Pike Place Chowder - Pacific Place — Restaurant in Seattle

Food is mid at best. If this is the best in town, I'm worried what the other chowders are like.

Has a queue but moves briskly. Casual fast food kiosk setting with plenty of outdoor seats on a non-rainy day. Tables turnover every 20 minutes or so, so it doesn't take long to get a seat unless you are in a large group.

I had great anticipation for this place, looking at the number of awards they proudly displayed on the wall. However, food was edible at best, with only one of the four samples suiting my palate. Crew were friendly and courteous, which was welcoming on a rainy day.

New England Clam Chowder - Imagine if someone left the pot over the fire for too long and the bottle most layer of food got burnt, and then someone gave the pot a good stir... that's how this chowder tasted like. Generous with the clams, creamy, but I wish there were potato and carrot bits. Flavours were slightly heavy for my liking but the burnt scent dominated both the smell and the flavour profile. Disappointing for a signature item. Rate it 3/5 at best.

Market Chowder (lobster, crab, shrimp) - least strongly flavoured of the lot, and most pleasant for my taste buds. Doesnt have a huge depth of intense/excessive savouries, but very enjoyable. This was the flavour that I could eat the most of because it didn't overwhelm the taste buds. 4.5/5 for me.

Seafood bisque - tomato based broth. Expected the flavour to be strongest of the lot and turned out to be so. First flavour of the 4 I tried and was immediately attacked by the intense savouriness. Way too rich in taste. Imagine having the broth that's left out to reduce, and then reduce a but more. That's what dominated the taste of this bisque. Don't get the fresh basil taste. Slight fishiness from the shrimps, even under the rich flavour. 3/5

Crab & oyster Chowder - floury, same intense taste from the seafood bisque, minus the tomato paste attack. But the flavour still attacked the throat. Barely tasted the oyster, but its there beneath the blanket of savouriness. Felt the crab bits but not the taste. Might have legitimately toasted shells in the Chowder that's blended up, but otherwise, still a 3/5 for me.

Sourdough was slightly dry, but still decently chewy with a soft and relatively thing chewy crust.

Perhaps this place just didn't have the finesse of delicate flavours I prefer in chowders, but nonetheless, it was comforting in a cold and wet day. Would not return and I don't recommend trying. Might have better luck elsewhere...

Let’s start with the fries. They made them fresh to order👍🏾👍🏾. The fries are nicely crisp and stayed crispy as I enjoyed the clam chowder with oyster crackers. The portion may not look generous, but it’s plenty on the tray. You could share.

New England Clam Chowder. I could go back for more of that chowder. It’s hearty without any weirdly nasty added taste like some I’ve had at other restaurants. There was no issue getting extra crackers.

Maine Lobster Roll. I think first, it’s a 3” sandwich. If it’s the only thing I’m eating I’m getting the full size. With a small chowder and fries, the 3” sandwich works out just fine to fill my tummy and fuel the rest of the day. You get 1/8 lb of real lobster meat, claw and body, cold. I was thankful the server informed me when ordering so I wasn’t taken off guard. If you want a warm lobster roll get the Connecticut style roll.

This review gives 3/5 stars for atmosphere given that it’s an open mall seating setup. They have signs instructing NOT to save seating👍🏾. As soon as I got up someone immediately cleaned off the table👍🏾👍🏾 for the next guest. Really, it’s 5 star service here but I can’t give 5 due to the...

The chowder is scrumptious! This location is at the mall. There's still a line but it's a great location if you're in the Downtown area.

On this trip I ordered the sampler and since I already knew what I wanted, I got TWO New England chowders and TWO Seafood Bisque's. I shared them with my boo. In my opinion, those are the most flavorful of all the soups offered. New England Clam chowder is just the classic. The seafood bisque is hearty (full of seafood) and iyts tomato based - but much thicker than the Manhattan chowder.

We also ordered the two-piece cod fish and chips. Fish and chips were CRISPY. They taste made to order.

Everything tasted really good and the best part was that it was piping hot, as chowder should be served.

I could see heat coming from the smallest of french fries on the plate.

The service was prompt and at this location, your food is brought out to you.

Even if you go to either location and there's a wait, it's worth it.

Only bummer is that they were out of sourdough but I love this place so much I won't knock the points....