Favorite places to eat at HHI?

[mgrebenc]

Looking forward to your review dis-happy. Can you post how far it is from the Disney resort, if it would be easy for a non-local to find and if it is worth leaving the island for? Hope you have a wonderful meal.

 

[podsnel]

I'm going off island tomorrow night (Moss Creek Village) to eat at Claude and Uli's. The used to own and run the La Normadie restaurant on-island, but sold it. Was so happy to see that they opened a new place. I LOVED eating there before....truly European, with chef Claude cooking in the kitchen and Uli the hostess out front. Great service, wonderful food. Anyway, I'll post a review when possible, but hope it's all still just as wonderful. If so, it will be worth the drive!!


Also need to check out (highly recommended by a local friend today): the new Truffles Restaurant--called Truffles Grill---located on Pope Ave. Totally different atmosphere and menu than the one in Sea Pines.

I have a friend here in town who recommended Truffles to me- is Truffles Grill closer to the Disney resort than the one in Sea Pines?
Claude & Uli's sounds like it will be wonderful- can't wait to hear!
Ellen

 

[gracelrm]

We've eaten at Old Oyster Factory every trip to Hilton Head and have enjoyed it every time. We've eaten at Marley's a few times and it was good as well. We ate at a Thai place not too far from the resort last time (I've forgotten the name) and it was pretty decent Thai. I personally wouldn't recommend the Kingfisher. We had a very sub-average meal there and will likely skip it on future trips.

Hey Connears - where is Vasilli's? My DH would love to have some good greek food on our next trip?

 

[Connears]

We've eaten at Old Oyster Factory every trip to Hilton Head and have enjoyed it every time. We've eaten at Marley's a few times and it was good as well. We ate at a Thai place not too far from the resort last time (I've forgotten the name) and it was pretty decent Thai. I personally wouldn't recommend the Kingfisher. We had a very sub-average meal there and will likely skip it on future trips.

Hey Connears - where is Vasilli's? My DH would love to have some good greek food on our next trip?

Tried to get the website for you, but it not longer works so maybe the restaurant is no longer(it was summer 2006 that we tried it). It was very nice and busy, so I can't guess what's up. the same family owns a quick/takeout type place called "It's greek to me"(843 341-3556). Vassilis(843 842-4033) was a nice, sit-down restaurant with good wine list ....sorry can't help. I think it was by Coligny Beach area, if I recall.

I guess you'll know if its not in the dining guide when you get to the island.

Connears

 

[Let'sGoAgain!]

There was a combo ad for Vassili's and It's Greek to Me! in yesterday's Island Packet. I guess that means they're both still around! We haven't been to either one of them yet, but I think we may give one or the other a try this weekend...

 

[jekjones1558]

We ate at "It's Greek to Me" in May and liked the food there. We actually got take out. Good prices, too! We originally went to Seafood Shack, but the line was WAY long and they were not accepting call-in orders either.

 

[Connears]

There was a combo ad for Vassili's and It's Greek to Me! in yesterday's Island Packet. I guess that means they're both still around! We haven't been to either one of them yet, but I think we may give one or the other a try this weekend...

Great! We really like Vassili's food and service I'm Greek so it was fun striking up conversation with the host and wait staff..I would definitely return.

Connears

 

[DisneyDuo]

We ate at Tapas in April and it was the best meal of the whole trip. $$$, but worth every penny!

Also enjoyed Little Venice in Shelter Cove.

For us, Kingfisher and Scotts Fish Market were okay but not great. Flavorless rice and veggies with our meals, blah! Same with It's Greek to Me - loved the meat, but rice and veggies were bland.

We also had a great lunch at Hilton Head Diner - not fancy but good food!

Enjoy!

Lin

 

[kahluacream]

We just returned from a wonderful week at Disney's HHI. I wanted to chime in and agree that Tapas is wonderful-- our favorite meal of the week. DH and I went there for our "date night" alone one evening while my in-laws watched our little ones. The food is AMAZING, and the restaurant has a cozy ambience. It's tucked away in the same shopping center as the Northridge Cinemas. I highly recommend the shrimp and scallops Ardis, porcini mushroom ravioli, pecan encrusted brie in rasperry coulis-- They were out of this world. We ordered 5 different tapas to share, and those were lick-the-plate good!!!

