Painted hen tracks led us inside the better than expected French-Southern bistro from chef Fred Neuville and wife Joan. For the past six years, Neuville was Partner and Executive Chef at 39 Rue de Jean, COAST Bar & Grill, and Good Food Catering, all based on Charleston’s increasingly trendy Upper King Street. The Neuvilles’ new, more rural space used to house Johns Island Café, a popular breakfast spot where I made the mistake of ordering a shameful shrimp Creole omelet. Happily, there’s nothing shameful about the Neuvilles’ new venture.

A blackboard menu above the kitchen listed Fat Hen’s cocktails and beers. It may have been on-the-nose, but I couldn’t resist ordering a bottle of Old Speckled Hen from England. They also had two selections from Portland, Maine’s popular Allagash brewery, including a dark Dubbel.

Grilled BBQ Scallops ($10.95) were bacon-wrapped, lacquered with tangy pomegranate BBQ sauce and plated with a fines herbes salad of parsley, chervil, chive, tarragon, tomato and Roquefort.

The Braised Pork Belly ($7) special was marinated in soy and sake, meatier than usual and served with bracing pickled cauliflower and asparagus.

Flounder Nicoise ($17.95) was solid, moist fillets sautéed with brown butter, fresh herbs, lemon, capers, olives and tomatoes served over bacon Parmesan grits. The bacon and Parmesan could have been more pronounced, and the sauce was probably a tad too tangy, but the dish worked.

Braised Lamb Shank ($19.95) featured meat that pulled easily from the marrow-filled bone and was plated with carrots, wild mushrooms, truffled grits and tart sun-dried cherry compote.

Meat Loaf ($12.95) incorporated ground beef and pork. The loaf was slathered with red eye gravy and served with fries and onion-tossed collards.

Blue Cheese Bacon Coleslaw ($3.95) was intriguing, with crisp cabbage, surprisingly muted chunks of cheese and limp bacon bits that could have been crisper.

Business must be good. Fat Hen packed during our dinner, and the Neuvilles are planning to open an Italian restaurant down Maybank Highway. Fat Hen was clearly an upgrade from the bygone Johns Island Café, so there’s reason to believe the Italian spot might also be worthwhile. Overall, this is a boon to island-based diners who don’t want to take the long drive into Charleston.

Other recent South Carolina reviews:
Trattoria Lucca – Charleston, SC (December 30, 2008)
Jack’s Cosmic Dogs – Mount Pleasant, SC (December 30, 2008)
FIG – Charleston, SC (December 29, 2008)
High Cotton – Charleston, SC (December 27, 2008)
Tides – Kiawah Island, SC (December 27, 2008)