There’s a delicious – and different – new breakfast option in Charleston.
Bogey’s at Capitol Market teed up a breakfast menu last week that will now be offered from 8 to 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday, expanding its operating hours at the city’s popular indoor-outdoor market.
I got to swing by for a special menu tasting this past Saturday and everything I sampled was fantastic.
The sliced brisket breakfast tacos have quickly emerged as the restaurant’s best breakfast seller, and it’s no wonder.
Thick slices of tender, seasoned brisket top warm flour tortillas with an over-easy egg, fire-roasted corn and Southwest ranch sauce adding nice tang to every gloriously messy bite.
Other standouts I tried were the crunchy fried hot honey chicken biscuit with fresh local strawberry jam; a nicely thick and creamy fennel sausage gravy spiked with cumin over housemade buttermilk biscuits; plus crispy truffle hash rounds dipped in aioli.
You can also kickstart your day with dishes like pork belly burnt end breakfast burritos with truffle hash browns and tomatillo salsa; a caramelized pork belly BLT on brioche; avocado toast on Charleston Bread with fire-roasted tomato and garlic-thyme aioli; or soft scrambled eggs with caramelized onions, American cheese, chives and chipotle aioli, which you can get with or without bacon or sausage.
Even better?
Bogey’s is now offering bloody marys, mimosas and rotating seasonal cocktails on Saturdays, turning breakfast into a weekend brunch in just a sip.
As president of the Capitol Market Board of Directors, I certainly want to see this new restaurant located there succeed.
But bias aside, readers seem to agree Bogey’s is acing its food game in their first few months at the market.
You should definitely taste for yourself!
IF YOU GO: Bogey’s at Capitol Market at 800 Smith St. in Charleston is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 304-971-4671 or check out the restaurant’s Facebook page.
Capitol Market hosts first Biscuit & Gravy Bowl
Speaking of breakfast, I’m still on a glorious gravy high after judging the first Biscuit & Gravy Bowl held at Capitol Market this past Saturday morning.
A fundraiser coordinated by Southridge Church, the competition featured 10 local pro and amateur cooks serving up biscuits with a variety of gravies and other breakfast treats to more than 100 guests throughout the morning.
Sausage gravy is one of my favorite guilty pleasures in the world, so getting to join a handful of celebrity judges to taste all 10 entries at this inaugural event winners was pretty much one of the best gigs I’ve scored during my 25 years as The Food Guy.
It was a tough assignment, though. Not only were there four traditional gravies I loved, but we also sampled a tomato gravy, a chocolate gravy and an incredibly unique cornmeal-based Jamaican gravy flavored with coconut, almond and vanilla.
Once the last spoonful was tasted and all votes were tabulated, the judges picked Sam’s Uptown Café’s thick, rich, paprika-spiked gravy as their favorite, with Romeo’s subtly salty chipped beef gravy coming in second.
Although it wasn’t announced publicly, I can also divulge that our third-place winner ended up being the aforementioned fennel sausage gravy from Bogey’s at Capitol Market, with Bar 101/Ichiban’s broken biscuits with cheesy hashbrowns blanketed by green chili-spiked pork gravy scoring fourth.
People’s Choice winners (in order) were also Sam’s and Romeo’s, followed by Island Food Shop. The Kids’ Choice awards went to Island Food Shop first, followed by Bogey’s second, and Bar 101/Ichiban and Tickers & Timbers tied for third.
I hear Southridge Church is already looking to book a date for next year, so look for the second-annual Biscuit & Gravy Bowl coming your way next fall!
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Steven Keith is a food writer and restaurant critic known as “The Food Guy” who writes a weekly column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail and has appeared in several state, regional and national culinary publications. Follow him online at www.wvfoodguy.com or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. He can be reached at 304-380-6096 or at wvfoodguy@aol.com.