With the kids, we enjoyed a meals Sticky Fingers (great ribs!) and Marley's Island Grille (fun tropical theme and awesome she crab soup). Scott's Fish Market was fine. We didn't really think Giuseppi's was worth the long wait.

At the resort, I enjoyed the big choc chip cookies, onion rings, and Mickey bars! I think I need to spend some serious time on the treadmill this week after all that eating. LOL!

 

[lah3hh]

We go to HHI almost every year and agree with many of the places suggested already but wanted to add a couple more. There is a great New York style deli called Gruby's (sp?) where they serve wonderful french fries and old fashion style hamburgers but you have to get there before 3:00. The fries are the large chunky hand cut style and yum are they good....

Then of course the more well known Salty Dog is a great place to eat as well as a beautiful marina style atmosphere.

Enjoy HHI...love that place! Can't wait to go back in 2009...hoping for a September trip next year.

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

For BBQ ribs and such I like Sticky Fingers on Palmetto Bay Road. If you want to save $$ on golf check out last minute tee times at lmteetimes dot com.

 

[dis-happy]

Well, we didn't go on Friday night after all since we spontaneously had lunch with a friend earlier in the day....the Thai place (as mentioned previously) called Ruan....BTW, it was a nice meal too, if you like Thai food (which I do!). We ate at at the one in Bluffton but it is the same as the one right outside Palmetto Dunes. The lunch deals are a great bargain and it will leave you too full for dinner!


So off to Claude and Uli's tonight, and in a word, EXCELLENT MEAL!!! There
were 3 of us, we sampled each other's meals, and everything was fabulous.

Service: perfect. We were made to feel welcomed when we entered, our waiter timed out the meal well, menu items we asked about were given a thorough explanation, no pressure to order more (we arrived during early-bird special hour but asked for the regular menu as well).

What we ordered: Person One, a 3 course meal from the early bird special ($14.); Person Two. a 3 course meal from the "Tour de France" special menu ($20.); Person Three. an appetizer (soup, $4.) and entree ($21.) from the regular menu except that the entree was one of the chef's specialites that night.

The special menus had several items to choose from for each course, ie. 4 different soups, or salad for the appetizer, main course (which also included julienned vegetables and a new potato), 3-4 dessert choices. These 2 prix-fixe menus had different options for the entrees and desserts.

Person one ordered: hot vegetable soup, salmon with a sauce, raspberry sorbet. Loved it all. Salmon delicious, sauce perfection.

Person two ordered: salad (how do they make a salad taste SO GOOD? the great dressing lightly coating the field greens and a fresh tomato slice), a fish filet (can't remember the exact description, but it too had a glorious sauce and the fish was so tender it literally melted in the mouth), dessert was "oeuf de la neige", two sweet egg-shaped confections in a dish with sauce and vanilla cream and a hint of a liquer; hard to describe but very tasty.

Person three ordered: cold cucumber soup (okay, worth the trip to this restaurant for this one item alone, the essence of cucumber jumping out during each mouthful--amazing!). Again, another fish was cooked, can't remember what it was exactly, and topped with fresh shrimp and scallops, another gorgeous French sauce. To die for.

Dinner also included a loaf of yummy bread freshly baked and a slab of unsalted butter, as good bread and butter should be served. Soda and coffee (w/ a large creamer of real cream attending it) were only $2. each. White tablecloths and napkins, nice atmosphere, certainly not stuffy though, made the entire experience a dream meal.

2 thumbs up along with 5 stars....I would definitely recommend this place to my DIS friends. It's about 15 minutes from the DVC during low traffic times: just go over the bridge to the mainland and Moss Creek Village is the first strip mall on the right; the restuarant faces Hwy. 278 in an L-shaped building.

You can also check out their website: http://www.claudeandulisbistroofhiltonhead.com/

 

[mgrebenc]

Excellent review! Will definitely add this to our "must try" list for June09. Prices look extremely reasonable. Does going off the island equal less expense for good quality food? Yummy, out of your entire wonderfully written review all that I can think of right now is raspberry sorbet,mmmmm.

Mary

 

[Let'sGoAgain!]

Well, you had a better experience at Claude and Uli's than we had at Vassili's on Friday night.

We arrived around 7:00 --there were 3 of us. We had a nice table in the corner where we could see out the front and side windows -- the decor was very nice.

