Boston Beer Works – Where The Beer is Better than the Chowder and the Company is Divine.

Posted on February 28, 2012 | 1 Comment

For those of you following along, we took Flat Stanley on a trip to Boston last week during school vacation. He stopped in Newport, Rhode Island for a night at the Goat Island Hyatt and then we went to Cambridge.

Naturally, Flat Stanley wanted to visit Fenway. We had the pleasure of taking Flat Stanley to dinner with ChowderAunties.

Flat Stanley Visits Fenway

We enjoyed the chowder here very much but it is possible that we were so overwhelmed with joy at the Hyatt chowder that we couldn’t enjoy this too much.

Flat Stanley's second chowder test.

It was thick but not flour-ey – something much appreciated by the ChowderFamily. It was, overall, quite good. And nicely baconey.

I love ChowderAuntie’s review.

It at least has more detail than ChowderBoy who seems to have gone mute.

Now that’s style.

In any case, we would highly recommend a night on the town that includes Boston Beer Works if you are in The Hub and interested in trying some great beer and great chowder.

Boston Beer Works on Urbanspoon

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Posted in Highly Recommended, Massachusetts, New England Clam Chowder

Flat Stanley Arrives and Becomes…Flat Chowder-ley

Posted on February 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

Flat Stanley: Guest ChowderBoy

Flat Stanley joined the Chowder Family this week, courtesy of our cousin/nephew in Northern California. So we decided to take him on a Chowder Journey to help him tell a story about New England.

First Stop: Newport, Rhode Island

We brought him to the Five 33 Lounge on Goat Island, home of one of our all time favorite chowders.

Aquidneck Clam Chowder

ChowderBoy ordered a cheese plate. Flat Stanley was not interested. But ChowderCheeseBoy thinks it is amazing. Most of it. Some of it ended up in our mini-fridge.

Rubbing his hands in anticipation...

ChowderGirl ordered the Aquidneck Clam Chowder.

Flat Stanley! Don't bogart the chowder!

ChowderMom ordered a Coddington beer of some kind!

Stanley! You are too young for this!

Stanley Says: These couches are the most comfortable couches ever! If we lived here, we would be the happiest people in the world! And they have the Bruins on! It’s like heaven!

Stanley Says...

The chowder was outstanding. Unlike many chowders we’ve tasted before, it was unusual. Extra buttery, red potatoes with the skins on, the perfect amount of dill and seasonings and holy clams, Batman.

ChowderBoy and Flat Stanley were so happy with the chowder that they ordered more from room service.

Room Service!

You jerks! But hey, thanks for the extra beer!

Tomorrow – Black Pearl!

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Posted in About ChowderFamily, Highly Recommended, New England Clam Chowder, Other Bisques and Chowders, Rhode Island

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Fraunces Tavern – NYC

Posted on February 21, 2012 | 2 Comments

George Washington Ate Here

The first day of February Vacation started with a bang. We decided to go chowdering in the city for the day. ChowderDad and I always like to add a bit of history and interest to the chowdering so we picked Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan.

Bar menu!

I’ve never been there – I am so glad we finally went! The food was ridiculously good and it wasn’t a tourist trap at all.

We decided to eat in the bar, and instantly zoned in on 3 dishes: Smoked Haddock Chowder, Irish Cheese Plate, and Garlic Shrimp with Grilled Bread.

Big Thumbs Up For Fraunces!

Then ChowderParents hit a major stumbling block. What to drink? They had so many whiskeys and draft beers, we struggled to find the right drinks. In the end, it was like a George Thoroughgood song.

One bourbon, one bloody, three beers.

Slurp.

Whack fol the daddy-o, there’s chowder in this bar!

OMG. Look at this!

Let us all just say that Fraunces Tavern’s smoked haddock chowder is so good, we were almost weeping.

ChowderGirl, “It needs salt. All chowder needs salt.”

ChowderGirl

We spent our time fighting each other for the next bite. It was amazing. Perfectly cooked potatoes, fantastic haddock, great smoky taste – just perfect perfection.

By The Time It Circled Back To Mom...

ChowderBoy = ChowderCheeseBoy

Won't someone please cut his hair?

“WOAH!!! HEY DAD!!! !TRY SOME CHEESE!!!! The cheese is really good! ESPECIALLY the orange one. We will have to go get this cheese it is so good. Ask them where the orange cheese is from. I need to eat this at home!”

It's apparently Lancaster cheddar. And other stuff.

ChowderGirl had garlic shrimp with grilled bread and got offended and crankypants when she was forced to share her meal.

