Michelle and I were walking along the boulevard the parallels Alki Beach when we found Duke’s Chowder house. It was a little cool and drizzly, so chowder sounded good. We sat down and ordered drinks. I ordered a Bloody Mary but could in no way expect what was brought. This thing was garnished with asparagus, an olive and 2 delicious boiled shrimp. I could have stopped there and the drink would have been fabulous. But I took a sip and my mouth was filled with the most flavor tomatoey mélange with a nice kick of both heat and horseradish.We then started off our seafood orgy with a chowder sampler. The sampler consists of any four of the 7 chowders on the menu. We went with:
- Northwestern Seafood – it was good, but more of a stew than a chowder in my mind. It was the clear fourth place finisher.
- Dungeness Crab – now we’ve reached the upper stratosphere of scrumptiousness. It was rich and creamy with some corn (so Hot Jen may want to avoid).
- Duke’s Traditional Clam -- we have now jumped a quantum or two in deliciousness. This chowder was also rich and creamy with some corn. But it also contained quite a bit of potato. It was almost like the richest, creamiest mashed potatoes you could ever imagine.
- Lobster – we have now gone beyond warp 10 and hit metaphysical taste perfection. So, rich and sweet and, well perfect. This stuff is the crack-cocaine of chowder.
For the main event I ordered halibut fish tacos and Meesh got the stuffed prawns. Who knew so much could be stuffed into a prawn. These things were so stuffed with crab and bay shrimp the fire marshall had to write them a ticket.
The fish tacos were an almost equal delight. The blackened halibut had a flavorful heat. And the Mexican twist was pulled off almost perfectly. Surprising, considering we couldn’t be much further from Mexico.
This is an amazing place for a landlubber from Dallas. I fear I would have to completely re-do my grading scheme if I were to live here.
A+
2516 Alki Ave SW Seattle, WA 98116
4 comments:
I now wish I had eaten those leftovers before my NYC trip. Mmmmm - stuffed shrimp. So good. So creamy and cheesy and with the crab. Mmmmm.
And I could definitely use one of those orange mojitos right about now.
Orange mojitos? Mmmmm... I definitely need to make a pilgrimage to Seattle. I'm only reading your blog after meals. I'm starving!
Seriously. Seattle may be the greatist food city in the world. And I've eaten just about everywhere in the world except Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, South America, Antartica and most of Canada.
I'm so hungry right now.
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