I had heard so much about this place and the fantastic hushpuppies, so having a rare Saturday off, I decided to take a drive.
Calabash, NC is only 40 minutes away from me.. Roughly 20 minutes north of Myrtle Beach.
While perusing the menu, I looked around and at 3 PM, almost every table and booth were occupied.
Odd time of day I thought, but then again, the Shriners are having their convention in Myrtle Beach.....
But still, people kept coming and going.
They serve the calabash style seafood, which seems like lightly battered/breaded and fried. This was my first foray into the world of Calabash food.
Many things on the menu, but of course, their seafood was the main topic.
They give you a choice of 1, 2, or 3 items, either a small or large portion.. your choice, and priced accordingly.
Choices were fried shrimp, boiled shrimp (hot or cold), fried flounder, fried scallops, deviled crab, and something else I just cant put my finger on right now.
All the items come with hushpuppies, coleslaw and fries.
I ordered the small portion of fried shrimp and hot boiled shrimp for $12.00 with an appetizer of steamed clams. And the large portion was only $1.50 more....
They mention they are local clams, and looked very similar to the small cherrystone type.
12 for $8.95... Not unreasonable.
Too bad the overcooked them. As chewy as clams are anyway, these were almost inedible, but I ate them anyway, as I had such a taste for them.
Oh, I almost forgot!
As soon as you sit down, the server brings you a basket of hushpuppies.. Not 2, not 4, but my basket had 20!
They are odd looking, almost like fingerling carrots. Not the color, but shape, not round, but boy, were they good! And the honey butter goes real well with them.
I also dunked one into my steamed clam butter!
Now back to my shrimp...tiny little guys, they are local shrimp, like popcorn shrimp.
But both types were cooked just right, and not overcooked at all.
At least I didnt have to peel my boiled shrimp. The boiled ones looks almost like those Geisha nasty ones in the can you can buy, but a bit larger..
Both shrimps were very tasty and good.
Personally, I would rather have the 26-30 size steamed in Old Bay, and peel them myself, but HEY.. when in Rome, I guess you eat what the Romans do!....Or rather, the Calabashers do!
The coleslaw was definitly home made, and bore a striking resemblence to my own, minus the horsey flavor. Very good, texture was like KFC's..kinda ground up like. They also make their own cocktail and tarter sauce, and both were very very good. Cocktail sauce had the right amout of heat to it.
All in all, I did enjoy my meal..
Forgot to take my camera with me, but I had a very nice portion of leftovers for you to take a look see at.
Those things on the right are the hushpuppies...
Gigi likes hushpuppies, I just found out.....
