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Comment Archives: Locations: 2 Stars
Re: “Izakaya Hiro”
Thoroughly mediocre and expensive. We were excited to find a place that went beyond sushi to make a wider range of Japanese dishes. We used to love just such a place in Boston. Too bad that this one is clueless when it comes to making these dishes. If you've never had onigiri, negimaki, or steam buns before, you'll be eating an insipid imitation of the real thing. Even the ramen was hopeless - the broth was bland and watery, tasting like it had come from a packet. What a disappointment!
Re: “Triangle Char and Bar”
All you really need to know about Triangle is that it's for tourists. The prices are wrong for the type of food, the food itself is unimaginative, bland and often cooked poorly. The tacos are the one positive point on the menu. The out door area is nice, but it much more like a bar. Not the worst place, but I would never recommend it.
Re: “Coleman Public House”
CPH isn't what it used to be. The burgers users to be the best in town, now they're dry and flavorless. Prices have gone up on everything. Brunch is just bland and not well made. My guess is the new cooks just don't care. My once favorite restaurant is now a place I avoid unless I'm just looking for a beer. The fries and Mac and Cheese are still good, so two stars.
Re: “Salty Mike's”
POS bar with only overweight dudes everytime I have been there. Good luck.
Re: “Husk Restaurant”
Bland, no imagination, local-shmocal give me some flavor. Sure beans taste good by them selves and we are ALL SO IMPRESSED by the fact that they were lovingly displaced from the dirt by the tender hands of Shaun Brock but I think professonal cooks should do something besided lean on the product. Most good cooks can make a solid tomto taste great! We should be looking to the pro's to elevate it something else and these guys just don't! Hey did I mention you're going to spend your whole paycheck here. As a working cook in this town I don't want to eat food I could make at home AND spend a weeks worth of labor on it. ONE STAR for food the other one is for service bc they managed not to eff that up.
Re: “McCrady's”
In a word - inconsistent. I am a local, I have eaten here often. Sometimes its very good (never great) and sometimes its bad (and occasionally very bad). I have really enjoyed the wine and bar food, however, once made up a reason to leave in the middle of dinner it was so bad. Beautiful decor and good service but that's very normal for Charleston. When spending that kind of green I would go to Charleston Grill instead
Re: “Diamonds North”
As you can see from their website, the women there are okay/average. Nothing much to write home about. A lot of these women are young and trying to earn money for college or their kids. I know that most people consider strip clubs to be a seedy place to work, but I am more critical of the men who come here than the women who work there. Guys who are old enough to be the fathers of these women should not be going there every weekend. And, if you go there, be a gentleman and treat these women like ladies. It is, after all, a gentleman's club.
Re: “Bon Banh Mi”
I found it delicious, but the portions are on the small side. The sandwich was a hot dog size for $8.50, with no side. They just need to tweak it, and it could be an institution.
Re: “Raul's Taqueria & Mexican Grill”
Sadly, Raul's has impressed less each time I've had lunch.
Lunch 1 - great service and food; several months ago
Lunch 2 - good service and food; couple of months ago
Lunch 3 - Horrible table service, no limes or lemons. Tacos were okay. one month ago
Lunch 4 - This week brought some work colleagues. Table service was embarrassing. No limes or lemons available (really?), stale tortilla chips.
Regrettably I've had my last meal at Raul's. Of course, all Raul needs to do is fix the table service, keep the chips fresh and figure out how to buy limes and lemons and I might give it a shot...
Re: “Bon Banh Mi”
great food, small portions, took $17 to fill up, limited menu
Re: “Black Bean Co.”
Really tasty. I mean it, I enjoy their food. My problem is it is overpriced. I wish they could cut their prices by $2 across the board. As-is I almost never eat there
Re: “Heart Woodfire Kitchen”
Hmmm...I guess I don't see it. I think it's a generational thing about wanting to sit in a very loud room and scream at your companion 2 feet away. And then have some sort of "music" buzzing overhead like a drone about to strike.
