Creamy clam chowder as poured across the Monterey Peninsula, sampled cup by cup on the wharf and ladled all day at Carmel's village seafood grills.

Chowder came to Monterey Bay with New England fishermen and stayed because the wharf trade made it a calling card: to this day the stalls of Monterey's Old Fisherman's Wharf hand out chowder samples to walkers, each house claiming the creamiest pot. Carmel's version of the ritual is calmer, a cup at Flaherty's, whose menu leads with its famous clam chowder, or a bowl at the Hog's Breath Inn between courses of steak.

Where to eat Monterey-style clam chowder in Carmel-by-the-Sea

2 editor picks for Monterey-style clam chowder in Carmel-by-the-Sea, ranked by editorial score. All Carmel-by-the-Sea signature dishes · Monterey-style clam chowder across every city.

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Thai Cooking Class in Monterey★ 5.0 (65)

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Thai Cooking Class in Monterey

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Make it at home

Serves Serves 445 minEasy

Ingredients

  • 2 tins chopped clams with their juice, about 400g total
  • 150g bacon, diced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 sticks celery, diced
  • 400g waxy potatoes, diced
  • 30g butter
  • 30g plain flour
  • 250ml whole milk
  • 250ml cream
  • Sea salt, black pepper, thyme

Method

  1. Render the bacon in a heavy pot until crisp, then set it aside, keeping the fat.
  2. Soften the onion and celery in the fat with the butter for 5 minutes.
  3. Stir in the flour and cook 2 minutes without colouring.
  4. Add the clam juice, milk and potatoes and simmer 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
  5. Add the clams, cream and thyme and warm through without boiling.
  6. Season, ladle into bowls and finish with the reserved bacon.

Editor tip. Add the clams at the end and never boil them; long simmering turns tinned clams to erasers while the base gains nothing.

Common allergens: Shellfish, Dairy, Gluten.