Chowdah Hunt '09

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

2009-04-23T09:25:00.007-04:00

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!

First Bite

2009-04-22T11:51:00.004-04:00

So while I get that Boston is pretty much the chowder capitol of the East Coast, coming to Boston was not the first time I ever tasted chowder. No, I'm not talking about the stuff Campbell's or whoever sells in cans - I'm talking real, honest-to-goodness, coastal city chowder.

And I'm pretty sure, on the West Coast, the best place to get it is San Francisco.

Fun fact: I am in love with San Francisco. If I wasn't afraid of the earthquake potential and being across the country and in a different time zone than my friends and family, I'd move there in a heartbeat. Actually, when I was 12 (young, naive, and unafraid of leaving the East Coast), my family visited SF for the first time. I picked out my house on Lombard Street. (FYI: It's the fourth one up on the right side - that blue one with the fuchsia flowers. Yeah, this was at the point where I was still thinking of being a lawyer or something and probably had a shot at actually making enough money to live there. Now that the journalist dream took over, that's pretty much not going to happen.) I was set.

The point of this all being that, during that vacation, and another one back to SF when I was a sophomore in high school (and, at that point, thinking I should go to Berkeley - still young enough and naive enough to think I could move across the country), I pretty much lived on a steady diet of clam chowder. My family went to McCormick & Kuleto's in Ghiaradelli Square (probably the prettiest restaurant with the most amazing view in the most amazing place in the city - seriously), and my mom convinced me I should try a taste of the chowder she ordered.

OK, so, I had to get my own. And then I made my parents go back again on that vacation so I could have more. On that second vacation, I actually ate chowder for breakfast (a big step for the girl who has to always eat breakfast food before anything else, and a poor decision in retrospect - I'm surprised my stomach didn't rebel, honestly). My dad and I went to a farmers' market in the Ferry Building, got some cheese, some sourdough bread, and some chowder, and we sat out on the pier on the and watched the boats and the sun and ate breakfast.

Oh, the sourdough bread. As much as I love Boston chowder and have realized that I'll be moving to Boston permanently before I'd ever be moving to SF permanently (sadly), I really miss those bread bowls. SF sourdough bread might be one of my favorite foods. And, no offense to Boston, but that is the one thing that will always make San Fran chowder better than Boston chowder.

And, after writing this, I now really, really want to go back to San Francisco. If anyone's going, I'm strongly recommending the sourdough/cheese/chowder breakfast on the pier. Not only is the food good, but the view is one-in-a-million. Maybe there'll be a for sale sign on that Lombard Street house (hey, a girl can dream!).

By the way, if you Bostonians want to try that chowder I had, there's a McCormick & Schmick's (same owners/family of restaurants as McCormick & Kuleto's) in Faneuil Hall. It doesn't have the view the SF one does, but it's got the same great food. I know Legal Sea Foods is the big thing here, but if you're looking for a change, but still want a place that's Legal-like, I'd seriously recommend this place. Excellent.

The List Just Keeps Growing

2009-04-20T21:01:00.010-04:00

I realized the other day that there's a glaring void in my list.

Somehow I managed to forget The Fours - the #1 Sports Bar in America, according to Sports Illustrated, don'tcha know?

Yes, it's a sports bar, but it's not that kind of sports bar. It's actually unbelievably classy. We're talking dark wooden booths, totally gorgeous bar, two levels, and lots of Boston sports memorabilia all over the walls.

Right, and they have some pretty spectacular chowder.

Actually, their chowder is a lot like that at Warren Tavern, another favorite - but it has bacon in it! Now, I'm not a huge fan of bacon, so I can usually only get a cup of it, but, oh my goodness, it's pretty darn good. I've been told Great Bay does the same thing (re: the bacon), but I have yet to check it out. But that's one of the places I'm going to taste-test, so I'll have to let you know how they compare.

As always, there's oyster crackers involved, and the chowder's always spilling over the sides as the waitress brings it over. Pair it with a Caesar salad (which, by the way, is GIANT), and it's an awesome meal. I was full for the whole rest of the day. (I mean, that's probably not saying much, because I've been told I eat like a snail, but whatever.)

Working at the Garden (TDBanknorth Garden, that is), I eat a lot of lunches in the sports bars down there and, honestly, all the chowder around there is pretty good. Boston Beers Works also has really good chowder, but overall, I think my favorite near there has got to be The Fours.

