One of the benefits of eating at the beach is the bountiful seafood available. In Myrtle Beach, there are quite a few places, but one specific style kept coming up: Calabash.



"Calabash-style seafood is lightly breaded and fried and typically served buffet style. The seafood is always accompanied with the ever popular side dish-hushpuppies. Corn meal is used instead of flour to give the seafood a light coating. The seafood is then fried in hot oil until it becomes golden brown."



There were two that kept coming up in my search: 
The Original Benjamin's Calabash Seafood: Myrtle Beach Buffet and Captain Benjamin's Calabash Seafood Buffet. I went with the former just because I saw they were takeout friendly. And during the midst of COVID, I was not trying to sit in a buffet with a ton of folks.



When I arrived, I told them I wanted to do takeout, and they handed me a bunch of boxes to head to the buffet and gather whatever I wanted. The buffet was huge, with multiple islands, stations and options. The buffet has nearly 200 items, like: 



Crab Legs
Blackened Salmon
Crab Cakes
Oyster Rockefeller
Steamed Oysters*
Scallop Cakes
Stuffed Flounder
Stuffed Shrimp
Seafood Special
Parmesan Tilapia
Shrimp Fried Rice
Steamed Clams
Cajun Crab Legs
Shrimp Scampi
Craw Daddy’s
Clam Strips
Seafood Wontons
Jumbo Shrimp
Fried Flounder
Fried Scallops
Blue Crabs*



Peel & Eat Shrimp
Clam Bake
Coconut Shrimp
Fried Oysters
Fried Calamari
Carved Ham
Ribeye Steak
Baked Chicken
Ribs
Barbeque
Fried Chicken
Chicken Tenders
Pepper Steak
Macaroni & Cheese
Mashed Potatoes
Yeast Rolls
Hushpuppies
Zucchini & Squash
Green Beans
Asparagus
Corn on the Cob
Shrimp & Grits
Fresh Salad Bar
Kickin’ Crab Bisque



Clam Chowder
Vegetable Soup
Potatoes Au gratin
Steamed Rice
Tomato Pie
Red Potatoes
Deviled Eggs
Cole Slaw
Sweet Potatoes
Soft Serve Ice Cream
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ranger Cookies
Brownies
Banana Pudding
Cheesecake
Key Lime Shots
Red Velvet Cake
Carrot Cake
Oreo Delight
Chocolate Pudding
Lemon Pound Cake
Strawberry Cake
Fresh Fruit
Cupcakes
Chocolate Truffles
Peach Cobbler
Coconut Cake



Everything is blurry because I was juggling all these boxes and the lighting is pretty low, so apologies. But, once I took all my goodies back to the hotel, I was able to see what all I scavenged.



First of all, they do supply a whole order of hushpuppies, which could be a meal in and of themselves. I like mine to have a hint of sweetness, but these were not bad.



Look at that spread. It's just literally a little bit of everything. The appeal of this place is the sheer amount of food. It's insane. I took a bite or two of each thing before retiring. It was all decent. Nothing was mind-blowingly delicious, but nothing was bad. Lots of fried seafood, which was all fine. Plus, perks for such a good variety. 



Grade: B