Lake Bowen Fish Camp — Restaurant in South Carolina

We eat here every year for birthdays and such for our Landrum/Spartanburg peeps and immediately I’m on the toilet once I get home every time! (Maybe I’m not used to fried foods.) this time I had the broiled seafood sampler with perch. The hush puppies, slaw, and fries were fantastic, the two pieces of medium shrimp were tasty, the two scallops were small but tasty, cooked to perfection I might add but no larger than a quarter in diameter and 5/8”-3/4” thick. The perch was disgusting, slimy and lacked all flavor. I ate a few bites and mushed it all on my classic fish camp tray, putrid! My children got the flounder and calabash shrimp, they both enjoyed their meals. My wife got the adult calabash shrimp and she enjoyed it, again the fries are really good here, two stars alone for the fries and another for the coleslaw! I ordered me and my kids waters with lemons, drinks came out with out lemons and after asking our waitress brought us lemon packets. I would expect a fish camp to keep a hearty amount of lemons on hand. My youngest consumed all of her water halfway through the meal and I poured mine into her cup. My cup sat empty the rest of the meal, including others at at the table. Our waitress was kind but I assume she was in high school, maybe… I hope she pursues the trades or college because she will have it tough if she does not improve as a waitress. 3 stars all in all, I did not complain about my fish because I do not like sending food back to the kitchen, personally… Parking was tight but not terrible this visit, beware as there may be a few dead ends in some aisles depending on how others park. The deck behind the restaurant provides a nice view of lake Bowen, no shortage of ducks and geese to see. The back corner of the restaurant by the larger parking lot smells foul, like unclean trash cans and grease traps… sometimes a little pressure washing...

The food is standard, in my opinion. That's not saying it's bad in any way. I think they do a great job catering to their majority. This was my first visit. I ordered fried perch, broiled flounder, baked potato, and a salad. The broiled fish comes with no seasoning. There isn't an option in the menu to have it added. I found out after the fact that you can ask for Old Bay seasoning to put on after it's brought out. They use the broiled option for those with allergies. The broiled flounder filet was very thin, which led to it being overcooked. The perch fillets were hearty and cooked perfectly. I tried my husband's catfish and it was good as well (it would have been better if he'd realized he needed to request salt/pepper to be added). We asked our 2 different servers for ketchup and tarter sauce for the hushpuppies we ordered as an appetizer (we asked when we ordered and again before they came out). Once our hushpuppies were on the table, I went and found ketchup and tarter sauce myself (our area had 2 tables filled). Our teas stayed full. The restaurant was clean for being the end of the day. The lake view is beautiful. If it's nice out, order your food to go and enjoy the deck. We will go back and give it another try now that we know how things work and what...

This place has been a hometown local favorite for decades yet they keep it so neat and clean you wouldn't immediately know it has been around that long. The food here is always really good. Even the fried fish is good, they manage their friers perfectly so the food gets cooked fast without absorbing excessive amounts of grease, as is the case in many other fish fry establishments. Their prices are fantastic for what you get , more than fair. In fact the prices are actually cheap when you take in to consideration how inflatuon is raveshing so many other restaurants. They are locally owned and opperated and the owners take pride in their business and impact on the community. They have taken great care to reinvested in themselves and the business and spend what it takes to maintain a healthy thriving asset. If you have never been here before ask for a seat by the window for views of the lake if you dom't mind waiting a few extra minutes to be seated. The servers are well trained, professional and polite. They do their job well and they do it promptly they are a high volune kitchen and they do a great job getting all the orders to your table quickly and accurately. There really isn't anything I would change about Lake...