WV Gourmet

Taylor Books is one of my favorite places in Charleston.  They have great coffee, good food, excellent baked goods, books, wine, and mopey singer songwriters on the weekends. 

The other day, I popped in at lunch time and got soup and a salad to take back to the office for lunch.  The soup of the day on this particular day was cock-a-leekie soup.  Now, I’d never had leaky cock soup, so I had to try it.  For my salad, I went with the BLT salad.  Cock-a-leekie is a simple, delicious soup consisting of chicken and leeks that tastes wonderful.  I will be getting this soup again.  The salad was good, but not great.  The greens were crisp, the boiled egg was okay, but nothing to write home about, and the bacon was decent, but not outstanding. 

I pretty much pop in there every day for a large black coffee on my way into the office.  Every now and then I have to wait behind people who are getting vanilla bullshit things, but the staff is generally pretty quick to get you served.  From time to time, I skip breakfast and get some sort of baked goods to go with my coffee.  More often than not, I go with one of their blueberry bran muffins, which are nothing short of outstanding, however from time to time they serve the elusive bacon and cheese scone.  The bacon and cheese scone is nothing short of breathtaking. 

If you’ve never been, put Taylor Books on your list of places to visit in Charleston.  They’re located at 226 Capitol Street.

So, it was Monday after Thanksgiving and after all that gluttony, I wanted something sort of light, cheap, and easy to digest for lunch.  So, I went with one of my favorite go to spots for lunch: Ellen’s Ice Cream.  I know what you’re thinking, “ice cream is not light, not even sort of light” and you’re right.  I didn’t get ice cream.  You may or may not know it, but Ellen’s as some of the best soup and salads in Charleston.  They have several salads available every day and feature a different salad/grain of the day.  The soup is a rotating stable of taste sensations.  They also  serve up a PB&J for those who are so inclined. 

Monday was no let down.  The soup of the day was Arugula and Potato Soup.  It combined all the homey soothing goodness of potato soup, with the spicy flair of arugula.  The grain of the day was Pea and Feta Couscous.  The couscous was no letdown either.  The grains were fluffy, with plenty of peas and feta throughout.  My lunch was successfully tasty and easy on my stomach.  I choose to believe that it was not very fattening (I’ll stab you in the eye if you tell me otherwise).  It, however is not cheap, and I knew that going in.  Soup and a sald will set you back about 8 bucks, which isn’t bad, but doesn’t quite fit the definition of cheap.  If Ellen’s isn’t in your rotisserie of lunch spots, it ought to be.  If it isn’t in your rotisserie of places to go for ice cream, there is just something wrong with you, though that is for another entry.