Hey everybody! We’re Lizzie and Carolyn and we’re back, rolling out, looking out for North Charleston’s greatest diners, drive-ins, and dives. The goal of this series is to recommend y’all, members of the raptor community, to some local North Charleston restaurants that you may not have heard of before, plus try them out ourselves.

This week, we traveled to Remount Road to try out Dashi, a cute Asian-Latin fusion restaurant, with a chicly decorated interior and a diner atmosphere. Renowned across the Charleston area for its creative flavors and delicious food, needless to say, we’re super excited to try Dashi out.

Location

One of the first things that stuck out to us was the proximity to school. Not only was it both incredibly close, only 7 minutes away, but it was also a very stress-free and easy drive through the neighborhood. Because a lot of AMHS friend groups are scattered all over Charleston, I imagine this would be a great place to go after an early-release day for lunch or before a school function.

The Atmosphere

One of the most distinctive parts about our trip to Dashi was the atmosphere. It takes clear influences from 70s styles and has nice, south-facing windows which let in plenty of light, making the room nice and airy. They had plenty of spacious booth seating, with massive tables and plush seats, as well as free-standing tables, and fun decorations. Unlike many other restaurants, they definitely had their own distinct personal style and color scheme, which we thought was really cute.

Their staff was incredibly welcoming, and the manager even spoke with us a few times, ensuring that we were enjoying our time there.

After fawning over the interior, we were unfortunately a little underwhelmed by the exterior. To the right of the building there was a cute outdoor seating area, which we will note, was quite warm in the afternoon sun. Despite this, it was clear that a lot of care had been put into it and it would be nice if we (Lizzie) were more appropriately dressed. They also had a designated, attached, and well-maintained parking lot conveniently out front. 

We feel like music plays a big role in the ambience of a restaurant, a bigger role than you may realize. I (Lizzie) took particular when they played Jim Croce, which instantly fostered a lot of respect. When we were leaving, we were accompanied by “You Should Be Dancing” by the Bee Gees, which made me (Carolyn) feel like I was in Despicable Me. Awesome!

The Food

We ordered the Pad-thai with chicken, two steamed buns with pork belly, and enjoyed this with two Jarritos sodas (just for fun). The total came out to be $37 (after tip) and the service was great, the food came out notably quickly. You order at a counter and choose your drinks from coolers, but they do have an option to order from a QR code menu to your table. We found the counter to be super efficient because we were in a bit of a time-crunch. To the right of the counter was a wide array of condiments, from at least 15 sriracha variations, soy sauce, and massive jars of kimchi and other pickled vegetables. 

Pad Thai

The Pad Thai was amazing. It had thick but tender noodles, an abundance of delicious, savory sauce, delicious stir fried cabbage, broccoli, and carrots and was topped with sliced radishes, green onions, and a jammy fried egg. One thing we did note was that while the chicken was very crispy, we both thought it was dry. Overall though, we really enjoyed this.

It’s important to note, this was huge! You will definitely be getting your money’s worth out of this $15 entrée item. We split it and still had leftovers.

Steamed Buns

The steamed buns were also really good. We chose pork belly as our protein, which definitely made a big impact on the dish as a whole. The buns had a really delicate and moist texture, and when eaten with the crispy and flavorful pork belly, it provided a really great texture and flavor combination. The buns were also filled with cucumbers, pickled carrots, and two sauces: Sambal Aioli and Asian BBQ sauce. In total, this bun was filling and packed to the brim with delicious flavors. 

You can buy one steamed bun for $5, or opt for 2 steamed buns for $9, which is what we chose to do.

Menu

Their menu offers a selection of specials, entrees, small plates, sides, and a kids menu. From noodles to tacos to burritos to wings, there’s something for everyone on this menu. For picky eaters, you might not want to hear this, there’s really nothing on the main menu for y’all but the kids menu seems great! There’s also a wide range of prices, but the median price is $15 for an entree. We’ve already mentioned this, but the portions are so large that you’re getting your money’s worth. 

Drinks

We both selected ice-cold Jarritos sodas, Lizzie choosing the pineapple and Carolyn choosing the mango. Both were refreshing additions to our meals, contrasting the savory flavors of the food with the bright, fruity flavors of the sodas. There is also something to be said about drinking out of a glass bottle. I believe that it just adds a little something to a refreshing drink – Carolyn. 

They also had other cold, bottled drinks, like Coke products, and an intriguing looking list of cocktails for the raptors of legal age and a wine of the month club for the raptor mothers, and a chicly decorated bar. 

Final Thoughts

While writing this article, we were struck by how few of our friends and fellow writers had ever heard of Dashi, despite its close proximity to Magnet. It seems better known in the greater Charleston community than it is in Magnet, which highlights how disconnected many of the Magnet community seems from North Charleston. We highly recommend checking Dashi out, it’s perfect place to relax after school and enjoy some incredible food while recapping the goings on of the day. After we parted ways and headed home, we both fell into a blissful food coma, emerging only after about 4 hours of laying in bed and digesting the day, literally and figuratively.

If you have any North Charleston restaurants that we should try, leave them in the comments. We are always looking for new places to enjoy. If you would like to check out Dashi, click here. Thank you Magnet for joining us on this issue of “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.” We’ll see you next time.