Pike Place Chowder at Pike Place Market
The Best Clam and Smoked Salmon Chowder in Seattle, Washington
The West Coast, especially the Pacific Northwest is known for its seafood. While San Francisco, California might be home to the country's most famous clam chowder and bread bowls, the chowder found in Seattle, Washington certainly gives it a run for its money in terms of quality and taste.
One of the best places to get chowder in Seattle, certainly the most iconic, is at the historic and world-famous Pike Place Market.
On a cool, cloudy morning, my wife and I sat down to enjoy two bowls of chowder - one traditional clam chowder and one northwestern-style smoked salmon chowder - served in bowls carved from hearty and delicious sourdough loaves.
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| clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl at Pike Place Chowder, Seattle, Washington |
Voted the "best in the nation" and inducted into the Great Chowder Cook-Off Hall of Fame, the clam chowder from Pike Place Chowder is really something special. The clam chowder was an exceptionally flavorful, hearty, and traditional creamy chowder flavored with bacon, cream, herbs and spices, and stuffed full of chunks of potatoes, and of course lots and lots of delicious fresh clams. It really warmed me up on a chilly day.
The smoked salmon chowder was a uniquely Seattle dish. It was made with smoked salmon, capers, chunks of potato, and cream cheese. The website described it as "lox and bagels, without the bagels", and that's a pretty decent description. I had never had salmon chowder before, but the taste was incredible, and the soup was one of the best things that I tasted in Seattle.
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| smoked salmon chowder by Pike Place Chowder in Seattle |
The bread bowls were perfect examples of sourdough loaves. They were chewy and toothsome with a crispy crust and bubbly interior. The bread had a strong sour flavor which complemented the richness of the soups perfectly.
How to order
If you want to eat at Pike Place Chowder, be prepared to arrive early (they open at 11:00am) or queue up for a long time. Otherwise, go online to https://www.pikeplacechowder.com where you can place an order in advance for pickup as soon as the next day.
That's what I did and what I would recommend. I saw the long line and decided that it wasn't worth it to wait. Instead, I placed an order online to collect at the restaurant's pickup window the next day and took the meal out to the picnic tables at the pier to eat.
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| Pike Place Chowder pickup window inside Pike Place Market, Seattle |
That's what I did and what I would recommend. I saw the long line and decided that it wasn't worth it to wait. Instead, I placed an order online to collect at the restaurant's pickup window the next day and took the meal out to the picnic tables at the pier to eat.
A bowl of chowder with a sourdough bread bowl costs $9.95. If you want to sample several different types of chowder, you can order a 4-cup sampler for $21.95, but it does not come with a bread bowl, which you can order separately for $7.
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| bread bowls with chowder in Seattle, Washington's Pike Place Market |
Location
Pike Place Chowder is located inside Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington at 1530 Post Alley Walk Wy, Seattle, WA 98101, United States.
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