Poogan’s Porch {Charleston, SC}

It’s not everyday that you go on vacation on the same weekend and to the same city as one of your friends from back home. But, that’s what happened this trip, and I was pretty excited about it. We made plans to go on a double date with my friend, Vanessa, and her SO, Jason.

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Though we didn’t find out about Charleston Restaurant Week until the Thursday before our trip, we managed to get a late reservation at one of the restaurant’s that we really wanted to try – Poogan’s Porch.

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After wrapping up shopping and going to the hotel for another wardrobe change (it’s like I think I’m at fashion week or something), we headed down Kings Street to meet up with our friends.

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Poogan’s Porch is situated in a historic house that was built in 1888, located on Queen St. in downtown Charleston. The houses (it’s next to Husk, which is in a similar house) surprised me a bit since they’re basically in a city block, and from the photos online, I thought it would be in more of a neighborhood-type part of town.

The house was gorgeous, huge and yet cozy like visiting grandma’s. I loved the large, two-level front porch.

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The restaurant is named after a dog, Poogan who was a neighborhood dog who frequented the porch and greeted patrons. You can read more about Poogan here.

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{The hallway from the host stand to the front door}

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The hall is filled with autographed menus from celebrities who have stopped by.

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{Me and Vanessa}

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Here’s our restaurant week menu. As you can imagine, it was a tough choice since all the options sounded so good.

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Though the cucumber martini sounded really good, I went with the blueberry lemonade cocktail as my drink of choice.

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And just like the online reviews said, we started with hot biscuits.

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These have to be some of the best biscuits I’ve ever had. I know I’ve been saying that a lot on this trip, but Charleston is known for its food for a reason. These biscuits were fluffy and so soft, like edible clouds.

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And yes, here are three photos of the biscuits because they were that good.

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For his first course, hubby chose the Country Ham & Roasted Corn Bisque. He let me try a bite, and it was very good. Nice and thick and creamy.

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I went with the Local Peach and Heirloom Tomato Salad, which was served with arugula. The salad was lightly dressed, which I enjoyed, and all in all, it was a perfect combination of ingredients. The veggies tasted so fresh.

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Hubby got the Grilled Pork Chop for his entrée. He quietly downed a few bites before proclaiming it amazing. We didn’t hear much more from him until the pork chop was gone and his plate was completely cleaned (except for the bone, of course) because he was too busy eating. I haven’t seen him that excited about food in awhile, so I know he loved it.

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And for my main event, I got the Bourbon Braised Short Rib. I wasn’t sure how it would come out since many braised cuts like this come out with huge bones or hunks of fat (not that there’s anything wrong with that, I was just curious). This one was ready to eat – no bones and hardly any fat.

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It gets two photos, too, because *wow* was it good. I couldn’t help but keep saying “Mmm…it’s like meat-butter” after each of my first few bites with my smiling friend, who ordered the same thing, happily nodding in agreement. I know “meat butter” may not sound appetizing, but imagine this – perfectly seasoned and flavored beef that is so tender, it melts like butter on your tongue. We were in meat heaven.

The parsnip purée was good, too, and you could really taste the smoked bacon used to cook the brussel sprouts, which I thought was cool.

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I had the Mint Julep Fudge Cake for dessert. It definitely tasted like a combination of fudge and cake. Dense like fudge with a slight cake texture. I really liked the minty topping and fresh-made whipped cream.

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The rest of my table went gaga for this Mixed Berry Bread Pudding. I had a bite and really enjoyed it, especially since it was made with berries in lieu of raisins, which I don’t really like. If I’m ever going to make a bread pudding in the future, I think I’ll take a queue for this fantastic dessert and use berries, too.

Poogan’s Porch was a hit with our table of four. The food was absolutely outstanding and our service was excellent, too. Our waiter was very friendly and took great care of us. In addition to the delicious food, we also really enjoyed the casual & comfortable ambiance at the restaurant. We felt like we could really kick back and have a good time. It was a great choice for our double date on vacation, but I think it would be great for a date night, too, next time we’re in town.

Reader question: Have you ever met up with a friend on vacation? Probably the coolest meet-up I’ve ever done is when I randomly ran into one of my friends from Charlotte all the way in the Bahamas (which I blogged about here – click). How unlikely was that to happen? Very, but it made it all the more special.

13 thoughts on “Poogan’s Porch {Charleston, SC}”

    • Thank you! Wait till you see the photos on the next post about Husk! I had such gorgeous natural lighting since they were taken during the day. Post should go up later today. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
      • Wow….and I thought the lighting on these was great…what are you doing, just whipping out your camera and shooting the meal? I totally do the same thing (on my phone) so I can review on TripAdvisor! LOL

        Reply
        • Really? Thanks! 🙂 The lighting was very low because our dinner reservations were after 8pm, so there was no natural light. But, yes, I just bust out the camera during dinner and shoot sans flash. I have to use my DLSR and a wide aperture to get a good shot.

  1. Yep, REALLY! I hate food shot with a flash…it turns it all grey and uninviting. It would be so much fun to have a meal with you! We’d both be snapping away and discussing the merits of our food the whole time! LOL

    Reply
    • I know! Have you ever been to a food blogger or food photography conference? That’s what it’s like hanging out – everyone is on the same page snapping photos of food and talking about tricks and lighting and of course the food. It’s sort of photo/blogger-geeky, but so fun!

      Reply
  2. For the past 2 years, we have been invited to be event photographers for Afternoon in the Country, by Le Dames de Escoffier, here in GA. It has been remarkable and “feeds” my love of food and food photography…here is the link to last years pics if your interested in a peek:
    http://www.moondanceent.com/Events/Afternoon-in-the-Country-2011
    You would LOVE this event. We’re waiting to hear if we’ll be invited back as “media” this year and even if we aren’t, I would gladly buy a ticket! It’s one of the highlights of my year!

    Reply
  3. I’m glad you enjoyed your visit to Poogan’s Porch. My family makes a point to eat there whenever we’re in Charleston, it’s a tradition we started when my husband and I went there for part of our honeymoon. Twelve years later and we’re still delighted with every meal.

    Reply

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