The food was good, but I'm WAY over this "buy local" crap. Really? That's the new rallying cry? Based on the amount of non-local booze, cars, clothes, gas and about everything else that isn't made here yet robustly purchased, I guess someone needs something to hang their hat on. Freeing Tibet got boring so now they're on to Buy Local. I want to sit a line of non-local tomatoes and a local tomato next to each other and bet someone they couldn't objectively pick it out by taste. Unless "buy local" means buy it from a local person who imports their goods. In which case, buy my stuff. But I digress, the food was very good - no problem. By the way, the local tomato was divine, it made the meal. I detected a hint of Johns Island with the aftertaste of pluff mud and Carnival Cruise Line soot. The alcohol is being too cute, almost kitchy. If the idea is to be different - don't. There's a reason popular drinks are popular and a reason why Pabst is only served post "what's the cheapest beer you got?" being asked to a bartender by a beaming young man with his date in tow and hand full of crumpled up dollar bills and change. I watched a bartender artfully muddle berries for a good 2 minutes to make a drink. I slipped in and out of a coma during the process. Service - extremely underwhelming. I actually agree with Zoe on this one - it shouldn't take 4 trips. Silverware at least should be on the table already. Menus can be taken with the hostess while seating. Specials told by waiter, then water brought and dinner ordered during that visit. Maybe three trips if I'm not ready to order when he brought water. That's it - MAX. But they are very friendly there, I must admit.
And yes, I agree - I hate to admit it Zoe, you're only being friended because of your outfit/body. But being a woman, I'm sure you not only realize that, you exploit it. But I also have to admit, I guess I would too if I were you. Kudos.
Re: “Heart Woodfire Kitchen”
I have been to Heart now at least 8-10 times and have been there enough to realize 2 things--the food is really good and the service SUCKS! The best service we had was soon after they opened and we were the only table for late lunch. Then, the service got worse and worse. From having a full patio set-up but no one to work out there, to having a server that seems to avoid the table rather than wait on it, there are multiple front of the house fails there. I once joined the table after my friends had drinks and this completely confused the server.
My last meal there will probably be my last though after the most painful brunch ever. Our server must have had a rough night because he was in slowmo! It took 5 minutes for him to set out bev naps for water, 30 minutes to get our drinks, 30 minutes for food and then he never came back. We had to finish up with the manager who was aware of an issue without us saying anything.
I hope this place stays open so we have good food on James Island, but unless they clean house and realize their staff is making the restaurant a sinking ship, say goodbye to Heart.
Re: “Jamaican Me Hungry”
Very good food. Unpleasant experience. Not likely to return.
I visited Jamaican Me Hungry with 5 friends on a recent Saturday afternoon. Both of the CP reviews are correct about the flavor and quality of the food. Between the six of us in our party, we sampled the jerk chicken, the curried goat, the oxtails, and the fish entrees, as well as the beef patties. The plates were presented in a very attractive manner and everyone was happy with their food. However, getting to that point was not easy or enjoyable.
The first misstep was right after we sat down and looked at the menus. Perhaps there was a misunderstanding on our part (I am willing to concede this point), but we were expecting a more casual dining experience. Instead, the menu pricing was much closer to formal dining standards. In hindsight, I suppose the prices are appropriate, considering they include soup and salad, but the menus did not state that. When I told one of the servers that we would have to come back another time because the prices were higher than our party was prepared for, I was told they do have a lunch menu with lower prices, and she handed several lunch menus to me. What the heck?!?! It was around 1:00 in the afternoon when we walked in. Why weren't we informed of the lunch menu to begin with?
So, we ordered. And waited. The only other party in the restaurant left shortly after we ordered. For the next 30 minutes we sat and attempted to amuse ourselves. I understand and appreciate that made-to-order food takes time. But during that time there was not a single attempt from any of the staff to engage us in conversation, and no bread or crackers to snack on, not even the option to buy an appetizer, from what I could tell.
Finally the food came out and it was good. But I did have to ask, twice, to have our glasses of water refilled -- even though we were still the only party in the restaurant.
As we were leaving, another table had just been seated. They were being welcomed very warmly, and we overheard one of the staff tell the party that samples would be brought out so they could decide what they liked before ordering. Perhaps if that level of hospitality had been displayed to us, I would be considering a second visit.
