Staycation Dinner

A.W. Shucks: Charleston, SC
April 17, 2010

Pretty much everyone who lives in Charleston has at least heard of A.W. Shucks, even if they've never eaten there. Until our staycation, I was one of those people. I already explained the staycation to death in my last entry, but this is where we went for dinner that Saturday night.

Appetizer: Market Mix Sampler
This is ideal if you want to get the most bang for your buck; the sampler features three different appetizers for not much more than what you would pay for any other item on that section of the menu. And the trifecta is 1) buffalo shrimp: fried shrimp tossed with A.W. Shucks' own special hot sauce; 2) stuffed shrimp: butterfly shrimp stuffed with crab, wrapped in bacon, and deep-fried; and 3) good ol' fried green tomatoes...pretty self-explanatory. All three are delicious (and fried, which I'm just now realizing...oops), but I think my favorite might be the stuffed shrimp. The buffalo shrimp are good too, and if you're like me and don't like a lot of heat, they come with ranch sauce to help cool things down. Speaking of sauce, the fried green tomatoes come with a sweet and spicy Jamaican relish that lends a nice little kick. And I think there's cocktail sauce for the stuffed shrimp, but to be honest, I'm not entirely sure; they were so good by themselves, I probably didn't use sauce.

Tom's Entree: Steampot for One
If for no other reason, order this for the sheer fun of it. It's exactly what it sounds like: a big pot crammed full of seafood (mussels, oysters, shrimp, clams, and snow crab legs...phew), smoked sausage, new potatoes, and corn on the cob. Plus there's plenty of cocktail sauce and melted butter for dipping. You also get a bucket for your shells, along with every tool you might need for opening your shellfish. It's a lot of work, but you will not leave hungry, so roll up your sleeves and dig in! (Seriously, roll them up, or your shirt will be a soggy mess by the time you're done.) And once you get over how much of everything there is, it's nice to realize that this is actually a pretty smart selection for those who are watching what they eat, since everything is steamed and nothing in the pot is really all that fatty to begin with.

My Entree: Shuck's "Legendary" Casserole
This, on the other hand, is one of the more calorically robust items on the menu. But order it anyway, and go for a walk or something afterward. (We did the ghost tour after this meal.) I guess I usually don't think of seafood when I think of comfort food, but this dish has changed my thinking. Once again, it's a good variety of seafood (baby creek shrimp, scallops, and Carolina deviled crab), but this time it's smothered in a lobster cheese sauce and baked au gratin. Hello, indulgence! It's also served with the vegetable of the day and Carolina red rice (which I switched out for more veggies), but the casserole is clearly the star of the show. It's so rich and creamy and wonderful. A word of warning, though: Don't feel obligated to finish the whole thing in one sitting. The deliciousness of this casserole clouded my judgment and tricked me into eating long after I was full, which I regretted later that night when I got into bed and was too stuffed to roll over...! I get the feeling that if you took some home and warmed it up for lunch the next day, it'd still be pretty tasty.

Even if you don't order any of these items, I think you'll leave happy. There's a reason this place has become a Charleston institution for locals and tourists...or locals who are pretending to be tourists!