Alan and I arrived at our Kiawah beach house on Saturday, September 24th and got settled in. While talking about what we wanted to do for dinner, although we had no intention originally of driving into Charleston since we'd just been in the car for eight straight hours. But then we realized that it might be our only opportunity to get to Peninsula Grill. Upon calling the restaurant we also learned that the first reservation was for 9:45pm but that the bar served the full menu and was first come, first served. The nice lady on the phone recommended trying to get there before 6:30pm since it was a Saturday night and the bar too gets packed.
Quick showers and we were on our way from Kiawah into Charleston. First good thing to happen was finding out how easy and quick the drive in was...thirty minutes and just a few turns and we were cruising through downtown. Next piece of good luck - stumbling upon a parking garage around the block from the restaurant with available spaces (it would be full not long after we entered).
The Peninsula Grill is in the Planters Inn, a Relais Chateau property. We walked down the little tree lined path to the side entrance off of North Market Street and saw that there is also outside seating. Entering the restaurant, the bar was a little one with only 8 seats. There weren't two empty seats when we arrived at 6:20pm but a quick conversation with Josh the bartender and we were in queue to take over the soon to be vacated spots of a couple just paying their bill. Soon settled into our stools we let our great bar team of Josh & Chris know that we were there for the long haul - dinner and drinking! We started off with a glass of champagne each - mine was the Pehu Simonet "Selection" Brut Grand Cru while Alan tried a glass of the Tattinger Cuvee Prestige.
The menu looked so awesome it was hard to choose but we opted for sticking to the right side of the menu for a lot of smaller dishes instead of having an entree.
http://www.peninsulagrill.com/. After driving all day, we just weren't up for a huge meal...turns out, this was the perfect way to go.
For starters, I choose the lobster three ways and Alan ordered the lobster skillet cake and crab cake duo.
As you can see from the picture above, this dish was lobster served three ways - ravioli, tempura and sauteed and presented in a warm tomato-basil vinaigrette. What can I say about this dish ` perfection? Heaven? Flawless execution with every bite. This dish was so good it might be a top five dish of ALL TIME. No kidding...this would be the last dinner if I was on the green mile and getting ready for my execution.
Alan's battling cakes - lobster skillet on the right, crab on the left with a petite chopped arugula salad and creole mustard vinaigrette. While the crab cake was very, very good, it was also expected. It tasted like a great crab cake should, no surprises. The lobster skillet cake on the other hand was different and intriguing. Very good.
For the second course we both ordered bisque. Mine was the newest addition to the menu - a wild mushroom with lardons. Alan tried the lobster & corn chowder. My bisque was woodsy and warm with that depth of flavor you can only get from fresh 'shrooms. And even though my soup was kick-ass, Alan's was better. The basil butter, abundance of corn kernels and big lumps of lobster just made this creamy, luscious soup fantastic. Winner!!
And for our third course, I choose the super chilled wedge of iceberg with smoked bacon jerky and buttermilk dressing. Alan ended with the Argentinean steak tartar with grilled rye toast. My salad was exactly what I wanted - crisp and fresh with the most wonderful dressing I've had in a long, long time. Fabulous. Alan's steak tartar wasn't a standout and it was because, interestingly enough, the toast was overwhelming.
We were having such a wonderful time - enjoying this great dinner and humor from the bartenders - that we did something we rarely do. We ordered dessert. The shared dish was called Chocolate Extravaganza. Chocolate cake, chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache with chocolate ice cream, fresh whipped cream and ice cold milk. One word? Yummy!!!!
As our first dining experience in Charleston this one was without a doubt a home run. Great atmosphere; great food; great champagne. We'd go back in a heartbeat and try the main dining room.
Jenn's rating: 88
Awesome. Your post brought back memories of what Dana and I ate while we say at the bar 2 1/2 yrs ago. We had the lobster three ways as well as the lobster and corn chowder. Funny that these were still on the menu.
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