Critic Appreciates the ‘Smuggled’ ‘Loveliness’ at the Barbadoes Room

On the recommendation of a Post and Courier reader, critic Hanna Raskin visits the decades-old Barbadoes Room at the Mills house hotel. While the tourist-filled eatery is often overlooked by locals, Raskin enjoys her meal there. “Over the course of three visits, I was impressed again and again by the loveliness that executive chef Justin Hunt is smuggling on to plates,” she writes.

While there are some misses, like the service, Raskin says:

... the successes far outnumber the disappointments. The Barbadoes Room is especially adept with seafood, as evidenced by exquisitely seared scallops, paired with rye-dusted farro, pocked with peas, to balance out the dopey sweetness that scallops usually exhibit. And if the char on a loin of “sword,” as my server casually referred to it, wasn’t sufficient reason to order the fish, it’s served in a corn veloute that’s sunshiny enough to worry three out of four dermatologists.

Charleston City Paper critic Vanessa Wolf also visits an old favorite with a new menu the Royal American. She dismisses the Disco Fries and Loco Moco, but the hot shrimp and muffuletta are stand-out choices. Wolf does mention that if one were to down enough rum punches, it would all taste pretty good.

• The Mills House’s Barbadoes Room Serves Surprisingly Trendy Food in Stately Hotel Setting [P&C]
• The Royal American Serves Up Stellar Music, Boozy Punches, and Solid Bar Bites, With a Few Standouts [CP]