Milk-and-cream chowder with white fish (cod, haddock or pollock), potato, onion and rendered salt pork, finished with butter. Distinct from clam chowder; salt pork carries the fat, milk (never boiled) carries the body.
Fish chowder predates Maine by centuries; French and English fishermen on the Grand Banks made shipboard chowders from the 1500s. The Maine version, refined through the 1700s and 1800s, leans on cod and haddock rather than clams and uses salt pork for fat and milk for body. The 1896 Boston Cooking School Cook Book codified the canonical Maine fish chowder ratio: salt pork, onion, potato, fish and milk in that order. Becky's Diner on Commercial Street and Scales on Maine Wharf both run a year-round chowder; in winter, the Old Port seafood rooms switch to chowder-first menus.
4 editor picks for Maine fish chowder in Portland, ranked by editorial score. All Portland signature dishes · Maine fish chowder across every city.
Fore Street ★ 4.8
old-port · 288 Fore Street, Portland, ME 04101
Fore Street opened 1996 in a converted Old Port warehouse and built modern New England cooking around a wood oven, open hearth and turning spit.
Scales ★ 4.5
old-port · 68 Commercial Street, Portland, ME 04101
Scales on Maine Wharf opened March 2016 from Sam Hayward, Dana Street and Victor Leon (the Fore Street team) with whole local fish, oysters and a raw bar.
Becky's Diner ★ 4.3
old-port · 390 Commercial Street, Portland, ME 04101
Becky's Diner on Commercial Street has been on Portland's working waterfront since 1991, opening 05:00 daily for fishing crews and the breakfast queue behind.
Boone's Fish House + Oyster Room ★ 4.3
old-port · 6 Custom House Wharf, Portland, ME 04101
Boone's Fish House on Custom House Wharf reopened 2014 on the site of the 1898 original, with Maine lobster rolls, halibut and fish chowder on the deck.