Restaurant Review: The King's Kitchen, Charlotte, North Carolina

 Cornmeal fried green tomatoes, chili aioli, black eyed pea salsa

When I learnt I was heading to Charlotte for work, even before I'd booked my flights, I started researching places to eat. It turns out that wasn't such a clever thing to do, as by the time I came to book the flight I wanted, it was full. But food research is more important, right?

I checked out a few of the Chowhound message boards and asked colleagues who had visited previously for advice. The recommendations coming back weren't terribly exciting, especially in the Uptown area where I'd be staying.

Queen City Q was suggested as the best BBQ in town. The tasting plate of 16 hour pulled pork, brisket, chicken and sides was enormous for a modestly priced $21, but it didn't knock my socks off.

I had a good chat with the lady from Manchester (England) who works at the Tic Toc Diner. Their sandwiches are filling and made to order, but nothing to write home about. Why the NY Strip Steak at Roosters Kitchen had to be smothered in an overpowering sauce I don't know. It ruined what would have been a good steak.

 

Aunt Beaut’s skillet fried chicken

I was beginning to despair slightly at Charlotte's food. On my final night I checked out the not for profit Kings Kitchen and had the best food of the week. All of the money raised by the restaurant is used to feed 'the poor' in Charlotte and the staff they hire are looking for a new beginning.

I started with the cornmeal fried green tomato, chilli aioli and black eyed pea salsa ($5). The salsa and aoili went well with the tomatoes. It was a nicely balanced dish.

They'd sold out of my first choice main course of the soft shell crab, so I went for the Aunt Beaut's fried chicken ($14) instead. The chicken came with a choice of three side and either corn bread of a biscuit. Not quite sure what a US biscuit was I chose the corn bread.

The chicken was moist and tender underneath it's very crisp and crunchy corn batter. The collard greens and braised green beans were the best I had of the week. There was a slight spice in the collard greens which I enjoyed. The mac 'n cheese was overly rich and didn't have any bite from the white cheese used, but that was the only let down in the dish.

I suspect my waiter on the night was one of the people being helped by the restaurant. He was friendly, efficient and confident in the recommendations he gave to me. I couldn't have asked for me.

The King's Kitchen
129 West Trade Street
Charlotte
NC 28202
USA
 

Charlotte, North Carolina

All roads lead to Charlotte

Last week I was over in Charlotte, North Carolina for a quick work trip. My previous visits to the US have been to New York (a few times) and weekend each in Las Vagas and San Francisco. This was my first visit to small city America and it wasn't quite what I expected.

As we descended into Charlotte airport I got my first glimpse of the town. The small city centre was dominated by a handful of sky scrapers and the rest of the area was as flat as a pancake. I was expecting to see huge sprawling suburbs / a concrete jungle. The suburbs were there, but the density was lower than I was expecting and there were lots of trees in amongst the houses.

Sculpture outside Museum of Modern Art

I caught a taxi into the city, checked into my hotel and decided to go for a walk round. It only took an hour and I'd walked virtually every street in the uptown area. In amongst the (limited) number of skyscrapers I was expecting a shopping mall and a bit bustle. Instead I found a very sleepy city.

In between the handful of sky scrappers were parking lots, vacant blocks, a few apartment buildings and very little else. I was really surprised to see hardly any shops, there certainly wasn't the shopping mall I had been expecting. The city centre seemed to consist of offices, a few hotels, restaurants to serve the office workers and virtually nothing else.

Charlotte Court House

The city was also pretty modern. There were a couple of heritage buildings around, but not many. Charlotte has tried with its public spaces. The streets are clean streets and there are quite a few large sculptures around the place.

Speaking to my colleagues in the office, all of the facilities / shops are out in the suburbs where they live. They all drive to work, drive home again at the end of the day and seem to love the lifestyle.

One of Charlotte's heritage buildings

While I was in Charlotte I met up with the Charlotte Running Club a couple of early morning runs round the city. They were hot, humid and jet lagged runs that weren't my finest, but it was good to meet up with some fellow runners and see parts of the city I wouldn't have otherwise reached.

I enjoyed my week in Charlotte. It's a clean, calm and safe feeling city. As a holiday destination I'm not sure how long it would keep you occupied, but it was great to see a different part of the USA.