Our server, however, left a lot to be desired. The older (and by older, I mean like in his 50s maybe? Ours was college-aged) guy seemed to really be on the ball; we wished we had him. Our guy seemed to be less-than-interested in what he was doing and was not very knowledgeable about the menu offerings.

DH had the she-crab soup, which he really didn't care for. He also had the Seafood Pasta, which wasn't bad, but he said he probably wouldn't order it again. DS had one of the specials for the evening, a 14-oz. ribeye. He also had the garlic mashed potatoes and a Caesar Salad; he pretty much licked his plate clean. I had the Shrimp Santorini, which was described as "shrimp, green onions, tomatoes, fetz cheese, and white wine served over fettuccini"; it was more of a shrimp marinara. Much heavier than I had thought it would be. I did also have a Greek sald, which I thought was excellent.

Both DH and DS had the chocolate layer cake for dessert. (OK, I tried a few bites, too... ) It was very good.

Not sure if we just got a bad night, or if our experience was typical, but between the server not being very good and the food (most of it, anyhow) not being as described, we probably won't go back there anytime soon.

Sorry, Vassili's fans.

 

[Connears]

Well, you had a better experience at Claude and Uli's than we had at Vassili's on Friday night.

We arrived around 7:00 --there were 3 of us. We had a nice table in the corner where we could see out the front and side windows -- the decor was very nice.

Our server, however, left a lot to be desired. The older (and by older, I mean like in his 50s maybe? Ours was college-aged) guy seemed to really be on the ball; we wished we had him. Our guy seemed to be less-than-interested in what he was doing and was not very knowledgeable about the menu offerings.

DH had the she-crab soup, which he really didn't care for. He also had the Seafood Pasta, which wasn't bad, but he said he probably wouldn't order it again. DS had one of the specials for the evening, a 14-oz. ribeye. He also had the garlic mashed potatoes and a Caesar Salad; he pretty much licked his plate clean. I had the Shrimp Santorini, which was described as "shrimp, green onions, tomatoes, fetz cheese, and white wine served over fettuccini"; it was more of a shrimp marinara. Much heavier than I had thought it would be. I did also have a Greek sald, which I thought was excellent.

Both DH and DS had the chocolate layer cake for dessert. (OK, I tried a few bites, too... ) It was very good.

Not sure if we just got a bad night, or if our experience was typical, but between the server not being very good and the food (most of it, anyhow) not being as described, we probably won't go back there anytime soon.

Sorry, Vassili's fans.

No need to apologize..I think it may have been an off night, or just not your cup of tea. We had great service...can't remember whole meal, but DS had steak and loved it, I had fish dish that was very good, but can't remember the rest, one of our party had a simlar seafood pasta dish and enjoyed it. I recall we loved the appetizers and desserts especially. Our server was relative of the owners, because he came to table to talk to us(after he found out I was Greek).

Connears

 

[Ginny]

Hi, we are heading down in August and love all the restaurants recommendations. Are there any restaurants that have breakfast or brunch offerings that we should try?

 

[sdedalus]

For brunch, I can't remember a better meal than Signe's. The setting is charming. The food is great. No one has mentioned the old Rachel Ray 40Dollars a Day in Hilton Head. Signe's, Sea Shack and Old Fort Pub were the three spots highlighted.

 

[iloveokw]

Breakfast: Harold's or Signe's - also a nice place called the French Bakery in the Pineland Station

Lunch: Harold's or Sea Shack

Dinner: Wild Wings, EB at Marley's, EB at Kurama Japanese, Sea Shack (get there early)

Found a very inexpensive Mexican place called La Hacienda (near Staples) that was ok, if you like to eat out Mexican


Sorry to say but we are no longer going to give Gusseppis another try after 3 disappointing encounters. Also we really enjoyed Marley's much more than Scott's.

Just my two cents worth. The restaurant selection on HH is one of my favorite reasons to go there!

 

[podsnel]

I LOVE this thread!! The reviews and recommendations are all soooo helpful! Thanks, everyone- I can't wait to add to it when I get back!!

 

[larrytau]

Lunch at Salty Dog: great place to eat, beautiful marina style atmosphere, and many interesting shops in the area.

Dinner at Sea Shack, followed by short ride to shopping center just east of it near the beach. Great ice cream and shopping (and I think there is a Piggy Wiggly there too)!!
Get there by 5:30!! Very limited capacity, and folks like to take their time with dinner there.

We have been pleased with Gusseppis (two out of two tries).