Pike Place Chowder, in the heart of beautiful Seattle, serves (easily) the best seafood soup I have ever sampled. This comes
from me, a guy who has dined at "national-award winning" chowder joints in
Monterey, San Francisco, and Newport (Oregon). Pike Place Chowder, founded in 1993, blows all other competitors out of the water with local, organic vegetables, delicious bread, hot soups, and, of course, the freshest seafood possible.
My favorite offering here is the traditional New England Clam Chowder. This stew, a soup inducted into the Great Chowder Cook-Off Hall of Fame just five years ago, is crammed to the rim with boiled potatoes, bacon bits, and delicious clams. The cream broth itself is flavored with a secret blend of divine herbs and spices that takes the soup to a whole new level. It is not too thick or thin - Pike's New England is spoon after spoon of savory seafood perfection. This isn't the only soup on the menu; Pike Place serves a well-loved quintet of other chowders; the Manhattan (a tomato-based soup), the Chicken and Corn, the Market Chowder (a chef's special involving the "fresh fish of the day"), a Scallop Chowder, and the stunningly tasty Smoked Salmon Chowder. All five are, in their own ways, on par with the New England version Pike Place is best known for.
This restaurant, though, is often erroneously thought of as 'chowder-only'. Don't be fooled and miss out - Pike Place Chowder offers a wide variety of fresh seafood baskets, along with a slew of bisques, salads, and sandwiches. For fish and chips, customers can choose fried coconut prawns, fresh oysters, cod, or salmon to go along with their fries. As for sandwiches, Pike Place pumps out dozens a day. The most popular is the Crab Roll, a sourdough bun topped with heaps of fresh crab meat, mayo, lemon, and secret seasoning. A close second is the smoked salmon sandwich, where pieces of salmon are tossed in a roasted corn salsa and served cold on a bun. Speaking of buns, this little shop uses some of the best bread I've had the pleasure of eating. The sourdough that comes with each cup of soup is flaky yet firm. It holds up when dunked and requires a good bit of chewing when consumed before immersion.
Pike Place Chowder is a gem in a city filled with stunningly-good establishments. From coffee shops to Asian markets, Seattle has it all, especially seafood. If you are in the "Emerald City" and have a hankering for a tasty chowder, crab roll or box of fish an chips, drive on over to Pike Street and hit this place up; you will not be disappointed.
Hello readers. Pictures on this post are not mine, though most are; my camera was sadly, broken when I went to Pike's Place. They link to the original websites, and all of which are great for food-lovers! Check them out if you can.
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