Pike Place Chowder....I'm Not Here For the Soup!

Jan 20

Jan 20 Pike Place Chowder....I'm Not Here For the Soup!

A.W.

Reflecting on my time here in Seattle I think I may rebrand this blog the fried chicken, fried fish and pizza journey with the random bakery thrown in. Seems I have been gravitating towards these things without really thinking about it—and those are just the few places I feel compelled/inspired? to actually sit down and write about. Plus, there are quite a few places to get anyone of these three with varying degrees of success and price. I have tried a fair many pizza places in this town but as I think I may have mentioned before, many are not worth much thought beyond the quick bite or I’m drunk stoned crowd. I could say the same for the fried chicken and fried fish places of which there are surprisingly more than you would think. Well, maybe not the fish places, PNW after all. But fried chicken? Who knew.

Felt like it was time to back to some fish and a quick internet search brought up a plethora of places, many of which are down town near Pike Place Market, which, duh, of course they are. But in the interest of not wanting to tangle through a crowd crunch I tried mapping out several blocks beyond that and didn’t have to go far. About two blocks to be exact for Pike Place Chowder. A bit of a misnomer as they do have a spot at the market but they also have one at Pacific Center on the top floor which seemed to be more accessible than standing in line outside with all the folks who are just breezing through the city.

Now I can see your furrowed brow, a chowder place? Why yes, a chowder place. The place has been around for like 20 years and they are known for the chowder, but that has never been my thing. Chowder is just too thick and rich and—clammy tasting. I like clams, but only when they are fried up. Beyond the chowder they also serve up sandwich rolls and fish and chips.

I used to work at one of these kinds of places, a fish fry house that is. It was my first paycheck kind of job with taxes and crap taken out. I wasn’t old enough to drive but I could work!—because NC. It was a new spot for the state in what was an emerging SE US chain that began in Tennessee and is still around (I’ll let y’all figure out which one) including the one I used to work at several decades ago. I used to come in early in the mornings and help clean the place by scraping grease off the walls. Fun times at $3.10 an hour—the minimum wage. But hey, I got money and could buy records because those were still a thing. I lasted a year, but I ate a lot of fish as you got a freebie meal for every shift so to say I’ve been eating this kind of fried fish for awhile is an understatement. Maybe that is why I still search it out, childhood/teenage sense memories and all that.

Which brings me to the two piece fish and chips at Pike Place Chowder. They have a couple of fish types (like salmon but no catfish!) to choose from but being a traditionalist I went Pacific cod. Everything is cooked to order so it does come out piping hot and crispy. You get to pretty large pieces that with the traditional golden batter coating. Sort of akin to pancake batter but without all the sweet. Or the standard beer batter without the beer. Take your pick. They did a good job getting it crunchy without being oily or greasy and the fish inside tender and flaky. It was nice and they had the good old school tartar sauce I like with relish and small hints of dill in a thick and creamy mayo base. Though I did need more than just the one small container of it I got.

The fries were also done quite well. Kind of double fried, crispy outside, soft inside and just lightly covered in something akin to Old Bay Seasoning but not quite that. At least I think it wasn’t that. Some places just kill the fries with seasoning, here it was just enough with some salt to give them flavor without making it feel like you have to drink a full glass of water after eating them. Plus you get a lot! So many I actually did not eat them all. Could have but did not—for a change.

Overall this is a solid fish and chips basket that will run you about $16, which is kind of a bargain compared to some of the other places around town. If you are looking to avoid the crowds around the market, Pike Place Chowder in the Pacific Center is a good option to try them without standing in line in the elements just a to get a bowl or a basket. I did have some small flashbacks to working in one of these white tiled places with smell of the deep fryer wafting through and the gentle sploosh of the soda machine. At least they weren’t PTSD memories of scraping hard grease off the walls and draining hot old grease from the fryers. And that is a good thing cause I like deep fried fish and it would be a shame if I could not walk into a place like this for it.