39 Rue de Jean has long been near the top of my list of Charleston-area restaurants I’ve been dying to go to, but haven’t yet had the opportunity. It’s frequently mentioned by locals and out-of-towners alike as one of the best restaurants in the city and possibly the best French restaurant in town. In addition, Rue de Jean is a part of the highly-regarded Holy City Hospitality family that also runs Coast (one of my personal favorites) and Virginia’s on King. Going into my meal, I couldn’t have had much higher expectations.
Located, unsurprisingly, at 39 John St., Rue’s menu is largely composed of classic French offerings, but also features a small selection of sushi. Appetizers fall mainly in the $7 to $14 range, entrees start at $18 (Chicken Francaise) and top out at $27 (Filet Roquefort), and sushi will run you around $5 for sashimi or $7 for a roll.
To start our meal, we opted for one traditional French item and one of the seemingly out of place sushi rolls. In retrospect, I wish we would have asked our server to stagger our appetizers’ arrivals. The two-person tables at Rue de Jean are almost comically small, compared to the size of the plates and the amount of other “stuff” we had on ours. Between the bread basket and plates, the water pitcher and glasses, and the two plates for our dishes, approximately 115 percent of our table’s surface area was accounted for.
Right off the bat, the Escargots ($8) was the high point of the meal. Though I’ve heard many people decry the texture of snails, I actually really enjoyed their tender, meaty consistency. They were served in a delicious garlic and parsley butter sauce, which had a nice tangy flavor.
As much as I thought the sushi seemed like an odd addition to the menu, I have to admit that I think it really works. Rue’s Spicy Tuna Roll ($7) was wonderfully fresh. However, I actually thought the roll could have used a bit more heat, as the sweet Asian chilli sauce they used didn’t provide much spice.
For my entree, I couldn’t resist the Braised Rabbit ($24) in a white wine, creme fraiche, and whole grain mustard sauce. While the flavors in the sauce were a nice combination and the meat was fall-off-the-bone tender, I wasn’t blown away like I had expected to be. The flavor of the meat must have been lost a bit in the braising, as it seemed a little bland. The potatoes dauphinoise which accompanied the rabbit, on the other hand, were incredible. The crisp cheesy crust and perfectly cooked potatoes made this one of the best versions of potatoes gratin I’ve had.
My partner opted for one of my absolute favorite French dishes, Coq au Vin ($20). The dish has an outstanding aroma. When the red wine, mushrooms, bacon lardons and pearl onions all mingle together and meet your nostrils, you know you’re in for a treat. Like the rabbit, the chicken was unbelievably tender, literally falling apart at the touch of the fork. While Rue’s wasn’t the best version of this dish I’ve ever tasted, it was still definitely a success.
For desert, we went with the White Chocolate Raspberry Torte ($7), which ended up being one of the best plates of the night. White chocolate and raspberry are two of those flavors which seem to have been created with each other in mind. The torte was smooth and creamy, sweet without being too rich, and just undeniably delicious. This was the only item of the night to produce a “Wow” reaction from both of us.
Overall, while 39 Rue de Jean does meet the high standard Charleston residents have come to expect from Holy City Hospitality’s restaurants and its underhyped executive chef, Jason Murphy, I have to admit that I wasn’t as impressed as all the glowing reviews led me to believe I’d be. The food at Rue was good, but not great; service was fine, but perhaps a bit more casual than I’d like in that setting; and I didn’t really pick up any sort of a romantic vibe, as you would expect to find in a higher-end French restaurant. I would much prefer to dine at Coast or Virginia’s. You could certainly do a whole lot worse in Charleston, but I don’t think I’ll rushing back to Rue de Jean in the near future.
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