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| - We discovered the existence of King's Kitchen based on a Living Social deal a few weeks ago. After seeing the number of ratings the place had we knew it was worth making the purchase. The deal was for one appetizer, two entrees and one dessert for $25, which was quite awesome. We headed down there for dinner tonight after taking in an afternoon hockey game and spending some time at the Mint Museum.
King's Kitchen is a nice little place right amid the hustle and bustle of Charlotte. Upon entering you find a bright, clean-looking restaurant with one of the nicest bars I've ever seen. I usually opt out of sitting at a bar, but if the need arose I wouldn't have any second thoughts about popping down there. The rest of the indoor tables are a bit close to each other, giving you little privacy, but I've been smushed more by other restaurants. There were also some tables in an outdoor area, but the wind was a bit much to deal with that. We had made reservations so upon entering we were seated quickly and our server came over shortly after to take drinks and whatnot.
We were a bit limited on what to order since there was a separate menu for those using the Living Social deal (something that was not mentioned anywhere on Living Social), and I wasn't crazy about the choice of appetizers. We ended up settling on the pimiento cheese ($5) with lavash (sp), which ended up being these really light crackers. The pimiento cheese had a nice spice to it, and definitely went well with the cracker. There was definitely an excess of cheese to cracker, at least for us, since the cheese was a bit much (spicy and rich) to be spread too abundantly over the crackers. They did offer us bread to sop up the remainder of the cheese which was nice, but with two full meals coming we decided to not stuff ourselves.
For dinner I ordered the fried chicken ($13) with butter beans, sea island red peas and roasted carrots. I went with the white meat, which consisted of breast and wing. The batter is nice and light, but I wish it had come out a bit crisper. The flavor was totally there and it tasted great, but the chicken was a bit drier than other fried chicken breast I've had. The butter beans were awesome, but I wasn't a fan of the red peas. I had never had them before so I have nothing to compare them to, but I just wasn't a fan of the overall flavor. The roasted carrots were crazy good, and I never thought I'd be raving about carrots after any meal. They are char broiled so they have all the black char on them and they are so soft and flavorful...almost tasted like sweet potatoes!
The only fish on the limited menu was fried flounder ($14), but the miss' isn't a big fan of fried foods. Luckily the folks at Kings Kitchen were kind enough to substitute that for the blackened catfish ($20) at no upcharge, which I was very grateful for. This blackened catfish knocked my socks off. It had the PERFECT level of spice...I like enough spice where my nose will run, but not too hot where I have to chug a gallon of milk after each little bite. This blackening spice was right at the threshold for me, where it met the maximum but did not stray over even a little. She also got the mac & cheese, creamed corn and collard greens. The mac & cheese was good, but a little too mushy for us. I really loved the creamed corn...it had this sweetness to it that made it the perfect side. I was not a fan of the collards, but I don't really like any greens, so don't take my word on the collards to heart.
For dessert we split the chocolate and peanut butter cake with vanilla gelato. I don't usually rave about a dessert, but this one is definitely worthy of it. The cake is a couple of layers of chocolate, peanut butter and ganache with some crispy layers thrown in also. The contrast of the soft cake to the crispiness worked well, and the ganache was simply indulgent. Then you had the heaping scoop of vanilla bean gelato. It was soooo rich and thick and the miss' detected a hint of some spice (possibly cinnamon) that really brought the flavor out. When you combined a little spoon of gelato with a spoon of the cake, you really had the ultimate dessert.
Kings Kitchen definitely dishes out some slammin' Southern cuisine, and I love that they do it for a good cause at a great price with heaping portions. While some of the food was totally spot on, some of it was also lacking a bit. If I could dish out 4 1/2 stars I would, but I think there are a couple of things keeping it from 5 stars. Still, I totally recommend heading down to get some serious eats on.
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