During our culinary tour, we received tons of restaurant and food suggestions about places and dishes to try and this particular place was recommended because of one of their unique dessert offerings (just wait until you hear what it is!). Of course we needed to refuel after our journey around the city, so we went to
Lowcountry Bistro for a late brunch. I am one of those people that could eat brunch food at anytime of the day, so (whether the table liked it or not), we ordered a little bit of sweet and a little bit of savory. The savory started with a roasted turkey sandwich with spinach and a cherry aioli. The turkey was flavorful and with the cherry aioli it reminded me of a leftover Thanksgiving dinner sandwich. The chips were crispy and sprinkled with a touch of seasoning salt. One of the brunch specials were fried pickles. These were not pickle chips, but rather pickle spears that had been brined with herbs. Unlike some fried pickles, the coating was fairly thin and had some herbs mixed into it. The pickles still had a nice crunch to them and the touch of sour cream drizzle helped balance out the acidity.
Some how I feel like my eyes were immediately drawn to the chicken and waffles on the menu. It is a classic Southern dish and this version sounded beyond amazing! It was a bacon sweet potato cornbread waffle topped with half of a fried chicken (yes, it was a full half of a chicken) served with a pecan butter and bourbon maple syrup. Can you say heaven on a plate?! After eating this, I can say that my expectations of chicken and waffles are extraordinarily high. The chicken was fried with the skin on, keeping the chicken juicy and the outside was smoky and had just the right crunch to it. The coating helped enhance the flavor of the chicken instead of masking it like most fried coatings do. The sweet potato waffle was light and fluffy and the bacon pieces mixed in added crunch and depth of flavor. The pecan butter and bourbon maple syrup were just the icing on the cake so to speak. Separately the flavors of each component was delicious, but when you ate it all together it was a food symphony for your taste buds!
Of course since we ended up at Lowcountry Bistro because of this one particular dessert, it was a necessity that we try it - grilled cornbread strawberry shortcake. Now I know you are thinking grilled cornbread that can't possibly work, but I assure you that it most certainly does. The cornbread is sweet and the grill adds a nice crust to the outside while keeping the inside delicate and moist. It was topped with rum soaked strawberries and whipped cream. The strawberries retained enough moisture that there didn't need to be a sauce to the dish, but it was definitely not dry. It is one of the more unique dessert I have had and it was definitely worth the wait. Now I will just have to work on making my own grilled cornbread. I can say that when you listen to the people around you, you can stumble on some amazing culinary finds. I am so glad that we went for dessert but got to try brunch because it was delicious. It's a good thing that I can't visit more often because I might get myself into a lot of trouble.