Livin’ La Vida Loca

Finally, I’ve been interested in trying a properly made Sazerac and this place seemed like just the right balance of hipsters and tourists and whiskey. Unfortunately, I may not actually like Sazeracs.

This'll be the day that I die...

Overall: We cannot say enough wonderful things about Fraunces Tavern. Perfect way to kick off the day and prepare for the insanity of midtown on a holiday weekend.

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Posted in Highly Recommended, Historical Taverns, Other Bisques and Chowders, Outside Proper Chowder Territory

ChowdaFest Review – Tavern On Main New England Clam Chowder

Posted on February 19, 2012 | Leave a comment

Westport’s Tavern On Main New England Clam Chowder

Very baconey. Very thin. If it was thick, we would have LOVED it.

No chowder picture...

This was our last grab. And it was great but we were just so very very done with writing or thinking about chowder, we couldn’t really make a fair assessment.

We hit the wall. This was the taste that brought us to our Chowder Knees.

We’ve been there for dinner before, loved the dining experience, and we will have to go back just to try the chowder properly. It’s not their fault we ate too much chowder.

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Posted in Chowder Festivals, Connecticut, New England Clam Chowder

ChowdaFest Review – Southport Brewing Company

Posted on February 19, 2012 | Leave a comment

First things first. We love Southport Brewing Company. We have had some great meals there. Last fall, the ChowderParents had a ridiculously great drink there. And ChowderKids had a great pasta dish. We love them. In fact, the day we saw the house we bought, we went to SBC to discuss the purchase. We have a long standing love of this place.

On to the review.

Southport Brewing Company: Clams Casino

The biggest thing about this soup was that none of us could figure out why it is considered Clams Casino.

  • “What makes it Clams Casino anyway?”
  • “It is a great tasting soup but I don’t understand what makes it Clams Casino? I need a bigger bacon flavor, among other things.”

Interesting...

The biggest question was…WHERE IS THE DEAD PIG?

Clams Casino Chowder

We liked it very much. But not knowing why it is called Clams Casino Chowder…we were confused. And saddened.

Southport Brewing Company: Sausage, Egg & Cheese

Once again, the ChowderFamily asks “Where is the dead pig?” If it is supposed to be sausage-inclusive, why don’t we taste any sausage?

Where's the dead pig?

It has a bit of a weird taste.

We liked it in theory more than in practice.

ChowderBoy? Liked everything about it and had 3 cups.

Nice booth set up though! We liked the visual :)

We still love you SBC!

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Posted in Chowder Festivals, Connecticut, Other Bisques and Chowders, Other Soups, Uncategorized

ChowdaFest Review – The Crab Shell Times Two

Posted on February 18, 2012 | Leave a comment

Crab Shell New England Patriot Crab Chowder

Possibly the best quote of the day came from this sampling. “There’s a secret stash of bacon in here but it only came in mine.”

New England Crab Chowder

It was very floury and ChowderDad said “I liked it to start but it went real bad, real fast.”

ChowderMom really enjoyed it and thinks ChowderDad was imaging things.

Crab Shell NY Giant Lobster Bisque

ChowderBoy thinks it is disgusting. But then, we have established that he does not like lobster bisque at all.

but not the Giants.”]So it’s up to ChowderMom. Here’s the deal. “I loved it. I did. It was, by far, the best bisque of the day. But I could not vote for it because they named it after the Giants. And booooooo.”

Darn, that's good!

I would go back there a thousand times for their bisque. It was THAT good.

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Posted in Chowder Festivals, Connecticut, Other Bisques and Chowders

ChowdaFest Review – O’Neill’s New Irish Clam Chowder

Posted on February 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

O’Neill’s New Irish Clam Chowder:

The soul of Ireland in the heart of SoNo. I cannot believe we have lived in the area for almost 7 years and we have never been to O’Neill’s. Especially because we’re relatively proud Irish Americanish kinds of people. (How’s that for a half explanation?)

New Irish Chowder

So we were very excited to see them on the ChowdaFest list.

So the chowder. Well, it was rich and tasty but no one could figure out what made it Irish. And that really disappointed us – because we were counting on something WOO! It tasted good – but it tasted like New England Clam Chowder.

We were looking for something else. Maybe some secret stash of salmon would be included…along with infinite wisdom and knowledge.

Isn't This McCool?

But it was really good. We really did enjoy it and now, now we think we must go there for a Happy Hour or Sunday Brunch.

Such a hardship, really, for us to be forced to go to a classic Irish pub. I hear they make a great bloody mary. But we all have trials and tribulations…

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Posted in Chowder Festivals, Connecticut, New England Clam Chowder