Four stars for lunch, five stars for brunch. Ive enjoyed every dish Ive had here but the reason that I rate New South slighty lower for lunch is that the small plates are a bit overpriced which is unfortunate since the small plates are actually better than the big entrees. I love making a meal of a few small plates for he variety-I sometimes get taste fatigue-but at New South, the prices make that hard to do.
Now that Ive gotten the negative out of the way, Ill go to the positive and talk about my favorite dishes. The pulled pork spring rolls are excellent. Sometimes pork is dry and tasteless but the pork here is tender and bursting with flavor and that already excellent flavor is enhanced by the sweet chili sauce that it's served with. When I go for small plates, I usually get the spring rolls and the fried green tomatoes. My favorite entree is the pecan crusted trout. I adore nut encrusted fish since the nuts give it texture and crunch without having to deep fry. This dish seems to be prepared slightly differently everytime I go but its always awesome. Ive had it topped with lemon butter sauce and Ive also had it topped with tabasco aoili. The veggies that are offered as side dishes are always super fresh since they come from local farms but since side dishes are five dollars a piece (!!!), i only eat them when they come with my entree
Brunch is more affordable than lunch and the dishes remain great. I like to start my brunch by ordering a basket of muffins (you can also buy an individual muffin for 50 cents if you dont have a big group though they dont advertise this on the menu). They rotate the muffin flavors and the coffee cake ones are devine. The stand out brunch dish is the Southern eggs benedict. This dish consists of grit cakes topped with pulled pork, eggs, and Hollandaise sauce. The combination of flavors is amazing-I dont usually go for egg dishes because eggs are so plain tasting but the combination of the eggs, the juicy pork, and the lemony Hollandaise is supremely enjoyable. This dish also allows me to enjoy the same delicious pork that is in the aforementioned spring rolls in a dish thats much more filling and substantial. Charlotte has a lot of great brunch places but I think New South has the best.