start.

Rating - Excellent

"I eat here every time I visit Charleston and it does not disappoint. The travel channel lists this as a top 5 seafood resturant in the US. All the seafood is fresh not frozen and the hushpuppies are a truely unique treat. I loved the boiled peanuts too - the caviar of the South. Many celebrities have visited the resturant, our table had plaques that reported Rick Flair, Samuel L Jackson, and Billy Joel have all eaten at the same table."

Cupcake - Snack

Order - Chocolate frosted vanilla cupcake with sprinkles

Rating - Good

"I'm pretty hard to please with baked goods, I was a baker all through college. I worked at a posh bakery that make wedding cakes, cupcakes, candy, and all other confectionary goodies. There isn't much that can top MY baked goods. These were ok, I loved that they piled the frosting high, actually forcing me to eat it with a fork or get it all over my nose."

Joseph's Resturant - Lunch

Entree - Cup of Tomato Crab Bisque with a half chicken salad sandwich

Dessert - Bananas Foster

Rating - Excellent Food, I wish the service had been better

"This is a great local lunch spot. Everything is made fresh from scratch, the chicken salad was probably the best I've ever had but the soup was probably the single best thing I ate on the trip. The bananas foster was really good, but you really can't mess it up - I wish more resturants would put it on the menu."

Magnolias - Dinner

Entree - Bowl of Crab Bisque and the Pear and Arugula Salad

Rating - Excellent "Beautiful fine dining atmosphere and great service. The bring out bread with a unique cream cheese / butter spread to start. My salad had incredible flavor, pear, arugula, balsamic / lingonberry vinegarette, toasted pecans and blue cheese crumbles. The bisque was really good too, but I was so full when it came out I had the waitress package the rest up for me."

The Mustard Seed - Lunch

Entree - Roasted Corn Chowder served with a crab cake garnish

Dessert - Pecan Mocha Torte

Rating - Excellent

"A nightmare to find, I had heard great things about the food but we got lost trying to find it. Well worth the journey! They bring out herbed wheat breadsticks to start, I'm not a bread person and I could have eaten a pan of these. The soup and crab cake was made the perfect lunch. My pecan torte was really rich, the nuts, coffee, and chocolate really hit you all at once. Mom's pecan pie was heavenly though."