Pike Place Chowder ★ 4.7
Pike Place Chowder in Seattle is Larry Mellum's 2003 Post Alley counter: eight national chowder cook-off wins, the New England with manila clams, served in a sourdough boule.
Try: Award-winning clam chowder
History
Pike Place Chowder is not a Seattle invention so much as a Seattle perfection. Larry Mellum opened the counter in Post Alley in 2003, then carried Pike Place Chowder's New England Clam Chowder to the Great Chowder Cook-Off in Newport, Rhode Island, where it won the people's pick in 2008. The kitchen has now collected eight national championships, including the seafood chowder with smoked salmon and the Manhattan-style with chorizo. The Pike Place Market location at 1530 Post Alley still trades on the cobblestoned chowder queue; the second shop opened at Pacific Place in 2008. The clam used is the local geoduck-adjacent Manila clam, and the bread bowl is a sourdough boule sliced lid-off at the counter. There is no Seattle chowder before this; the Manhattan style at Ivar's predates it by 64 years but never travelled the cook-off circuit.
Common allergens: Shellfish, Dairy, Gluten
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 1 kg manila clams in shell, scrubbed
- 250ml dry white wine
- 120g smoked bacon, diced small
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 celery sticks, finely diced
- 2 medium yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced 1cm
- 1 bay leaf, fresh thyme sprig
- 400ml whole milk
- 200ml heavy cream
- 30g unsalted butter
- 30g plain flour
- Fresh chives, sliced fine
- Sea salt, black pepper
Method
- Steam the clams in the wine in a covered pan over high heat, 4 to 6 minutes, until they open. Discard any that stay shut.
- Strain the cooking liquor through muslin and reserve. Pick the clams from the shells and chop the larger ones. Reserve.
- Cook the bacon over medium heat until the fat is rendered and the bits are crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Lift out and set aside.
- Sweat the onion and celery in the bacon fat with a pinch of salt, 6 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the potatoes, bay and thyme.
- In a separate pan, make a blond roux with the butter and flour, 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk, then the cream, then the clam liquor.
- Pour the milk-cream-liquor into the vegetable pan. Simmer 12 to 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Stir in the clams and bacon.
- Season with black pepper; the clams and bacon do the salting. Spoon into warm bowls. Top with chives.
Tip from the editors. The chowder thickens overnight in the fridge. If you make it ahead, loosen with a splash of milk before reheating; never boil it again or the cream will split.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Where to eat pike place clam chowder
Pike Place clam chowder in Seattle
Matt's in the Market ★ 4.4
Matt's in the Market in Seattle is the Pike Place Corner Market room with windows on the clock: a Pacific Northwest kitchen sourcing five floors down at the stalls.
Signature: Catfish sandwich, Salmon plate, Half-pound mac
Order: The catfish sandwich at lunch, on Macrina sourdough with house remoulade.
Tip: Lunch counter seats walk in at 11:30 and turn fast; dinner needs a reservation for window tables.
Ivar's Acres of Clams ★ 4.0
Ivar's Acres of Clams in Seattle on Pier 54 is Ivar Haglund's 1946 waterfront fish house: a wood-walled dining room over Elliott Bay with institutional pan-fried oysters.
Signature: Pan-fried oysters, Clam chowder, Alderwood-smoked salmon
Order: Pan-fried Olympia oysters with the alderwood-smoked salmon at a window table.
Tip: The Pier 54 fish bar to the side is the cheap counter: same clams, lower price, ferry views.
More cities are in research. Want pike place clam chowder covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.