The McCrady's Experience (Charleston 12/20/2008)

Some foodies had claimed McCrady's as a top ten restaurant in United States, but to me this was a total let down. McCrady's is situated in downtown Charleston, with its front door hiden in a dark valley. The insdie of McCrady was spacious and antique.

The Front Door of McCrady's

Butter and Olive Oil

Bread
Since it was our first time in McCrady, we went ahead and selected the tasting menu, and was told that we were the first customers who ever tried the menu. The bread was served at room temperature and the butter was cold.

The first course was "Wild Char Roe with Nasturtium, brown butter, and Passion Fruit". The dish did not work for me. The salt and the sweet did not come together. The brown butter powder is gummy insted of crispy.

"Sea Urchin with Cucumber, Ponzu, and Lemon Verbena"

As see you can from the picture, cucumber foam is covering ponzu ice with the sea urchin almost invisible. Taste wise, it is the same. The aroma of cucumber foam, the texture and sweetness of the ponzu ice totally overwhelmed the sea urchin. The chef could substitute the sea urchin with a piece of sea water gelee without me noticing any difference.

"Nantucket Bay Scallops with Cauliflower, Valet and Golden Beet"
The first two courses had tasted like amuse busches rather than main courses. The third course of the night were scallops cooked in sous vide(vacuum bags), complemented by ponzu chips as sauce. The scallops were too soft and got overshadowed by the rigid ponzu chips. The vegetables lost all their characters due to tiny cut size and overcooking.

"Local Grouper with Clams, Sunchokes and Pork Just"

The fish was quite dry, and I wished that the skin was left on.

"Beef with Creamed Ramps, Chanterelles and Smokey Hollandaise"
The beef was very tender and lean. The sea salt on the surface of the beef did not dissolve well, the taste was uneven.

"Banana Puddin"

The banana pudding was quite tasty, with the pudding having banna aroma and texture.

" Soft Chocolate with Toffee Ice Cream and Hazelnuts"

This chocolate mouse was chocolaty and the hazelnuts were crispy, very nice.

Mignardises

Overall, the meal was disappointing, although the desserts are better than the main courses. The characters of ingredients were missing in almost all dishes, and the whole dinner was lacking a theme. I regreted of being the first taster of the 2008 McCrady's tasting menu.