HOME > Chowhound > Pacific Northwest >   Clam Chowder in Clatsop
County, Oregon    • 6  On my latest trip to Clatsop County, I
decided to sample several offerings of clam chowder, which I
usually avoid. The experiment was a big disappointment.
Northwest-style chowder should not be thickened, yet nearly
every restaurant seems to strive for a consistency somewhere
between Elmer's glue and library paste. A claim that chowder is
"made from scratch" is no indication of quality — that one was
one of the worst.  I'll note only two exceptions. The Ship Inn
in Astoria has a chowder which, while not exactly thin, is rich
and creamy rather than obviously thickened. Very nice.  The
second is the Bell Buoy Restaurant in Seaside. This is just a
small, temporary-looking building next to the venerable Bell
Buoy seafood market. I had never gone in there before despite my
frequent trips to the town because it didn't look like much of a
place to eat. Nevertheless, they have a fine clam chowder which
is properly thin and which c