When I travel, I like to eat regionally. Meaning, if in Buffalo, I want buffalo chicken wings, in Philadelphia, Philly steak sandwiches (well, maybe not), in New York, I want a Nathan’s hot dog.
When in Seattle, my wife & I like to visit a place that is near & dear to our heart, Ivar’s Seafood, on Seattle’s waterfront, Pier 54.
The location offers both a walk-up, carry out counter and a full-fleged restaurant. After trying both, we prefer the walk-up, carry out counter, then dining outside, along side the waterfront, watching sea gulls intimidating tourists for food.
The star of the show is their chowders. My wife prefers the classic New England-style white clam chowder. I rebel, selecting the smoked salmon chowder. Both are rich & creamy.
With appetizers out of the way, we move on to our entrees. We both like the salmon n’ chips, a play on the typical fish n’ chips. Served with tarter sauce, it’s a meal in itself.
Ivar’s has other locations, including Sea-Tac Airport. We recently stopped on a brief layover and order our usual. We did notice that the chowder was not its usual self. We’re hoping it’s only due to the location. They also offer Ivar’s onboard Washington State ferries and at least one restaurant in Ketchikan, AK.
Ivar’s ships it’s chowder (in mix form) by ordering it from their website. This way of distributing its chowder is frought with issues and not a recommended method of obtaining that great local flavor that made the place famous.
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August 25, 2008 at 9:50 am
[...] Sea-Tac Airport, we had just over an hour before our next flight. We headed straight to Ivar’s, a favorite discovered a few years ago during a trip to Seattle. We both ordered the clam chowder [...]