The Taste-Test: Boston Chowda Co. is the Winner!

I've got to say, I'm pretty excited that, as much as I love it, tonight's dinner isn't chowder.

Monday night began the three-restaurant taste-test that is the final part of this Chowdah Hunt project. $30 (or so) - and a little too much chowder - later, I've learned something: higher price does not necessarily make the food better.

Allow me to explain:

I don't quite have the money and/or time to sample every restaurant on the Chowdah Hunt list, so I figured I'd pick one from each price range: cheap, fast restaurant; sit-down, but still not super-expensive; and the option I like to call "go to only when Mom and Dad are in town."

Day One (Monday)'s stop was Boston Chowda Co., the "cheap, fast" choice. I know this is a clam chowder show-down, but I've eaten BCC's clam chowder often, and I know it's good, so I decided to try the Plymouth Corn Chowda. So I paid my $6, returned home, and settled in to eat...

...and oh. my. gosh. it was good. Potatoes, carrots, oyster crackers, and, of course, lots of corn, were swimming in a thick, creamy broth. I loved the sweet taste the corn gave the chowder, and I think there was a hint of pepper in it. Oh, and the potato chunks were HUGE.

I was seriously impressed - but I figured, the higher the price, the better the chowder, right? Thus, Day Two's $13 (yeah, that's right - thirteen dollars. I nearly had a heart attack. Did they not get the memo that I'm a broke college kid?) chowder from Great Bay, I thought, would be doubly spectacular.

Oh, boy, oh boy, was I ever wrong. Maybe it's because I found the bacon, which I love in the chowder at The Fours, to be overwhelming. Maybe it's because the broth was the thinner kind, which I'm just not a fan of. Or maybe it was all the green seasonings thrown in there. But, whatever it was, I seriously contemplated walking back across the street and asking for a refund (it was raining, though, so that ended fast).

Because the broth was so thin, the clams, potatoes (big chunks again), and celery (that was an interesting twist - and by "interesting," I mean, "um...ew.") all sank to the bottom, which was just annoying. I felt like I kept eating and eating, but it just didn't go away. I actually threw out the end of the bowl.

I'm not overreacting here, you guys - worst $13 I've ever spent. I know I said this was one of those places to go when the parents were here, but I think I'll go somewhere else, thanks.

Needless to say, I knew wherever I went for the final night, it would be better than that. I was all set to head to Legal Sea Food, but on my way, I decided I would try some place new - Summer Shack was on the way (and a block closer, which is always nice in the rain), so I wandered in.

Remember how I was all excited about seeing the inside? Yeah, it definitely looks like that beach-side restaurant I thought it would. They also had a pretty good deal - a salad and a cup of chowder for $10. How could I go wrong?

Actually, I couldn't. After polishing off my salad (It had radishes in it, by the way. I thought that was a good, interesting twist), I opened up the chowder. Once again, the broth was the thin kind, but there was no weird green stuff, and it was actually pretty good. There were lots of clams and potatoes in it, and while they did sink to the bottom, I didn't feel like this was the never-ending bowl like before. And I felt pretty happy with it once I finished it (yes, I did finish the whole cup).

In the end, though, the clear winner was definitely the least expensive - Boston Chowda Co. There's all the proof you need that, just because you're craving chowder doesn't mean you have to go spend a lot - or even go to a sit-down restaurant. And now, every time I go get chowder from there and wonder if I should suck it up and go somewhere else to get something better, I'll remember this.

I'm not saying there's not better chowder out there - I only tested three of them, after all, and I have other personal favorite places I didn't try; so go try them all! - but at least now I know that I'll take the $6 bowl of chowder over the $13 one any day.

If you want to see what it was like, the taste-test page of the website is up. Go check it out there!

And I, meanwhile, am going to go enjoy a dinner of anything but clam chowder!