All stories Restaurant Review
Five Lowcountry Plates Worth the Drive
SStephen Bates October 4, 2026 5 min read
From a dockside shrimp boiler to a hidden Filipino-Korean fusion counter, these five plates define a Charleston autumn.
Charleston's dining scene keeps surprising me. This season I chased five plates across the Lowcountry, and each one told a different story about who we are right now.
The Dockside Shrimp Boiler
Start where the shrimp actually land. A no-frills dockside operation off Sol Legare is boiling shrimp within an hour of the catch, tossed in a lemon-garlic butter that tastes like the creek itself.
The best seafood I've eaten this year came out of a paper boat, standing on a dock.
A Hidden Fusion Counter
Tucked behind a King Street bar, a six-seat counter is turning out Filipino-Korean small plates that shouldn't work and absolutely do.
