The four courses
The dinner menu
The four courses on the Charleston dinner cruise, from she-crab soup to dessert, plus the vegetarian main and what to tell your server about allergies.
Reserve a table on the dinner cruise ↗How the menu works
The dinner cruise is sold as a four-course plated dinner, made to order on board from local, seasonal ingredients. You choose your main course, and the rest of the meal follows in order: soup, salad, main course, dessert. The food is prepared by Duvall Catering, and the menu changes with the season. What follows is the operator's fall sample menu, which shows the shape of the evening, not a promise of any one dish on your date.
The soup: she-crab
The sample menu opens with Charleston she-crab soup. It is a rich, bisque-like soup from the South Carolina Lowcountry, made with Atlantic blue crab, cream and stock, and traditionally finished with crab roe and a little dry sherry. The name comes from the female crab that carries the roe. It is one of two dishes on the sample menu that belong to this part of the coast, and it makes a fitting first course. A bisque-like soup is also a rich start, so go easy on the bread.
The salad
The second course on the sample menu is a mixed green salad with golden raisins, spiced oats and farm cheese, dressed with a maple vinaigrette. It is marked gluten free on the menu. It is a light course between a cream-based soup and a heavy main. If you are watching the clock, it is also the quickest course to finish, which leaves more time on deck before the main course arrives.
The main courses
The fall sample menu offers four mains: a burgundy-braised short rib with demi-glace, seared chicken with a parmesan crust, brown-butter salmon with mustard and tarragon cream, and Lowcountry shrimp and grits with a tasso ham gravy on stone-ground grits. The first three come with apple-butter sweet potato purée and green beans. Shrimp and grits is a dish of the Lowcountry coast, historically eaten as a breakfast in shrimp season, and here it is the regional choice.
Choosing a main course
Think about what you want from the evening. The sample menu gives calorie counts: about 790 to 810 each for the short rib, chicken and salmon, 560 for shrimp and grits and 390 for the vegetarian squash. Chicken is the neutral choice for a mixed party, and salmon the lighter fish. Shrimp and grits is the regional dish, with a ham gravy. The operator reserves the right to change the menu, so treat all of this as a guide.
The vegetarian main
The sample menu includes a vegetarian main course: acorn squash stuffed with apple and caramelized onion wild rice, served with pomegranate beet purée and micro greens. It is the only meat-free main listed, so if you eat vegetarian, you are choosing between one dish and the sides. Vegan, dairy-free or other diets are not described on the menu, so contact the operator before you book if you follow one of them.
Dessert
The sample menu ends with a choice of two desserts: a crème brûlée cheesecake with brown-sugar cinnamon whipped cream, or a triple chocolate torte with chocolate ganache and fresh whipped cream. Dessert is the course to check on your booking, because it is the last of the four. If your option lists it as a separate line, read that line before you pay.
Drinks and allergies
Drinks are bought at the full-service bar: wine by the glass or bottle, beer and cider, soft drinks and coffee. There are no shots, and outside alcohol is not allowed. The food comes from a catering kitchen that is not nut-free, shellfish-free or gluten-free, even though many dishes on the sample menu are marked gluten free. Tell your server about any food allergy when you order, and if an allergy is severe, weigh whether this kitchen is safe for you.
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