Kiawah Island Suggestions (Brief)

Kiawah, John's, and Seabrook Islands (Charleston)

You can get very good shrimp and grits and excellent country ham for breakfast or lunch at the Sanctuary (even room service offers these). Grits were not overly salty in spite of the tasso ham in the dish. I am no expert on grits, but I thought the water-power ground grits were the best in my experience. The Jasmine Porch there is kid-friendly, too. Gluten-free accommodations were made without a fuss. The kitchen even stocks gluten-free bread (most of the time, according to a server) and when we made our gluten-free request known, a GF bread basket was offered, which we thought a good policy for more restaurants to adopt.) Had an excellent filet steak and perfectly cooked grouper there also.

The Fresh Fields Market area has a grocery with all the things you might find in a Whole Foods in Chicago, as well as local food items such as Carolina Gold Rice, Anson Mills grits, and other gift-worthy stuff. Lots of people do self-catering in the condos there, and it seems there is no good reason to stock up on the mainland before arriving in Kiawah.

A fine lunch or casual dinner option nearby in a marina (just a few hundred yards from the main rotary intersection leading into the private area of the island) is Rosebank Cafe. They offered seafood or meat n three options, with an excellent beef and greens soup on special. We had buttermilk apple pie- one of four pie choices made by a local woman-delicious apple-crumb style. A good fried flounder sandwich can be had at the sports bar next door, but the name of the place escapes me.

Hege's is a French-inspired place also in the Fresh Fields market area. Prix-fixe at $31.95 an outstanding value. Enjoyed the she-crab soup and house salad (very fresh). A seafood cocktail of crab and lobster was fresh and enormous (ask for the cocktail sauce on the side, though). The duck with ginger, cassis, and orange was especially good-crispy, with a sauce that hit the mark-no one element dominated, and the result was not too sweet. A bouillabaisse and a special soup with oysters were also excellent. Service attentive, despite the full room. I would have liked to try the fried flounder as well. My only complaint about this place is that they are going to go out of business soon if they do not reduce their portion sizes. When a fresser like me cannot make a dent in a serving, the portions are too big! Desserts out of the question, but shared a slice of key lime anyway.

Bit of trivia: only tea plantation in the US is located on one of the islands nearby- Bigelow sells this tea under its brand umbrella, Plantation Teas.

While I'd like to take the time to write this up at length with pics, I'm aware that spring vacation time is here for some and that a short, timely post is better than none at all.

The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island
Kiawah Island Golf Resort
One Sanctuary Beach Drive
Kiawah Island, SC 2945
866-561-9491

Rosebank Farms Cafe
Bohicket Marina Village
Seabrook Island, SC 29455
843-768-1807

Hege's
Freshfiels Village
275 Gardener's Circle
John's Island, SC 29455
843-768-0035

Nice place. Have you done the oyster roast/whole hog BBQ at Mingo Point? Really good stuff, like a Low Country luau (speaking of Hawaii in other threads).

But even an avid oyster lover like me is tested by the gravitas of the huge bivalves they dredge out of the tidal river muck and roast, mud largely intact, over charcoal on big grates. Not the (relatively) clean, demure critters one gets at similar feasts in Apilachicola, New England or the Northwest where the beds are often out in the ocean and not so mucky.

I aso thought Rosebank Farms was quite good and the closest thing to a homestyle low country seafood joint in the area. Calabash, fried tomatoes, shrimp & grits etc.

JeffB wrote:Nice place. Have you done the oyster roast/whole hog BBQ at Mingo Point? Really good stuff, like a Low Country luau (speaking of Hawaii in other threads).

But even an avid oyster lover like me is tested by the gravitas of the huge bivalves they dredge out of the tidal river muck and roast, mud largely intact, over charcoal on big grates. Not the (relatively) clean, demure critters one gets at similar feasts in Apilachicola, New England or the Northwest where the beds are often out in the ocean and not so mucky.

I aso thought Rosebank Farms was quite good and the closest thing to a homestyle low country seafood joint in the area. Calabash, fried tomatoes, shrimp & grits etc.

JeffB, glad to have you second Rosebank Farms. In spite of the casual atmosphere, I could tell the kitchen was pretty serious when the waitperson gave the provenance of the grits and sweet tea, and advised us on Charleston fine dining.

We did not do the Mingo Point roast-I think it wasn't open yet for this season. We did see quite a few dolphins on our excursion near there, however! We did do the oysters at Bowen's Island. While muddy on the outside, I found that with a bit of care, I got no grit in my teeth. In fact, there was a plus side in knowing they were really really fresh and local (not just one of the "Lies They Feed Us" ).

There was a place we checked out called Chez Fish, a promising-looking roadside fish market and restaurant on the road out of town, toward the Angel Oak-one of the oldest living beings- and worth a trip, google it. The owners had French accents, and said that they would be open the second week of March. Missed that. Maybe some others will want to check it out.