Seattle Pike Chowder

Recently Giojio has opened a 3-​in-​1 concepts café serving Giovanni L’s gelatos and Seattle Pike Chowder’s soups at Marine Parade. The café is located next to McDonald’s, with al fresco dining in area. It has just opened about a week, with another outlet coming out soon which will be located at Singapore Pinacotheque de Paris. The café itself serves a range of drinks, sliced cakes and sandwiches.
Seattle Pike Chowder serves 6 creamy seafood soups under the supervision of Larry Mellum, an award-​winning ladler of New England and seafood bisques in industry cook-​offs in the United States, and also the owner of Pike Place Chowders in Seattle.
New England Clam Chowder ($ 12.90/ bread bowl, $ 8.90/ small, $ 11.90/ medium, $ 14.90/ large)
Chopped Ocean Clams, Potatoes, Celery, Onion, Thyme, White Pepper, Sea Salt, Clam Stock, Half-​and-​Half, Butter, Flour.
The soup is rich and creamy, filled with lots of chunky goodness and notes of the sea and the savoury taste of bacon in the taste. No wonder Pike Place Chowder got a second-​place win for best clam chowder at the 33-​year-​old Great Chowder Cook-​Off in Rhode Island in 2014 and voted «Nation’s Best» at Rhode Island’s Great Chowder Cook-​Off for this soup.
Seafood Bisque ($ 13.90/ bread bowl, $ 9.90/ small, $ 12.90/ medium, $ 15.90/ large)
Salmon, Cod, Bay Shrimp, Garlic, Black Pepper, Sea Salt, Tomato-​Basil-​Cream Broth, Shellfish Stock, Cream, Butter, Flour.
This soup is voted «Nation’s Best» at Rhode Island’s Great Chowder Cook-​Off. For one who does not like the taste of tomato and basil, this soup is surprisingly very good without the strong overpowering taste of basil.
Smoked Salmon Chowder ($ 13.90/ bread bowl, $ 9.90/ small, $ 12.90/ medium, $ 15.90/ large)
Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese, Capers, Potato, Onion, Celery, Tomato, Garlic, Smoked Salt, Black Pepper, Shellfish Stock, Cream, Milk, Butter, Flour.
Out of the 3 soups which I have tried today, I think this has the most interesting taste with a kind of smoky burnt taste but without the char bitter taste. It is also quite addictive. I grow to like it as the more I have it.

Having just visited Seattle just 2 weeks ago, standing in the infamous Pike’s Place Market and having a bread bowl full of New England Clam Chowder in the 20 degrees celsius summer temperature was one of the most memorable bowls of soup I had ever had.
When I visited here, I was hoping for a similar experience, although being a 17.5 hour flight away from Singapore, we can only hope for so much!
Located right in the heart of Marine Parade central, a matured estate that has a vibrant mix of locals and expats is Seattle Pike Chowder, alongside is their gelato offerings from Giovanni L.
At one glance, you will notice several different types of chowders and you can havethem with a bread bowl, or in a cup.
They also offer sandwiches and a combo for a sandwich and a chowder.
1. New England Clam Chowder
To me a good New England Clam Chowder isn’t just the chowder, but also the bread bowl. Their marketing staff, Rachel was well-​versed in the details on how they source for ingredients. Since this place is literally marketed with «Seattle» on the signboard, all their chowders come directly from Seattle on a daily basis, to ensure top-​notch quality. Their bread however is made locally. The bread definitely isn’t the same bread I had in Seattle.
It was alot fluffier and not as tough, it may suit the locals more, but it is definitely a change. The bread we were served was slightly burnt all over the edges as well. I think some quality control could be in place here.
The chowder, was very rich, with chopped ocean clams, potatoes, celery, onion, thyme, white pepper, sea salt, clam stock, half and half, butter and flour. It is no wonder, your mind goes into oblivion trying to wonder what you are tasting. The clams itself were sizable but the potatoes were miniscule in comparison. The chowder tasted good in my opinion. Maybe I’m just more picky with the bread than the soup.
But in all honesty, I really couldn’t tell the difference between this clam chowder I had and the ones I had in Seattle and San Franciso other than the fact that, I’m missing a packet of saltine crackers.
2. Seafood Bisque
Next up, the seafood bisque. Filled with all the happy sea creatures in the pacific ocean and it was noted to be one my favourites!
Salmon, cod, crab, bay shrimp, garlic, black pepper, sea salt, tomato-​basil-​cream broth, shellfish stock, cream, butter and flour is what went into this delicious mix! There were lots of seafood bits to bite into, let alone the sweet fragrance of the broth.
3. Smoked Salmon Chowder
This chowder very interesting, as a huge fan of smoked salmon I was intrigued by the tastes. Seattle’s Pike Chowder managed to capture the essence of the smoked salmon blend it in with cream cheese and TA-​DA! You have an amazing bowl of smoked salmon chowder. I highly recommend this to any fellow smoked salmon lover! The taste of the smoked salmon comes in strong, as an aftertaste.
This was a very creamy bowl of soup, not much to bite into, just good, flavourful chowder. A good compliment to any sandwich.
Giovanni L.
Rachel mentioned that the gelatos are brought in from Germany and decorated here in Singapore.
Here are some of my my favourite flavours, after trying almost all their flavours. They also have very westernized flavours such as Eggnog, and instead of having it just during thanksgiving, they will be serving it all year round!
There were several flavours that had alcohol in them, but were no signs to indicate, the staff just had to ask if we could take alcohol. The eggnog gelato was one of them, and it was my favourite, the tinge of alcohol sweetness was just perfect with some chocolatey bit goodness. I just wish they made eggnog milk shakes out of this, then my life would be complete! The Pistachio was very rich and not as creamy as you would expect, it had a slightly rough texture which would indicate the pistachio bits embedded into the gelato.
As with any ice cream parlour in Singapore, they melt fast! Especially in areas that have al fresco dining. Having a wide range of gelatos gives me a feeling they are out to fight the already concentrated gelato market.
They do not offer typical flavours such as matcha or cookies and cream, but rather very specific flavours like Amorena which is a vanilla gelato with amorena cherries. It will blow your mind! Think of a super awesome raspberry ripple!
Peanut Butter and Mango PassionfruitTheir peanut butter gelato is also superb, a simple and yet well made gelato.
The bella stracciatella gelato was also one of my favourites, chocolate ice cream studded with white chocolate chunks and toasted hazelnuts!