Sorry, don’t have one. Just hoping someone else does.
Progresso’s chowder is pretty good.
“The Bite”, a little shack in Menemsha on Martha’s Vineyard.
Didja know “real” clam chowder isn’t supposed to have cream?
I’ve been to any number of places in SF, Pismo Beach, and Monterey that claimed they had the best NECC, but without question the best I ever had was in Boston (though I don’t remember the name of the place).
New England style or Manhattan style?
I’ll wager a guess… Legal Sea Foods. They serve very delicious New England Clam Chowder.
The NE Clam Chowder at The Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station.
num num!
There is not “Manhattan style clam-chowder”. There’s Clam Chowder, the real stuff and there’s the stuff that amounts to watery red clam-sauce served in a bowl.
Fenris, New England style partisan 
This has made my family swoon. Nothing like soup with butter, half and half and bacon. Whee!! 
New England Clam Chowder
4-6 slices bacon, chopped
1 cup finely diced onion
1 cup (6 stalks) diced celery
2 cups cubed potatoes
1 cup finely diced carrot
3-4 cans clams (including juice)
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup flour
1 quart half & half
1.5 tsp salt
2 tbs red wine vinegar
ground black pepper to taste
- Saute bacon in large kettle until amost crisp. Add onion, cook until translucent.
- Drain juice from clams into kettle, add potatoes, carrot & celery. Add just enough water to cover and cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender.
- In a separate heavy saucepan, melt butter. Add flour slowly until you have a past and blend until smooth, stirring constantly. Add cream slowly, stirring constantly. Cook and stir with wire whisk until thick and smooth.
- Add cream/butter mixture to the vegetables/clam juice and stir until smooth. Add clams just before serving and heat through (clams get tough if cooked too long).
- Add salt, pepper and vinegar, adjust seasonings to taste.
The best I ever had is in a Resteraunt Bar and Grill in the Seattle Airport.
It was served in a bread bowl, if I remember correctly.
Great stuff!
My favorite clam chowder dish, served over at The Chowder House, is a deliciously thick New England Clam Chowder (That’s Chowdah!) in a sourdough breadbowl.
Unfortunately I’ve never been north of the Mason-Dixon line nor ordered chowder anywhere else but the house so wouldn’t be able to compare the chowder but I really really like it.
My first trip to Washington I was on a ferry from Anacortes to Orcas Island. The galley had “the world’s best clam chowder”. Really? Well, I’d better try it!
[Richard Dawson]
Survey says…!
[/Richard Dawson]
BUZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
Nope. Not “the best”. Not even very good. Mediocre at best. It tasted pasty. I’ve had better chowder from a tin (which is where I suspect Washington State Ferry’s chowder came from). Progresso or Campbell’s is pretty good, but I’m occasionally on the lookout for better.
I was about to post a related joke here that is so foul I was going to put it in a spoiler field. But it’s probably too foul for that, so never mind.
Damn beat me to it.
All i’ll say is never order clam chowder if you’ve pissed off the staff.
Thanks, all!
I was looking for a recipe – I guess I should have put that in the title, eh?
Looking forward to trying your chowder, Jadis. Thanks.
The average New England Clam Chowder is better than the average Manhattan Clam Chowder. However, the best Manhattan – made with plenty of clam juice and whole tomatoes – beats the best New England hands down.
The best clam chowder of all is my mother’s.
The best I ever had was at a little place in Balboa Beach, CA called the Crab Cooker. Manhattan style, loaded with clams. By contrast, the famous (but here nameless) place in Pismo beach served a New England style “clam” chowder that I’d swear was potato soup with a single clam dragged through the pot on a string.
Geezer
Dube’s Seafood, in Salem, MA. No question about it.
And the best CANNED clam chowder is Snows condensed.
I’d forgotten about Snow’s.
The best I’ve had so far is from the Splash Cafe in Pismo Beach. I don’t know if that’s the one DesertGeezer’s talking about, but I think it’s great.
A close second is the chowder from the Los Alimitos Seafood Company.
The Brotherhood Of Thieves on Nantucket.
End of discussion.