Ocean Front Cuisine - BLU on Folly Beach

Yesterday, my fiance and I spent the first of 3 days on our annual trip to Charleston, SC. We've kept this tradition going for the past 5 years, and would have missed this year had our good friends & neighbors not offered us the last few days of their pre-paid beach house rental, which they had to forgo. Thanks to them, our yearly tradition continues!

So, after settling-in, the next item on our list was figuring out where to go for dinner. As our time on the coast is a limited luxury we anxiously look forward to each year, good (local) fish was a prerequisite. We'd eaten at some of the popular local restaurants in years past - from the Crab Shack to Locklear's Beach City Grill on the fishing pier. Ready for something new, we were pleasantly surprised to stumble upon BLU - which serves fine, contemporary coastal cuisine and overlooks the beach.

When we arrived we were impressed with the ambiance of the restaurant, which is located in the lobby level of the Tides Hotel. The decor was modern, with a lot of small touches that played into the blue, watery theme - such as a moving wall of water behind the bar, and some really awesome light fixtures shaped like water droplets. The staff was very helpful, going as far as to give us the lowdown on how and where they get their locally sourced fish, meat, veggies, cheese, and other ingredients.

Even though it was dark out, we decided to sit outside on the large verandah overlooking the beach. While it was quite windy, we didn't mind - sea breezes are something we don't get a lot of in the foothills of western NC. In the spirit of beach trips, we started things off with a round of Mai Tais. While nothing compares to real Hawaiian Mai Tais, (obviously), these weren't half bad. A little orange to garnish, and we were set.

Salad
Next up was the 'Celebration of Beets' - a fabulously simple yet deep-rooted salad (sorry...bad pun) bursting with color, texture, and flavor - which consisted of a mixture of 3 different varieties of local, heirloom beets (including some lovely, golden-colored ones), roasted hazelnuts, local goat's milk ricotta, and local micro greens (sorry for the blurry picture):

All I cay say is - yum! At $9, it's not the least expensive salad you'll ever meet - but the quality of the ingredients and the flavor made it a luxurious little treat.

Main Course
Since the salad was surprisingly filling, I just ordered a tapas plate consisting of pan roasted red drum from Swimming Rock Farm, pork belly dumplings, and sweet corn puree, all in a port wine syrup. The fish was delicious, and the port wine syrup was incredible. I had never tasted pork belly dumplings before, and found them to be a bit chewy - but can't really say whether that's good or bad since I have nothing to compare them to. The flavor was nice, the texture was a little sticky (but I guess that's dumplings?) All in all, a great dish and one that I would recommend.

Griffe decided he wanted something a little more substantial and ordered an actual entree (although, in my opinion the quantity he received was only slightly more than my tapas plate - and nearly double the price!). He had the catch of the day, which on this particular Sunday happened to be hog-nosed snapper. The snapper was cooked with the skin intact, which was perfectly crisped while the fish remained light and flaky. His meal included various summer squashes, micro greens, some kind of potato hash, and a tasty pumpkin puree. Not a very thorough description but I didn't take notes...so bear with me. He seemed to enjoy it, and from the few bites I stole I have only positive things to say.

Dessert
As is our custom, Griffe and I decided to split one dessert - so we spent a few minutes debating just what that lucky confection was going to be. We had narrowed it down to the bread pudding made with Hendersonville, NC apples (a little taste of home in the low country!) and the 'Peanut Butter & Jelly' (a unique idea, and nothing like what you're thinking). As I had already eaten plenty of apple that day, I decided to go for the latter. Griffe either agreed or conceded - either way, he did it gracefully =) We were not disappointed. I think the picture speaks for itself (FYI - the peanut butter is in the ice-cream, the 'jelly' refers to the fresh berries, and the flourless chocolate cake is an added bonus!)

All in all, I give BLU a very positive review based on the quality of the service, the ingredients, the presentation, and of course taste. While the price is a little steep, there is enough variation in the menu to satisfy both your wallet and your belly, particularly if you eat from the appetizers/soups & salads/tapas menus and skip the entree altogether. I recommend this restaurant to anyone that appreciates good quality, sustainably sourced food, and doesn't mind a little ocean mist seasoning their plates and their faces while they dine. AF