Clam Chowder in Seattle

My friend told me about a restaurant in Pike Place Market (which I've already talked about) that serves really good clam chowder. So we decided to go.


I really like Pike Place Market, because it reminds me of markets in my country. (Although the markets in my home are much smaller!) The restaurant is called Pike Place Chowder. It is a small shop hidden in a corner next to Pike Place Market.


There are many other interesting small restaurants there too. Maybe I can go back and try them someday.


Inside, the restaurant is very simple. There is a small counter in front, and some small tables to the side. While we were there, we saw some people take food with them; maybe a lot of their customers work in the buildings nearby.

When we got there, I was very hungry, and my mind had a picture of a big pile of clams, with the shell and everything. But when we got to the counter, all I could see were some small pots of soup. I thought maybe the clams were in the back. We looked at the menu, which was written on a blackboard above the counter.


I could see that they had several choices, but I wanted to try the original. I went to get a table while my friends ordered our lunch. When they brought the food to the table, I thought "where is mine?" I still didn't understand what clam chowder looks like.


My friends laughed, and told me that the clams were already in the soup. In Vietnam we always cook the seafood separately, and put all the parts together at the end. But this is not how you make clam chowder. Everything is cooked together. When I learned this, I was afraid that it would have a weak flavor and I would not like it.

But as soon as I tasted it, I stopped worrying. The first thing I noticed was how it felt in my mouth. It was soft and rich. The first thing I thought of was coconut milk. Sometimes we use that for sauces. But it tasted very different. I was surprised how much flavor it had. I ate a piece of potato and felt the flavor all the way through it. We usually use rice instead of potatoes in Vietnam, but I think potatoes are better for this dish, because they soak up the strong flavor. The clams didn't taste as strong as they do in Vietnam, but maybe they had given all their flavor to the soup.

My order also had a small piece of bread and some crackers. My friends told me that some people like to put the crackers in the chowder to give it a crunch. I tried it but I think I like it better by itself. The bread was very delicious. It had a sour taste that surprised me. My friends told me it was called "sourdough bread," and it came from San Francisco. (Maybe that will be a future blog post!)

Now I understand why my American friends always surprised when they see a big bowl of pho. Because the chowder was so rich that I couldn't eat as much as I do when I eat Vietnamese food. It is much richer and stronger, so I don't need to eat as much to feel full. When I finished my bowl I felt very satisfied, and I wanted to go to to sleep!

But before we left, I saw another interesting thing. Another customer had a big loaf of bread on the table, and I saw that it was filled with chowder!


My friends told me that it was called a "bread bowl", and people liked it because the bread soaked up the flavor of the chowder. It used sourdough bread like the piece I had eaten. It looked really good; maybe next time I will try that!