After 3 hours of eating the best chowder in the nation…we took the boat shuttle back and went to the hotel and swam. Then we ate dinner. And tried their chowder.
The Goat Island Hyatt Aquidneck Island Chowder was better than anything we had all day. Including Tony’s.
In fact, it was so good that ChowderBoy demanded another bowl the next day.
The Fringe Chowder Section sorely needed ChowderDad. I ate it but was not super excited and skipped some if the lines were too long.
21 – Waterman Grille – skipped
22 – 22 Bowen’s Wine Bar - big thumbs up on the southwest scallop and corn!!!
23 – liquid lunch from shelton. not bad except totally non fish based which is rough for us….I guess I don’t really even know what chowder means..since this really seemed like soup.
24 – Blue Mermaid Chowder House – San Francisco, CA, home of ChowderUncle. Phone calls must be made. GREAT Crab and Corn. I loved it. Kids refused.
25 – Line was WAY too long at Elbow Beach. Sorry Bermuda.
Then we got stuck eating Strawberry Shortcake and getting a bat painted on Chowder Boy’s face.
I totally stopped writing stuff down except that I ate some VERY VERY VERY smoked smoked corn and salmon chowder which should have been great but HOLY SMOKED. Yuck. Then I had Pike Place Bar & Grill which served some something awesome. On a frisbee.
Then we had to go back to the clam category and shovel Tony’s and Home Plate in our gobs for about 20 minutes.
And we met Mike! The Chowder Guy! He gave the kids some presents which made them feel like big shots.
Whew! That was fantastic. Perfect weather, perfect chowder, great crowd. That one is a no brainer for us for next year. We Twittered our reviews on and off and jotted things down but I can see it will be days before I can get all the material out there. By booth number, as it was jotted down:
2 – Tony’s Cedar Key Clam Chowder, from Cedar Key FL
Spicy! ChowderBoy says 115! Nice potato. But it was our first taste and you know…you can’t just fall in love with the first guy who looks your way. Or CAN you… Sometimes, what’s right is right…
3 – Atlantic Grille – Middletown, RI
Tastes like Ritz crackers. BO-ring. (I’m glad I wrote this down – I have absolutely no recollection of this chowder…it was that ho hum)
4 – Atria Senior Living – Barrington, RI
ChowderKids hated it, I found it bland. ChowderGirl asked if this was the same Atria where Nana is (it’s not) and if we needed to rescue her.
tweet: chowderboy just declared…everything is bad. does not bode well.
5 – RISD Caters, Providence, RI
In the first bribery attempt, we received visors for the kids. We didn’t need to be bribed though. This stuff was DILLTASTIC. Creamy, rich, perfect clams. However, ChowderBoy’s attitude took it’s first turn into downward spiral. Freshly baked crackers, just lovely for me though.
6 – Stella Blues, Warren, RI
Oh how I wanted to get the kids to try this. They decided absolutely no red chowder would be consumed AT ALL. Ever. I tried it though and it was fine. I wanted to love it more because the owner’s a DeadHead but it didn’t work out for a true love connection.
7 – L’Attitude Modern Eatery – Cranston, RI
Too thin, ChowderBoy’s bad mood continues.
8 – Union Station Brewery – Providence, RI
ChowderGirl was horrified. Way too oniony. ChowderBoy said it was none of the letters (which means it was unrankable)
9 – Boat House, Tiverton, RI
Both kids refused to eat it. Way too smoky, in my opinion.
10 – Homeplate, Taunton, MA
Okay so the place was all covered in Red Sox gear and in case you didn’t know, ChowderKids may like their chowder New England style, but they like their baseball from the Bronx. So we were suspicious from the start. But MAN. We loved it. Nice potato, nice seasonings, just great.
Plus, they were all kinds of enthusiastic and joyous.
11 – The Barking Crab, Newport, RI
It was billed as “a dream in a cup” and it was pretty darned good. The kids got the cutest crab hats which made us happy and enjoy the chowder a bit more. Yummo! Very good! Yay!
tweet: so far the crab place is the best. the kids are already tired.
12 – Newport Marriot, Newport, RI
“Blech”
13 – Gas Lamp Grille, Newport, RI
No review. I am guessing it was my need for a bloody mary and our need to rest that caused the lapse.
We sat for a while and argued over Tony’s versus Home Plate.
Then we went inside to try the Creative Category. Will review that all later…
I will say that we went back at the end for Tony’s and for Home Plate. I cast my BEST CHOWDER vote for Tony’s. The kids threw their two at Home Plate. I loved loved loved Tony’s. For me, it was hands down the best that day. That said…it’s not traditional and you know…CHANGE CAN BE SCARY.
We didn’t stay to hear the results but from Tony’s site, it looks like they won!