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Char opens today on HIghland Row
Jennifer Biggs
jennifer.biggs@commercialappeal.com
Char, the steakhouse owned by local restaurateur Ben Brock and his partners, opened today in the brand new Highland Row development. The same group also owns Amerigo (here, in Jackson, Mississippi and the ones in and around Nashville), plus Char in Jackson, Etch and etc. in Nashville and a handful of other places in Jackson (and Char is on its way to Nashville, too).
It's a big place that seats 215 at full capacity, about 120 in the main dining room. But it has a cozy steakhouse vibe, and the noise level is excellent; I never raised my voice to be heard or strained my ears to hear my dining partner.
These crab cakes are probably the best I've had--at least the best that come to mind. King crab legs are hands down my favorite food in the world, but they're pricey and how often I eat them is directly related to how much they cost. Still, I usually shy away from other crab dishes unless someone convinces me I won't be disappointed. Our sever could not have been more enthusiastic about these, and he was right: Jumbo lump crab, herbs and spices, topped with a tarragon butter sauce. No filler. Two big cakes for $15. I'm generally a light eater, and this could be a meal for me.
Other appetizer include shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes, and chili-fried oysters, which we also tried and liked (I think my friend liked it better than the crab cakes, but he's cagey, hard to pin down on things like that). They were served on a cumin cream with a roasted corn relish.
There are two prime cuts of steak, the cowboy prime ribeye and the prime New York strip. I love a strip and would've gone with that, but I'd decided to eat fish and my friend went with the ribeye. It was huge--20 ounces--and "chili rubbed", so it had a sort of Southwest thing going on.
My redfish was great, served over a mound of garlic cheddar grits and sauteed spinach, topped with a pan sauce of Abita Amber, Cajun spices and crawfish.
Char is open daily and features daily lunch specials such as fried chicken, meatloaf, short ribs, country fried steak, catfish and ham. The specials are $13 with two sides. Sandwiches and burgers come with fries and run $10-$16.
At dinner, steaks are $36-$51 and seafood and chicken dishes are $20-$30. There's a Saturday and Sunday brunch, too, and also a nice big bar with a piano. It was finished when I was there last week, so no photos.
Char is at 431 S. HIghland; call 901-249-3533 for more information. Here are photos of the lunch (below) and dinner (above) menus.