Best Home Cooking in Camden South Carolina

 
 
 

I am about one of the luckiest people in the world. One of my best friends in the whole wide world, Rosa Serralta, has a mama who should write a real Southern style cookbook because she knows how to make hundreds of people happy with her cooking. Her name is Mrs. Mary Elliot! Miss Mary as she is addressed respectfully in these parts is very well known for her cooking and just yesterday I had the privilege of enjoying some of her good home cooking.

MADS, is a simple white lace lined restaurant located in the historic city of Camden, about 20 minutes east of Columbia South Carolina. The restaurant is open for lunch from Monday through Friday and on Sundays. Though the fare is excellent on Monday through Friday, you don't want to miss the Sunday buffet. Yesterday some of the fare included such favorites as salad, turnip greens, butter beans, creamed corn, green beans, rice with gravy, macaroni and cheese (the best I have ever tasted!), pork loin, Hog Jowl (a southern favorite worthy of any one wanting to clog their arteries in style), grilled chicken, Southern Fried chicken, and baked ham.

The desserts are to die for! Yesterday, well, we all sinned by eating too much dessert. What were our choices? Imagine the list: Strawberry Short Cake, Caramel Cake, Coconut Cake, Chocolate Swirl and Raspberry Cheesecake, as well as, Coconut Pudding. Tell me if that is not a fabulous selection? Of course, you have to use discretion in eating since it is an all you can eat restaurant but the desserts are limited to one dessert choice per person, which is wise and actually doing all of us a favor.

So if you are in town for a horse race (the famous Carolina or Colonial Cups), filming a movie (which Miss Mary and her son David have catered), visiting the Revolutionary War battle sites or investigating whether George Washington actually slept here, or just enjoying time with friends in this picturesque historic city, do not forget to save time to enjoy the best food in town! Though the restaurant has simple decor, the service is excellent, the people are friendly, and the food first class. Just flag down a local and ask them the way to MADS on 818 Market Street in the heart of downtown Camden. They will tell you.