[Media Invite] Seattle Pike Clam Chowder @ Parkway Centre

1 Marine Parade Central #01-05 Parkway Centre, Singapore 449408

Tel: 6255 9898

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seattlepikechowder

A good, piping hot (bread) bowl of thick, creamy soup ought to be perfect for this rainy evening, hence Seattle Clam Chowder located at Parkway Centre - within miles of the East Coast seabreezes, ought to soothe the soul and warm the body.

Seattle Clam Chowder hailed all the way from Seattle, USA, as the name implies, serving up different types of piping hot clam chowder. Seating was casual, outdoorish and comfortable. They have another outlet at Fort. Canning area, I understand that there should be a more poshy setting, so keep a close lookout for it.

This was a media invite attended by representatives from Openrice Singapore as well as many familiar faces in the local blogging scene, to try out 3 different types of their signature soups.   If you choose your soup served in bread bowl, it costs between SGD$12.90 to SGD$14.90 a bowl;  for the soup not served in bread bowls, the price starts from SGD$8.90 onwards.

We started with the New England Clam Chowder served in bread bowls. The soup was creamy, viscous and filled with ingredients - chopped ocean clams, potato, celery, onion, thyme, etc. Because it was clam broth, there was a succint sweetness to it and was quite smooth in taste and texture overall. The bread bowl was crispy from the start to the end - even after the soup was pretty much finished. It was amazing, and the bread bowl kept the soup warm for a long time, even though we were sitting outdoors.

Next, it was to be steaming cups of Seafood Bisque, not as dense in texture, but very rich in ingredients - cod, salmon, bay shrimps, etc. The stock was made up of shellfish stock as well as tomato basil cream broth, giving the umami flavour of the seafood hints of sweet and sour tones. In fact, the tomato taste was rather sapid, so fans of tomato-based soups will dig this.  I enjoyed the fresh bits of seafood in the soup more.

Finally, Smoked Salmon Chowder was brought over by friendly Kenny.  This soup was not as thick, compared to the previous two we'd tried, but retained the saccharine flavour of shellfish stock beautifully. Texture-wise, this was the silkiest of the three. Ingredients consisted of smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, potato, onion, celery, tomato and garlic etc, all complementing the taste of the soup very well. What left the deepest impression was the smoked salmon, redolent of a strong, fragrant, smokey taste that heightened the sweeter notes of salmon's own.   I thought this was a rather close fight with the New England Clam Chowder earlier on.

Anyway, my soul and senses were all warmed by these palatable soups, and I would love to have them again - maybe try the smoked salmon chowder in bread bowl to see if it would be perfection. Thank you Seattle Clam Chowder and Openrice Singapore for the invite, as well as Rachel for the impeccable hosting.