Chef Michelle Weaver's Tuna Sashimi is like a vacation on a plate

The "Cosmopolitan" section of chef Michelle Weaver's menu at Charleston Grill is described as "exotic and imaginative dishes inspired by flavors found traveling the globe."

Her Tuna Sashimi With a Greek Salad fits that description perfectly.

Sashimi grade tuna, the best you can buy, is flown in from Hawaii twice a week. Weaver estimates that she serves 40-50 pounds of tuna each week at The Grill, three to four ounces at a time.

on the menu

The dish has 17 ingredients that blend together perfectly. It is a beautiful combination of beets, olives, basil, shallots, tomatoes, herbs and sheep's milk feta that works perfectly with the delicate fish underneath.

The vegetables are fresh and bright, the surface salt is perfect, and the tuna is amazing.

Though Weaver says "it's a bit tough on the kitchen because there's a tremendous amount of knife work that goes into this dish," it is wildly popular with the customers and one of the dishes that she could not take off of the menu.

She estimates that she will sell 40 of these small plates on an average weekend night, at $16 per plate.

Though $16 might seem a bit expensive for an appetizer, the dish is quite substantial because it does not skimp on the tuna.

It's the perfect portion size and reaffirms Charleston Grill as one of my favorite places in Charleston for an appetizer and a cocktail.