At Leon's, Oysters to Remember

Recently my husband and I finally ventured up King Street to Leon's Oyster Shop. We'd heard lots of great things about this new addition to the Charleston food scene, and we were pleased to discover that everyone's been right about this one—it's awesome.

On tap the day we visited were some local oysters and the Gigamoto oysters, which our server informed us were the “special” oysters of the night. I like specials, so we ordered a mix of the raw Gigamotos and the in-house char-grilled local oysters, which are grilled with a smattering of parsley, lemon, butter, and Parmesan cheese. The Gigamotos, which I’d never had before (I know this only because of their flavor), were a total revelation to me. Creamy, succulent and bursting with sea flavor, I suddenly understood why one should care about knowing the names of different types of oysters: so that you can run outside, arms outstretched, and shout their name to the high heavens.

Leon’s also quickly proved that they totally live up to the other half of their sub-name, “Fine Poultry & Oysters.” There’s a lot of great fried chicken to be had in Charleston, but I have to say that Leon’s is at the top of my list right now. Crispy, slightly spicy and bursting with juicy chicken-ness on the inside, I could’ve easily tried to eat a whole fried chicken myself (I didn’t, and you should be proud of me for that).

For more photos and a complete review of Leon's, visit my blog, Grits & Chopsticks, here.  Otherwise, if you're looking for me, I'll be that crazy one standing outside shouting "GIGAMOTO OYSTERS!!!" to anyone who will listen.