Anniversary Dinner in Charleston SC

This year, we decided to celebrate our 32^nd wedding anniversary by taking a little trip over to Charleston SC.   As usual, I’d researched the area’s attractions, sights, places to stay and, of course, the dining opportunities.  There were several high-end restaurants on my list, but we’re not really into ‘fussy food’ aka haute cuisine. 

Neighbors Frank and Joann had mentioned one of their favorite restaurants in Charleston…a place they always visit when in town… After checking out the menu on-line, we quickly decided that this was the place for our anniversary dinner.  And so, this is Poogan’s Porch.

Poogan’s Porch is a popular spot for celebrities who are visiting Charleston.  The house itself was built in 1888.  The restaurant was named after a neighborhood dog who’d claimed the porch for himself when the restaurant first opened.  If you’re easily ‘spooked’, this may not be the place for you… The Travel Channel voted Poogan’s Porch as the “Third Most Haunted Place in America!

The décor is warm & friendly, with a French influence.  The walls have been painted to look like old leather with hand painted murals of ferns & palmetto palms.  The windows have plantation shutters & the front French doors open to let in the cool sea breezes!  You can opt to sit on the front porches or dine inside.  Most of the rooms have fireplaces as a focal point.  Lovely!

Laurie ordered the Spinach Salad with goat cheese, caramelized onions, spiced pecans and basil balsamic vinaigrette dressing.  Laurie gave this salad a ‘two thumbs up’.  Our salads came with a pair of beautiful biscuits…but in the interest of limiting the length of this blog, I omitted the photo we took of one of them…

I couldn’t resist the Iceberg Wedge Salad!  It was loaded with applewood smoked bacon, tomatoes and cucumbers…and it was smothered in some great buttermilk bleu cheese dressing!  Very nice!

Laurie selected the Pan Seared Duck Breast as her entrée.  It was served with a pimento cheese grit cake and roasted garlic spinach with a Mepkin Abbey oyster mushroom jus.  Laurie loved the duck and she actually ate her vegetables!

I ordered the Buttermilk Fried Chicken with whipped potatoes, collard greens and sage herbed gravy.  It was all very tasty…although I would have liked it a bit better if it had come with a little more of that nice gravy!  The chicken was very nice…and I always eat my greens…

Hey…it was our anniversary…  No sharing desserts this time!  Laurie had the Poogan’s Porch Award-Winning Bread Pudding.  Delicious!

I went off the edge and ordered the Cobbler of the Day…in this case, a mixed berry cobbler.  It was excellent!

When we return to Charleston the next time, we’ll have to sample some of the other great sounding items on the menu at Poogan’s Porch.  Appetizers & Starters include Chef Isaac’s She Crab Soup, an Arugula Salad, Pimiento Cheese Fritters, Crab Fondue, Fried Ravioli, Chef D’s Farm Fresh (Vegetable) Soup, Fried Green Tomatoes, Mac & Cheese and Scallop & Pork Belly.

Entrees include Plantation Fried Chicken (Stuffed & Fried), Pan Seared Jumbo Scallops, Sweet Tea Glaze Salmon, a Carolina Hangar Steak, Farm-Raised Catfish, Bull’s Bay Oyster’s, a Pan Fried Pork Chop and, with the choices we made, 12 other dining options.  There are a total of 6 dessert options.  It’s a very nice menu…plenty of variety!

We would recommend Poogan’s Porch to anyone visiting Charleston.  It’s cozy, casual and reasonably priced…with very good food.  Poogan’s porch is located at 72 Queen Street.  It’s open for lunch from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM and for dinner from 5:00 PM until 9:30 PM Monday through Friday.  The restaurant is open for Brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 AM until 3:00 PM.  Phone: 843-577-2337.  Their website is at www.poogansporch.com.