25 Oct 08 The Glass Onion, West Ashley, Charleston, SC

We left my wife’s office on Church Street around 6.30pm. Headed up Meeting Street, and made a left on Calhoun. The traffic was very slow, and as we got along towards the hospital area the reason became obvious. The torrential rain had, as is often the case in drainage-neglected downtown Charleston, caused flooding.

We edged our way along towards Lockwood Drive. I am always mindful of keeping a slow steady pace through any flooded water, so took it easy, even though, with an SUV the height means one is going to be able to keep going through deeper water than the average car.

Still, I was beginning to regret my decision to head out to West Ashley and The Glass Onion.

“What possessed you to want to go there on a night like this?” I said to myself. “I should have headed straight to I-26 and home to North Charleston”.

The heavy rain, reflection of the standing water on much of the road, and the patchy lighting along parts of Savannah Highway, made it difficult to find the place. I knew it was near Doschers Supermarket, and I knew exactly where that was. Thing is, my GPS took me into Doscher’s Parking lot too, and then drove me nuts, telling me that my destination was to my left, right, and center (well ok not quite, but you get the picture), as I circled around the parking lot in front of the store.

We went back out onto Savannah Highway, and found The Glass Onion a little further along, just past Doschers, if you’re coming from a downtown direction.

Now, I’d gotten the idea to go here from a fellow local blogger and twitterer, who had tweeted about the excellent fried chicken he’d had the night before. As I’d never been there before, I was expecting an establishment selling better than average chicken, home fries, and perhaps burgers etc.

Wrong.

Firstly, It’s quite pleasant inside, certainly clean and bright, but it’s not any kind of fast food establishment with stainless steel everywhere. Nope. Wooden tables and chairs laid out, with paper table clothes, and crayons for the kids (yes, I can be a kid sometimes too).

You order at the counter as you come in. The pleasant young lady gave us a small basket with some silverware and napkins in, and a 6×4 photo in a small spring stand of Jackie 0.  (No, I don’t know why either!)

There is a varied menu, and the accent is on a lot of home produce too. As someone who is big on fresh food, and anti TV dinner, processed packet junk, this looks good to me from the get-go before I’ve even tasted anything.

Kathy and I went for two of the most expensive entrees on the menu. I plumped for the  Crispy Pork Belly, with grits and collards ($12); Kathy went for the pork chop, with salad romoulade with radish and sweet mashed potatoes ($15). I also ordered a Rogue Half-E-Weizen (MoM Hefeweizen) brewed by Rogue Ales who are based in Newport, OR. An excellent choice, that was both refreshing, with hints of coriander and ginger, but was not too overpowering or heavy for me to enjoy my food.

We found a table, and sat down. We didn’t wait long for the food to arrive, and boy oh boy, was it delicious! I think the word ‘awesome’ is way overused, but this food truly was just that – awesome.

Now, anyone that knows me knows that I don’t have a sweet tooth, and rarely eat dessert. Many chains trot out the same tired old stuff – some version of cheesecake, apple pie and ice cream, Mississippi mud pie, or Key Lime Pie. As the entree was so very good, I had to ask about dessert though. The bread pudding with whiskey sauce ($5) sounded wonderful, and it was.

Actually, we ordered one between us; got about halfway through it, and decided that we needed to have one each, so we ordered another one, and shared that too. Kathy threatened to lick the bowl out in the middle of the restaurant!

To summarize, the place was clean and tidy; the service was good, but not too obtrusive; the food was wonderful; the beer was good too. We’ll certainly be back again, particularly, as their menu reflects locally grown seasonal produce.

The cost? Our bill came to $61, plus tip.

We left my wife’s office on Church Street around 6.30pm. Headed up Meeting Street, and made a left on Calhoun. The traffic was very slow, and as we got along...

Tags: blogger, burgers, collards, crayon, deeper water, firstly, food establishment, fried chicken, glass onion, heavy rain, home fries, home-grown, left right and center, local produce, meeting street, north charleston, pok belly, pork chop, radishes, savannah highway, slow steady pace, table clothes, tables and chairs, torrential rain, west ashley, wooden tables