Chart House on Hilton Head Island

Each year, my family goes to Hilton Head for vacation over Labor Day.  One night of each week, we try a new restaurant to sample some of the island's fine seafood dining.  We have tried restaurants on coves, near the ocean; restaurants old and new, but nothing has matched this year's dinner at Chart House (http://www.chart-house.com/), located on the north end of the island.  This year, we went to celebrate my uncle's birthday, but for any reason or excuse, this is the best place we've been!

To start, the service was excellent.  Our waitress was extremely attentive and helpful with recommendations, although she was probably a tiny bit talkative for the table.  Our glasses were always kept full, the bread service (including fantastic fresh-baked poppy seed rolls as well as sweet cornbread and jalapeno biscuits) was fast, and each entree came piping hot and exactly as ordered.  I felt like we were neither rushed nor ignored, which is always tough at busy restaurants.

Our table ordered the fried calamari and fried green tomatoes as starters.  The calamari came with assorted other fried items (peppers, sweet potatoes, plantains) and was quite tender and flavorful.  I didn't notice any greasy taste or texture with the squid but felt the sweet dipping sauce could have used a bit more spice as a compliment.  The fried green tomatoes were equally good; the crisp breading wasn't soaked with oil and remained crunchy throughout eating.  I thought that the tomatoes were less acidic and more "meaty" (both good things) than other varieties of this dish that I've tried.  Overall, the appetizers and bread were a great start to our meal.

For my main course, I was overcome with choices but went with the spicy yellowfin tuna served with wasabi mashed potatoes.  Additionally, two sauces (wasabi cream and ginger soy) dressed the plate and added complimentary taste without covering the tuna at all.  The tuna itself was seared rare and served with blackening spice that was a thin coating perfect for the thickness of the tuna.  The meaty, mild flavor of the rare tuna was the best I've had (possibly tied with 42nd Street Oyster Bar randomly) and all of the accompaniments really added to the overall dish.  I loved the mashed potatoes, particularly with the variety of sauces, but didn't notice a lot of difference between these and the standard mashed Yukons served.

While my meal was perfect, I was fortunate enough to try several others from my family; mahi mahi, crispy redfish, and stuffed shrimp.  All were topped decadently with lump crab and various sauces that gave richness to already delicious seafood.  I couldn't pick a favorite really, all had great parts to them, but I was surprised most by the stuffed shrimp, which I typically find to be basic and bland (these were not; the spices and crab stuffing really carried a lot of taste adding to large, flavorful shrimp).  All in all, I didn't have a single bite during my meal that wasn't amazing.

The Chart House set a new standard for our family in Hilton Head dining.  Few restaurants in Raleigh or anywhere else outside of New York really compare in my opinion.  We've tried many of the best places on the island here but to a person, we're all excited to come back to the Chart House next year to see what they offer next!