So, even though I may have (stupidly) left it off the list, this still means you should go try it - like, now!

Chowdah Hunt Day #1: Free Samples = Love

2009-04-15T22:47:00.010-04:00

Beginning this project on an empty stomach was not the way to go. Although, I will admit, it made the teeny, tiny, medicine-cup-sized chowder sample I got at Boston Chowda Co. taste that much better (not that I don't love their chowder anyways...).

Still, it was hard to resist just stopping into one of the places I was photographing and actually getting something to eat. But, I told myself, "Angela, that's for Taste Test Day." (Yes, it deserves all capital letters.)They all had that fish/lobster/melted butter/bread smell to them - just walk by a seafood place and you'll know the smell I'm talking about - and on a nice, spring-like day (no jacket needed!) it definitely made me wish I was on a beach.

That beach feeling was totally fulfilled when I got outside of Summer Shack on Dalton Street. It's right by Kings Bowling and Hynes Convention Center, off of Boylston Street. Seriously, just the outside of the restaurant made me want to put on sunglasses, lay in the sand, and have a drink with one of those little paper umbrellas.

I didn't get inside yet, but I can't wait to go back and take a peek - and try out their chowder. Just based on the outside, I've got a feeling this place is pretty fun inside (although they might play a little too much Jimmy Buffet, if I'm judging the book by it's cover). Any place that looks like it belongs on a Miami beach, but is actually on a small city street, is a-okay with me!

There's still a lot more places to be visited - and, of course, a lot more chowder to be tested - so stick around!

And So It Begins...

2009-04-10T16:51:00.004-04:00

Being from Buffalo, I don't really get the same "fresh fish" selection Bostonians have the luxury of finding at every corner. Oh, sure, we're situated on/near a river, a canal, and two Great Lakes - but really, who's ever heard of a restaurant serving the delicacy of fresh, Lake Erie...er, whatever sort of fish you'd find swimming around in that place? (Side note: I'm almost positive whatever fish you could find in there has three eyes. Then again, Boston has the Charles River, so I guess I can't talk too much about contamination, huh?)

In any case, I've spent my last three years being spoiled by the choices for seafood in this city. Where else do you have a school that has "Lobster Nite" in the dining halls? (Yeah, those were goooooood.) However, no matter what restaurant I find myself at, I always end up ordering clam chowder. It's become a comfort food for me, almost, like mac & cheese or mashed potatoes. If I see it in the dining hall, I have to get it. If I'm out walking around the city and can find a place to get chowder, that basically trumps all other food choices. And if you can get it in a bread bowl, it's like you've won the lottery (OK, maybe that's a liiiiiiittle over-the-top, but you get the idea).

But, seriously, in a city so full of good places to get chowder, how are you supposed to find the best? Well, dear readers, that's where I come in. Because I have become so enamored with this great Boston soup-like substance and I needed some way to pay my respects before I graduate and depart for home, unemployed and ready to move back into my parents' house, I bring you *dun-da-da-dunnnnn!* Chowder Hunt '09! ('09...'09...'09) Or, you know, I needed a good, quirky idea for my final project for my multimedia journalism class at Boston U. You make the call.

In the coming weeks (two weeks and three days, to be exact; that's when the project's due), I'll be trekking around the city (hopefully with some other willing taste-testers) to sample clam chowder from a few of the restaurants in the area. I'm working off a list of 20 restaurants, compiled in a new-fangled, highly-scientific manner, but I will only be sampling from five or 10 of the places. (I'm a broke college student who is graduating in May and doesn't have a job, what do you want from me?) However, the end result will be a spiffy-looking website (which is linked above, but isn't up yet) that shows you, dear readers, some of the places to find clam chowder in the Boston/Cambridge area. I promise all 20 restaurants will have a page on the site, but the ones we sample from will just be a little more in-depth and personal than the others.

So I invite you to join me on this quest - those of you who haven't been thrown off by my snark yet and are still reading - and follow along with the blog as I build this site. I promise you, the end result will be worth it (and will hopefully get me an A and give me a pretty sweet sample site to show all those places I will frantically be applying to when I get home - that is, if anyone's even hiring journalists in this economy). Also, I promise fewer links and more pictures and other fun stuff the next time I get writing. And, if elected, I promise world peace.

*blank stares*

OK, just kidding. About the election/world peace thing, not about the pictures.

In the meantime, vote in the poll on the side and stay tuned...I'm off to get some food (chowder? If the GSU has it!)