January 23, 2008 Food+Drink » Restaurant Reviews

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Virginia's 

A Coastal Classic: Virginia's on King does right by its homegrown cuisine

by Jeff Allen
Traditional dishes like the lowcountry boil make mama proud at Vriginia's
  • Leslie McKellar
  • Traditional dishes like the lowcountry boil make mama proud at Vriginia's

Virginia's on King
Southern
Entrée Prices: Moderate
Lunch, Dinner, Sun. Brunch
412 King St.
Downtown
735-5800

The menu at Virginia's on King is packed with classic coastal Southern cuisine, but the most authentic dish lurking among the country-fried steak and collard greens is the humble bowl of okra soup. It's also the most overlooked of all traditional Charleston preparations. It comes out of a few kitchens across town in various guises, but real okra soup, the kind served at Virginia's, is closer to the heart of Charleston's true cuisine than even shrimp and grits. It doesn't lean too heavily on tomatoes, or beef, or okra. It combines all three in a perfect mélange.

It's an ideal balance — the leftover bones of a beef carcass, boiled for hours until relieved of their rich flavor and body, the acid bite of tomato chunks, and the mucilaginous ooze of the African okra pod — that dates back to the rice fields of another time. It is our answer to the New Orleans gumbo (even if Charleston claims a "gumbo" of its own as well). From the pots of Lowcountry slaves, through the hands of Mrs. Virginia Bennett, to the restaurant that now bears her name, such strong roots can be sensed. Her okra soup is deep and redolent, bursting at the seams with the lip-smacking stickiness of rendered knuckle bones and the mysterious, musky vegetal character of stewed okra.

The mere existence of okra soup ($5.95) at this brand new restaurant from the Holy City Hospitality Group proves how serious they take this food. In fact, there are more nods to Southern cuisine on the menu than at a backcountry camp meeting. And the prices, like the portions, are generous — dishes like country-fried steak ($13.95), chicken and dumplings ($12.95), and fried catfish ($13.95). Crispy fried okra comes out crunchy and hot in large portions for $5.95. The pimento cheese ($6.95) bites the tongue with the sharp snap of real, grated cheddar, thick and lumpy like Grandma's. Even the deviled crab ($8.95) won't break the bank, and it's full of sweet body meat, spicy and rich, with a crunchy crust on top to balance all that creaminess beneath. Try finding an edible crab dish on the peninsula for fewer than ten bucks, let alone one as satisfying as that found at Virginia's.

Other offerings are equally stellar. The creamy she-crab soup ($7.95) claims to replicate the original recipe created by William Deas, the black cook at the legendary Everett's. Collard greens, smoky and thick with bacon, go around the table once before being devoured, and the rice is authentic Carolina Gold. By merely appropriating the family recipes safeguarded for a generation by the grandmotherly figure for which the place is named, the proprietors of Virginia's have set the standard for authentic Lowcountry cuisine on the lower peninsula. I have nothing negative to say about the food — only the highest praise for a kitchen willing to serve the real thing, without cutting corners, and at a fair price. You'd better get there before the lunch line has Yankees queued clear around the corner and down the middle of Marion Square.

If I have to quibble a bit with Virginia's approach, it's not in what's there, but what's missing. In all the celebration of mythic Southern food, the glazed hams, po' boys, and pulled pork sandwiches, in the awesome grilled cheese designed for dipping into tomato soup and the Lowcountry oyster stew, it's hard to ignore the unspoken legacies from which such food is derived. There's a large picture on the wall of a joyful dinner party, well-dressed men, women, and children comfortably seated in the affluent surroundings of a grand Southern home with smiles all around at the thought of digging into another feast courtesy of Mrs. Virginia Bennett. But I miss the other cooks, the help in the kitchen and beyond. I miss the sharecropper who scrapped by on salt pork, cornmeal, and molasses. I miss the slave who brought the okra and rice from West African shores. I miss the hardscrabble Southerners who lived on such cuisine before motherly matrons appropriated it as their own.

If it were my place, I'd a hang a portrait of William Deas himself. I'd invoke the smallholders and the mosquito fleet, ragtag freedmen in precarious vessels sailing the coast to bring back the bounty of the sea. I'd give credit where credit is due. Then I'd sit down to a "farmer's plate," a big pile of sides — butter beans, rice, mac and cheese, and maybe even some grits, and I'd toast Mrs. Virginia Bennett, who must have been one hell of a cook.

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This was by far the worst meal I've eaten in Charleston, and I've lived here for 15 years. I could not eat the blackened catfish (that I paid $17 for--what?!) because it was too salty. We had reservations and were seated upstairs, but the atmosphere up there was so bad--uncomfortable chairs and tables, bad music, just all around unappetizing place. Upstairs is like a fancy restaurant before hip fancy restaurants came along. Anyway, if you can't eat meat, you have very few options. And, if you don't eat beaf or pork, be sure to ask, because pretty much everything is loaded down with carcass. Jestine's and Hominy are much better choices if you want this kind of food...and you don't have to spend $75 on a fried meal for two at those places. I really had high hopes, since the history of this company is so great (they catered my wedding), but I've learned my lesson!

Posted by Peanut Hill on | Report this comment

Hearty, friendly, tasty, great for groups - if they can squeeze you in - and a most welcome, and wonderful, change of pace from the (otherwise A-List) Tristan/Fez/Cypress roundelay. RHB

Posted by BergBROG on | Report this comment

"In all the celebration of mythic Southern food...I miss the sharecropper who scrapped by on salt pork, cornmeal, and molasses. I miss the slave who brought the okra and rice from West African shores. I miss the hardscrabble Southerners who lived on such cuisine before motherly matrons appropriated it as their own." For images that inspire this theme, take a look at the gallery of award winning southern artist D. Pierce Giltner and let the images slowly roll through http://www.dpiercegiltner.com/gallery/gallery.html

Posted by Tommy Lark on | Report this comment

I had lunch at Virginia's on KIng today, with Virginia. We loved the article Jeff wrote for the City Paper, but wanted to set a few things straight......Virginia is very much alive, healthy, and cooks family dinner , now every other Thursday for her family. She is often at the restaurant, and hopefully will come over to chat with you. She cooked for us all of our lives, except when my dad did...........and the picture is truly our family, minus many who were unable to be there when we took the photo.....If we look happy, it's because, for the most part, we are. We enjoy celebrating southern food, southern tradition, each other, and especially our mom......and she still does all of the cooking for our dinners herself!! she wanted me to let you'll know that she is still alive and enjoying her family, friends, and this new restaurant her baby son did in her honor !! thanks Mike

Posted by BBR on | Report this comment

I have to agree with Gracie. The sides are just right, the soups are stellar, and the shrimp and grits are as good as I've had them. But overall, the menu is nothing spectacular. My steak tasted a little pre-frozen, the oyster stuffing was bland, and I've had better chicken fried steak in (get ready for it) Portland, Oregon. Still, not a bad start, Virginia's.

Posted by sam_cee on | Report this comment

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