News - Entertainment

Friday, Aug. 15, 2008

Dining out: Crab just slides off the shell at Fishbone Grille

This column offers a sampling of dining experiences in the area. It is not intended as a review of the restaurant other than to provide the reader with one diner's experience.

Fishbone Grille

Location: 501 Crossroads Plaza, Fort Mill

Hours: 3 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday; noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Phone: (803) 548-0888

Web: fishbonegrille.com

Ambiance: nice casual, friendly seafood restaurant

York County has a surprising number of fish camps and seafood joints, but there’s one restaurant that stands out when I think “fish.”

That place is Fishbone Grille, located just outside Tega Cay on Gold Hill Road.

Fishbone Grille has a nautical theme, but it’s not over-the-top like some seafood places. The dining room has a warm, rustic look with brick and stone walls. The tasteful décor features a mix of framed lighthouse photos and greenery surrounding the dark cherry wooden tables. It’s a very casual, welcoming restaurant where you can relax and unwind with some great food and friendly conversation.

Since we made it there in time for happy hour, which runs until 7 nightly, we sat in the high top tables in the bar area. Nearby, several business men and women networked around the horse-shoe shaped bar that seats about 16. Note: The bar, as well as the entire restaurant, is no-smoking.

The menu includes signature fish dishes such as almond-crusted tilapia ($15.95) and Cajun grilled mahi-mahi ($17.95), as well as steaks, ribs, pasta and sandwiches, even a deep fried oyster Po Boy for $9.95. I was especially interested in their Low-Country dinners including Aunt Penny’s Shrimp Etouffee ($14.95). Side orders ranged from grits and cheddar cheese to baby green beans almandine.

My friend and I split a steamer’s pot, which at $23.95 was filled with seasoned crab legs, clams, mussels, oysters, shrimp, corn on the cob and potatoes. My friend, who spent the 1990s in New Orleans, said it’s like what they serve in Louisiana kitchens, only instead of a pot, they’d wrap the seafood in a newspaper and spread it out on the table as is. Thankfully, I thought, Fishbone’s a little more civilized.

Not convinced the pot was enough for two — and it was — my friend ordered Bubba’s Stew, a fresh concoction of oysters sautéed in garlic, olive oil and butter, steamed with heavy cream and topped with cheddar cheese and bacon chives.

Now, I’m not an oyster fan. Never have been. They always looked so slimy that I never brought myself to try them. But in the spirit of tasting things for this column, I decided to sample Bubba’s Stew. Thank God I did. The milk-based roux was so creamy and smooth it tasted like something my grandma would whip up to make me feel better when I was sick. And then I took a bite — my very first bite ever — of chunky oysters. Ya know something? I liked it. A lot! They weren’t rubbery like I was expecting. I went back for seconds and thirds until my friend quipped that it was her stew, not mine.

Shoulda ordered my own, I thought just before the main course arrived.

Once I saw the size of those crab legs in the steamer’s pot, Bubba’s Stew was nothing but a fading memory. I didn’t even need the crab crackers — just took a fork and popped it open. The crab slid off the shell with ease. I was so ready to chow down that I didn’t dip it in the melted butter first, and by the time I realized I skipped the butter, I figured they didn’t need it. They were warm, slightly seasoned and just moist enough as is.

I was sold on Fishbone Grille before I finished my first crab leg. Then I looked down in the pot and grinned at the site of all my favorite ocean delicacies still waiting for me to dive into. I did skip the mussels, though. “They’re all yours,” I told my friend. I figured I’d already made a milestone by eating Bubba’s Stew. No way I was going near the slimy mussels.

I’ve since learned Fishbones has started a Ladies’ Night each Monday, offering half-price entrees with the purchase of a drink. I’m going back next week with some girlfriends to try that Etouffee. See ya there!

— Shannon Greene, Enquirer-Herald editor