Chubby Fish
South Carolina
Chef James London’s Chubby Fish makes seafood the centre of a small Charleston restaurant on Coming Street. Opened in 2018, its cooking is rooted in the Lowcountry while borrowing techniques and flavours from further afield. The changing menu moves between raw preparations, oysters and cooked fish. Recent examples include bluefin tuna crudo with peppers and corn, grilled oysters with crab-fat curry, and chilli-garlic shrimp with ginger and rice. Market fish and whole-fish dishes give the available catch a larger role. Vegetables and meat also appear, including cauliflower cacio e pepe and charred lamb ribs. The result is a seafood-led meal with enough variation to build a table of contrasting dishes. Chubby Fish does not take reservations, so a visit requires some flexibility.