Circa 1886 Restaurant — Restaurant in Charleston

Greetings/Arrival: Walking up to the restaurant was a little confusing. We decided to talk from our hotel about 1/2 a mile and there's a sign posted in front of the mansion. We accidentally went through the lobby and had to exit through the back, the concierge made it seem like it happened a lot but wasn't an inconvenience. We had dinner on a Monday evening around 6pm. We were seated immediately, and it wasn't busy at all, maybe 4 other tables besides ours. A standard seating and greeting, nothing else to mention. 4/5

Wait Staff: Our waiter Sean was great, very personable, he had his recommendations down to a tee. He was very attentive to our needs and perfectly checked in us during our meal. 5/5

Food: So far, and probably through my trip here in Charleston, this is and will be the best meal I will have. I had the spring swing cocktail, caesar salad, pork duet, and African tart. My wife had the squash and peanut soup, loup de mer (sea bass), and chocolate cremeux. We also received an asparagus cold soup as an amuse-bouche.

The cocktail I had, the spring swing, was fresh and delightful. It was so good I ended up not touching the wine menu and had one with my dinner as well.

To Chef Collins: the asparagus cold soup needs to be on the menu, it was absolutely superb. Perfectly seasoned (maybe a bit of lemon) but honestly it was perfect.

The appetizers we had were great. The Caesar salad honestly did catch me off guard with the anchovy fillets, but did positively add to the dish. The lemon and quail egg didn't really add anything to the flavor of the plate for me. The squash and peanut soup was superior the the salad, much more flavor, I just wish it had more mango!

The main courses were great. The tenderloin in the pork duet was perfectly seasoned, the sausage was a tad dry but had lots of flavor. The Mac and cheese was creamy and cooked and seasoned perfectly. The spinach could have used a bit of salt. The loup de mer was great, it did catch us off guard with how it was served, we didn't realized it was served in a broth in a soup bowl, but was cooked perfectly and seasoned well, my wife did mention she wished it had more artichoke.

The deserts were perfect. The chocolate cremeux was a perfect portion size and had lots of different elements. I'm not s big fan of white chocolate, but it was pretty on the plate. The African tart was awesome, very creamy, that banana foster was the best part. 5/5

Overall: this is hands down the best restaurant in Charleston. The flavor combinations mixed with interesting regional options that force you to step outside of your comfort zone is awesome. We can't recommend circa 1886 enough, if you have the option and have never been this should be the #1 place on...

A profoundly disappointing experience. We arrived on time to a half-empty restaurant and they seated us at the table next to the door. The server gave us menus that have two pages -- the left page listed two themeless tasting menus while the a la carte page on the right seemed to list the lowcountry classics. The server described the tasting menus in excruciating detail, and when I asked her about the dishes on the a la carte page she told us that the chef does not like when people order from that page unless they are doing so to supplement the tasting menus. She strongly suggested that we order one Cooper tasting menu and one Ashley tasting menu (a "suggestion" that I continued to hear the servers make to other tables throughout the night).

We reluctantly went along with the suggestion, and what we got was food that was solid and decent but nowhere near worthy of the spectacularly high price that was being charged. The crab salad was good but probably would have been better without the mango mousse. The "foie gras flan" (three words not meant to be joined in the same sentence) was tasteless. The smallest lobster tail I have ever seen was good but small, while the asparagus arancini was crisp and had no hint of asparagus (much like the truffle risotto that had almost no hint of truffle). The short rib and mashed potatoes tasted like they came from a suburban catering hall. And while I admittedly don't know what a pot du creme is supposed to look like, theirs is a log of chocolate ganache with sea salt and some other garnishes, a dessert of the type that is offered by most French bakeries for about six dollars.

The biggest shame of it all was that we went to Charleston to eat southern food and this clearly wasn't the place to do so. While I was initially drawn to the shrimp & grits and the cornmeal-crusted flounder on the a la carte menu, I was forcibly redirected by the server to a tasting menu featuring mango, arancini and mashed potatoes. It seemed as if we were paying for the privilege of allowing the chef to show off the various techniques he learned at cooking school.

Oddly enough, the best part of the meal was the beer, a locally brewed espresso porter which is not even on the menu -- I had to ask if they served beer despite an extensive wine list (over 450 bottles, I was assured numerous times). I guess the chef doesn't want people thinking he serves lowly beer drinkers.

The previous night, I spent half the amount at another leading Charleston restaurant where I was encouraged to try the local specialties and they were all spectacular. With so many other good lowcountry cuisine restaurants in Charleston, I see no reason for a return visit...

We went to Circa to celebrate our 41st anniversary. The server knew we were doing the tasting menu with the wine pairing although we hadn’t ordered yet. To begin our night we ordered a half bottle from a few suggestions from our server. We made it clear we wanted to begin with a white as to not ruin our palate once the wine pairing began. After we received our first pour, we made our decision about which tasting menu we preferred. Both got the same one although I have an aversion to strawberries so I asked if my dessert could be changed. Our server informed us the chef is very stringent about not changing anything so he would see what he could do. Our wine pairing began shortly after the first pour of the half bottle we ordered and courses started arriving. We were unable to enjoy our wine because it all became very hurried. I felt I had to guzzle my wine from the pairing because the next pairing was being put in front of me as the next course was arriving. The bottle we originally ordered probably wasn’t needed as we made it clear we wanted to start with a white as to not ruin our palate as the wines advanced to red. Meaning by the end of service, the original bottle of white was still in play after red wines had been consumed.

On to the food. My favorite was the southern grilled cheese. Truffle risotto was very bland and tasteless. Garlic striped bass was ok. Pork belly a bit better. Evidently the chef would not allow the change of dessert so the server said he bought the chocolate soufflé for me which was very nice of him. So we ended up with 2 strawberry deserts (one to go which was inedible the next day) and my chocolate soufflé. Chef Marc truly needs to evaluate his performance and possibly consider that changing a dessert to satisfy a patron might be the right thing to do.

Overall, I was disappointed in what I thought was going to be a 5 star experience. Meal and tip came to $560 so I expected more. Also, other than happy anniversary written on the dessert, nothing else was offered for such a special occasion. Perhaps a complimentary glass of champagne or even switching my dessert rather than the server having to buy it himself.

There are plenty of great restaurants in Charleston so my suggestion would be to consider somewhere else in the future for a special occasion that can never...