Re: “Hippodrome”
Sara Jaroz and her band were fantastic. The rest of the evening left much to be desired. 7pm was the starting time of the concert, with an opening band prior to Ms. Jaroz. We arrived at 7pm and waited almost one hour, standing up outside in the heat...why could we not be seated, cool and settled for the concert? Slow at the ticket counter (only one)...another wait inside.
After 8pm we were finally admitted only to discover it was dark in the auditorium....
NO HOUSE LIGHTS to help find your seat. One or two staff were available but none of them helped anyone to their seat.
HOUSE LIGHTS are used to help people get seated SAFELY and so they can scan to find personal items prior to leaving...what is so hard about flipping a switch?
And then there was the alcohol...selling before the performance, no problem. Selling DURING a performance is cheesey...increase your profits, did you? Throughout the entire evening people were walking to and from the bar/restroom....right in front of the performers (SO RUDE) and the rest of us...very distracting.
Other than the performances, it was a miserable evening.
Re: “Pick Thai”
I really want to find great Phad Thai in town (I'm close to giving up), but Pick Thai's was completely flavorless. It was on the right track because it thankfully lacked that sweat red sauce that lots of restaurants use; however, there were no spices and no peanuts. Maybe the other dishes are better.
Re: “Pearlz”
I must admit that I have enjoyed Pearlz may times in the past. This trip was not the experience that I was hoping and have enjoyed iln the past. The waitress’ recommendation on oysters was totally off base, I don’t think she actually eats oysters. Secondly, grilled Mahi fish taco was mostly a cabbage taco with little chunks of fish on top. It’s not at all what I’ve come to enjoy on my previous trips. I think I’ll just stick to the gulf oysters and skip the rest of the menu.
Re: “Dragon Palace”
This is my first ever restaurant review so be patient. Walked in the door and wasn't turned off by the decor. It was okay in a hokey pseudo-chinese sort of way but a big improvement on the average strip mall take out. This restaurant is serious about being a dine in experience.
Service was good and prompt but the menus left a film of grease on our hands. I actually had to wash my hands before eating. This is not a good sign.
We ordered the Dragon Palace Sampler (appetizer assortment). The spring rolls were really cabbage rolls, the crab puffs were cream cheese filled (someone waved a crab at the mixture when it was filled) and the fried wonton skin was tough. The honey glazed pork was excellent until I found large shreds of pork fat and the pickled carrot. Pickle flavor didn't seem to fit. The crispy ginger shrimp was excellent but had lost its crispness. I didn't expect the pineapple in the seafood rolls.
The asparagus stuffed shrimp appetizer was excellent until they drizzled it with what tasted like sweetened mayonaise.
We also ordered the steamed chicken dumplings. They were ok but I thought the wonton skins were tough.
We also ordered the chicken Mei Fun. This is a dish that I love. The noodles glistened with a fresh coat of oil at service but they were still dry. I suspect that the mei fun was prepared ahead of time and stored until time to cook.
We spent about $50 (with a pot of tea for $2.50 and two domestic light beers). All in all, a pretty disappointing experience.
Re: “Butcher & Bee”
I went with some friends for brunch a couple of weeks ago and was unimpressed. The food was very good but the prices are absurd. $12 for a pimento cheese omelet that doesn't come with a side is frankly ridiculous. Glass Onion's is better and costs $8. Entering orders on the iPad was obnoxiously slow and screamed trendy zealot. Coupled with the decor featuring purposefully mismatched seating, sparse communal tables, and bare Edison bulbs, it added up to trying too hard.
I loved the food, the atmosphere is okay if you're facing away from the glaring bare bulbs, but it's just too expensive.
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Re: “Med Bistro”
Last weekend.... ate here but with:
poor service-a blonde waitress who was more interested in talking with guys at the bar than seating us/serving us. Food only mediocre...the guy singing as entertainment was SO loud we could not carry on a conversation at our table.
Finally, Miss Waitress brought the check...I was to get back a few dollars and change. She brought the dollars but not the change...too lazy to count out the coins and thinking SHE would be keeping the change as part of her tip?
She did NOT get a grand tip from me, far from it.
Last time here.