:eek:
None for me, thanks.
I cannot remember. We were in an Ivars (Ballard) one time a couple decades a ago, not sure if I had the Chowder. Wally’s in Des Moines has the best in the area, AFAIAC. But I really like Doogers (Seaside and Warrenton OR) for the somewhat lighter broth.
There is good competition to be found in The Monterrey Brewery (served in a sourdough bowl) but Ivar’s (on the pier) is the best NE I’ve ever had. Their shrimp cocktail is a close second but bested by another seafood place a bit further north up the dock–cannot remember the name.
I live in Denver these days. Progresso is as good as it gets for me now. 
Tomato soup can be very good, but it needs to focus on the tomato flavor, maybe with a few other things to accentuate it. Likewise, for clams. Put the two of them together, and the primary flavors just end up fighting against each other. New England gets it right.
I’ve also had Rhode Island clam chowder, and while it didn’t have anything fighting against the clams, it also didn’t have much complementing them, like the creaminess does. So it’s in second place.
I love Rhode Island style. It’s like being immersed in the sea. Briny and bracing, it’s just wonderful.
NEW ENGLAND IS THE ONLY CHOWDAH, YOU CHOWDAH HEADS!!
<ahem>
Clam chowder is one of the few seafood items that I like. I’ll even venture into the seafood section of the grocery store just to buy Phillip’s frozen New England clam chowder. 
Funny thing is, given how much I like Clamato, I should like Manhattan style. I guess to me, in Manhattan style, like Clamato, it’s tomato flavor with an umami punch of clams, while in NE and Rhode Island, the soup is more of a gentle base on which the clams shine. (Which is also why I prefer the salt pork versions of NE vs bacon–bacon overwhelms.) For clam chowder, I like the clams to be the central flavor.
I’ve had west coast clams and I’ve had east coast clams, but I’ve never had a Kansas clam.
By the way, Jasper White’s book on the subject is well worth owning. Very well researched, and the end results are just fantastic.
50 Chowders
You have to Brazilian clams, they, uh, oh nevermind …
Well, you could substitute in prairie oysters…
Me, I’m in the NE camp, though I suppose it’s not really fair, as I’ve never felt the need to stray. Manhattan CC might well give me earth-shattering flavorgasms, but I’ll never know, 'cause why should I bother with that when I’ve got some NE, fresh ground pepper, and Tabasco right here? 
I always thought a chowder WAS cream-based.
There are some who say so, but I disagree. To me, a chowder is a thick and hearty soup, usually seafood-based, but not always, with big chunks of vegetables in it. It usually is cream- or milk- based, but it doesn’t have to be.
Chicken corn chowder is an example of non-seafood chowder.
Another factor that unifies chowders is the presence of potatoes, but they aren’t a requirement either.
I voted NE. RI is amazing if it’s really good, but icky when it’s not.
I chose Rhode Island because I’ve never had a bad Rhode Island chowder. If someplace offers the stuff, I’ve always found that it means that is homemade and darn good. Although the best of them can be divine, mediocre New England and Manhattan chowders abound, and you rarely know what you’ll get unless you know the place. However, even if it some run down old fish shack on the Connecticut coast (like I stumbled into this summer), if it offers Rhode Island chowder, it is worth your while to order.
Question: Is there anywhere that offers Rhode Island clam chowder that’s more than 50 miles or so from Providence?
Or just plain corn chowder, for that matter.
Yeah, I would’ve thought that potatoes are the common element uniting “chowders,” but it does seem there are chowders out there without potatoes.
Rhode Island clam chowder for me. I discovered it about 20 years ago at the Westerly Airport cafe and I’ve never looked back.
I think the place where I had it was in Cleveland, but I can’t remember for sure. It certainly wasn’t anywhere near Providence, though.
I don’t know that I have ever seen Manhattan or Rhode Island clam chowder at a restaurant. But I don’t get to the east coast often. My mom bought the Campbell’s Manhattan soup when I was growing up and I liked it fine, but I prefer New England chowder.
Where do you stand on bacon in NE clam chowder? (I say no.)