Now I will preface this review by stating that I grew up in this area. Going out for seafood, specifically Calabash-style seafood, was a common event for my family. I've dined at many wonderful, and some not-so-wonderful, seafood restaurants throughout the region over my 57 years. The menus are all similar as to their offerings of the types of seafood, how the plates are configured, and which sides are included. While there will be slight variations with the non-seafood menu items, otherwise they could be said to be identical. The seafood will be rolled in a lightly seasoned cornmeal flour, then deep-fried to a crispy, golden shade which locks in the juiciness. It is paired with French fries & Cole slaw. Iced sweet (almost syrupy) tea is the beverage of choice. The appetizer and the bread course are the same--big, steaming, never-ending baskets of those wonderful deep-fried golden-brown dough balls of sweetened cornmeal, those uniquely Southern crispy/crunchy delicious delights that we call the hush puppy!
One difference which is readily apparent when you taste it, which determines the quality of the food, and that is the kitchen staff. Really good places have a full-time cooking crew who have been there for years, many times led by one of the owners. Their focus is making damned fine food that keeps their customers coming back again and again. Other places have been there for decades and hire a few local teenagers to work nights in the kitchen. These kids are shown how to crank out the food and they do, same as they do at Mickey D's and fast-food places around the country. They are earning a few bucks but have no pride or any stake in what they are serving to the patrons on a given night. OR have seasonal workers that change every few months. These workers just churn out food with no pride in making quality, tasty food.
And some restaurants have been around for several generations of customers. In Calabash, NC, some of these places have been open for 60-70 years!!! In the Myrtle Beach area, places hope that people don't know that Calabsh is a PLACE just north of the Grand Strand. Tourists aren't aware that they can drive the 30-odd minutes to the town of Calabash to get the authentic style of seafood that was made famous by a few small restaurants located there. Places opened all over the beach over the decades that had a nautical decor, and slapped the "Calabash" name on their seafood restaurant to capitalize on the name made famous across the border. Mind you, this is a tourist town where no one knows the true history of the cuisine Thus cannot make the decision to visit Calabash, NC, when they go out to eat. Putting lipstick on a pig doesn't change the fact that it is still a pig.
Calabash seafood is not a gigantic buffet bar with over 100 items!
Calabash seafood is seafood rolled in cornmeal flour, then deep fried.
The deluxe platters will contain oysters, shrimp, scallops, flounder, deviled crab, cole slaw, fries, & hush puppies. That's it! Don't believe it? Then drive a few miles north, cross the state line in NC and visit the little town of Calabash! The town where this cuisine was started and spread outward from over 70 odd years ago!
Anything else on the beach is BS and a sad variation on a classic Carolina style of cooking!!
Stay away from these seafood buffets which have appropriated the "Calabash" name but not the true method of making the food!
They are banking on the fact tourists have heard of the wonderful Calabash seafood, but have no idea that it is an actual place. That it is not just a name used by various buffets and places throughout the Grand Strand that capitalize on the reputations built by decades of delicious cooking in the tiny village of Calabash, NC! read more