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I’m on a mission to prove you can rock it (or at least feel like you’re rockin it) over 40!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Nigel's Good Food

I’m ba-a-ck! Finally done with that pesky thing they call college and I can now get back to my real passion….food. What better way to celebrate graduation than with a meal out. Since I had family in town from the West Coast, I thought it only appropriate that we eat a southern meal. I had heard from friends that Nigel’s Good Food had exactly that, good food.

Located on Ashley Phosphate between Rivers and Dorchester, Nigel’s Good Food is in the Food Lion Shopping Plaza outside of Windsor Hill. First impression when walking in was that it was clean and probably formerly a failed Mexican restaurant. However, there were attractive photos of what I assumed to be New Orleans. We were told we could choose wherever we would like to sit as it was a late lunch hour and not full. We were greeted immediately by our waitress Delexiss and brought drinks promptly. Way to go Delexiss!

We started out with the Fried Green Tomatoes ($6.50), the lunch special of fried chicken with two sides ($6.50) and the Super Sam BBQ Sandwich ($8.50).
The Fried Green Tomatoes were out fairly quickly. They were piping hot, perfectly breaded and fried. I L-O-V-E fried green tomatoes and this was pretty decent stuff. What made this fantastic was the creamy, cheesy grit goodness that they sat upon. I’m seriously picky about grits since I didn’t grow up eating it. Grits are practically unheard of in California and my first taste of it was not a pleasant experience on the palate. However, this stuff was yummy. I could have eaten the appetizer plate by myself and walked out happy.

The fried chicken lunch special came with two sides of choice. I chose to go with the hush puppies and the macaroni and cheese. The fried chicken was definitely just made as it was seriously too hot to eat right away. I started with the mac and cheese, which was very good. The hush puppies were good, but still somewhat doughy in the middle. This is probably just the batch and not the typical way of cooking them. However, the flavor was delicious. I would recommend asking if they have some cocktail sauce to dip them in as I believe this is the best way to enjoy hush puppies. The fried chicken was moist on the inside and lightly flour coated on the outside. My only thought on the chicken was that the coating could have used more seasoning to really bring out the flavor of the chicken. It was good, but I think it could be fantastic.

Now, my husband makes some really good pulled pork, which makes my taste for BBQ somewhat picky. I have yet to find a pulled pork sandwich that could come close to being up there with his. However, the Super Sam BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich was pretty darn good. What really made this my new favorite at Nigel’s Good Food was the homemade coleslaw. There was a hint of mustard that made the coleslaw stand out in so many good ways. The menu states that the coleslaw comes atop the sandwich, but you can ask for it on the side. I will never again go here without ordering the coleslaw.

If you’re in the mood for some southern cooking, you aren’t limited to downtown Charleston; Nigel’s offers up some good home-style cooking in North Charleston. I’ve heard that the shrimp and grits is very good, so if you do happen to try it when you go tell me what you think.