Calabash Seafood

[arjay]

I just did a search for Calabash seafood and found zilch. I know that they don't serve gourmet here, but their food is fresh, delicious, and plentiful. Calabash, NC is a small town almost on the NC/SC border, about 25 miles north of Myrtle Beach. The town is known for its seafood restaraunts (it has a lot of them).

At dinner time there are long lines at most places. Our favorite one is Captain John's. Have you been to Calabash? Have a favorite?

[enrevanche]

Ah, Calabash. It's been years and years since I've been there, but back in the day, Dockside Seafood House on Nance Street (right on the waterfront) used to be my family's favorite. After a long day of fishing, swimming and sunbathing (why do we eat so much at the beach? Is it the sea air?) we would pull up to a table at Dockside and put away heroic quantities of fried flounder, shrimp and scallops, and watch the boats on the Calabash River through the big picture windows.

Every restaurant in Calabash claims to have been the first one (just like every Ray's Pizza in NYC is "the original") but it's safe to say that Dockside, if not the first, was certainly *one* of the very first. They've been there forever.

[bandregg]

I have to say, I just don't get Calabash style seafood at all. I mean, here we are with a bounty of fresh seafood and every place just wants to fry it! Damn, what a waste.

[wcmckinney]

Agreed that Calabash is a little played out. Perhaps I am just reluctant to eat in a town dominated by restaurants and Christmas in July shops (same goes for Murrells Inlet).

That being said, I have decent seafood at the Calabash Seafood Hut, but it's nothing -- I think -- you can't find all along the coast.

[enrevanche]

I have to say, I just don't get Calabash style seafood at all. I mean, here we are with a bounty of fresh seafood and every place just wants to fry it! Damn, what a waste.

(shrug) Most of the seafood places in and around Calabash will happily broil or grill a fish for you if you ask; it's usually right there on the menu. Chacun a son gout; I'd be willing to bet that Calabash restauraunts fry 99 flounders for every one they broil or grill, and that's what people go there for... but the choices are definitely there.

Personally, I think that Calabash-style seafood--in which the fish is breaded lightly in cornmeal and fried very quickly in hot oil--absolutely requires the freshest fish available, and the fresh ingredients don't suffer at all in the preparation. In fact, I never order fried seafood outside of the South (or in a few very select soul-food restaurants here in NYC) as the fish is generally fried way too long and gets mushy and soaked with grease. Very unappetizing.

[a61morris]

We just recently made another trip to Oak Island for a couple of weeks, and we typically fix supper ourselves from the local shrimp. This was the first time we had been down there during the Fourth of July week, and it was crazy with people wall to wall everywhere. So we had even more incentive to stay out of the local eateries, and we even missed going back to the Yacht Basin Provision Company, much to my disappointment. We thought that one way to miss some of the most crowded conditions and still get out for an evening was to wait until Wednesday evening, when some of the revelers from the Fourth may have returned home, and to hit Calabash *early*.

Whoops. That didn't work out too well. We didn't get there until 5:15 or so, and we ended up waiting for 20 minutes or so, with all kinds of interesting people providing conversation starters in the blistering heat. With two small children, I find myself especially intolerant of "adults" who allow their children to run amok in public places, but I digress. We've only been coming to Calabash consistently over the last 5 or 6 years or so, and we typically hit Capt. Nance's (though I am intrigued by wcmckinney's recommendation for the Calabash Seafood Hut). I'm not sure how we developed this semi-loyalty, but it's always OK, and my parents typically "take" us, and excercise the power of decision.

This time, the hushpuppies arrived hot and delicious as our waitress took our orders. They were slightly sweet, and cooked perfectly. Most of us got fried shrimp, mainly because we very rarely ever eat fried seafood, and going to Calabash and ordering grilled/broiled seafood seems a little like going to IHOP and ordering a steak. Some people do I guess, but to me it just makes sense to stick with what they do best. While the shrimp were OK, the fries were pitiful and soggy, and absolutely flavorless. The tea was passable, and for once was not sweetened enough to bring on sugar shock. I'm not sure I've done enough to accurately convey the complete mediocrity of what we had, and afterwards we openly debated whether the drive and the crowds were worth it. I'm not sure that we will return next summer. As someone said earlier, there are other places up and down the coast where we can find fried shrimp just as good.

Rather a long winded "me too," but I thought some might appreciate some recent observations and opinions.

Dave

[Holly Moore]

That being said, I have decent seafood at the Calabash Seafood Hut, but it's nothing -- I think -- you can't find all along the coast.

I'm a fan of the Calabash Seafood Hut though I haven't been there for a few years.

A. They fry consistantly good seafood.

B. They've been frying consistantly good seafood for a long time.

C. I like saying Calabash.

[wcmckinney]

Perhaps my reluctance for cavorting at Calabash is due to the shrimps served on site. If I remember correctly I think that the fried shrimp is typically the tiny Creek shrimp variety, which I don't really care for fried.

I think a larger shrimp, maybe a medium size count holds up better in the frier and can take a better batter.

McClellanville Diner, Yacht Basin Provision Company, and really any number of places that serve up the bigger fellers find themselves higher up on my list of places I like to eat on the coast than the Calabash mafia.

[Curlz]

...and the STEAMED shrimp at the Provision Co. were darn tasty last week!!!

[nibbs]

Well, I'll give this a bump since the wife and I were at Sunset beach this past weekend. Maybe some advice for those who will be in the Calabash/Sunset area for a house rental. It is summer, after all.

We went to the Boundary House in Calabash for lunch because the first place we went into was a buffet and we really didn't feel like stuff ourselves. It was OK. We both had po-boys. I've had better and I've had worse. The place is very neat and clean and soul-less. I kinda regretted going in there once we sat down. The sweet tea was excellent. The atmosphere and menu reminded me of a Lucky 32's (for all you Triangle residents). The place is kept a little too cold, which is refreshing when you walk in, but gets old fast. Lunch was pretty cheap - Our po-boys were $8 or $9, if I recall. I wouldn't refuse to eat there again (and believe me, it doesn't take much), but I wouldn't seek it out.

Went to Crabby Outwaters for dinner - It is right next to the bridge on the way to Sunset. Overall, this was much better. Hushpuppies were served gratis with some cinnamon butter. All the tables have a hole cut in the center with a trash can in it that you can throw your scraps into. I had the fried softshell crab with corn pudding – It was pretty good. Wife had the grilled shrimp and scallops – Also pretty good. Nothing was knock-your-socks-off, and it wasn’t cheap (about $17 for entrees), but the service was good and there is a view of the water (in which we saw a small gator – No kidding!). The seafood seemed very fresh – In fact, the place is above a seafood store. I would go there again unless I had a recommendation for someplace nearby.

Last spot was the Calabash Deli for breakfast on the way out of town. There we got a bacon egg and cheese on a hard roll, coffee and juice, all for under $3. I highly recommend it, and I also recommend loading up on lunch meats here before your long week at the beach. Not as good as the be&c on hard rolls that I wolf down in CT, but hit the spot nonetheless.

If anyone has any recent experiences around Calabash or Sunset Beach, get them up before next year – We’ll be going with the whole family for a week. That'll give me a reason to look for this thread next year…