November 2019

Dining Review: Miller’s All Day – Charleston, South Carolina

A frequent recommendation was Millers All Day for breakfast and I saved it for this particular morning. Another long and cold walk downtown, we arrived for the opening at 7AM with instant smiles when we walked inside.

It was as if we stepped back into the 50s. The large bar in the back had a huge neon said “Prescriptions”, all the lights above the mint green tables were perfectly chosen, and there was a living room set up just like out of a photograph.

I could not stop looking at all the details that made this place so authentic and special. Then I turned my attention to the menu. Why does everything on this menu just sound amazing? Frittata, quiche, breakfast platter, biscuits, grits – it was just not fair.

I ordered the crispy pork belly biscuit with blueberry bbq sauce and it was OMGoodness good.

The pork belly was tender and juicy but the pairing with this blueberry bbq sauce was just insane. It was just sweet enough to dance with the delicious fat of pork belly. This was a reasonable sized biscuit and the ratio of biscuit to pork belly to blueberry sauce left no bite missing a component.

Kevin ordered the shrimp and grits with mushroom, roasted tomato, crispy bacon, benne seeds, and cheddar grits.

I was equally excited to try this dish but was unfortunately spicy (once again, not in the description as such so disappointing!) – the small area of grits without red flaming fire was very good though! Kevin really loved everything about this dish, surprising more than he expected, especially for breakfast. The grits and shrimp were perfectly cooked and the sauce has a love level heat. Overall, great flavors together that ended up being much more dynamic than traditional shrimp and grits.

Our server told us all about the pies and pastries – we were not in a hurry so we treated ourselves to a morning sugar rush.

Kevin ordered the espresso chocolate chunk scone which he adored. It was not overly dry like some scones can be, but the combination of espresso and chocolate with a sugar glaze hit the jackpot. I ordered the Moon Cake (described as mini graham cracker cake, marshmallow, chocolate) and while I know “cake” is in the name, it was under the pie section so when this enormous piece of cake came out , I was a little regretful. This sky high cake had alternating layers of graham cracker cake, marshmallow and chocolate. Don’t get me wrong, it was a delicious piece of cake but it was so much for breakfast, even for me. I really wanted a piece of pie as I know it would have been a lighter option – next time, the award winning brown coconut cream pie.