Mystic Seaport's Annual Chowderfest 2008

Stopped by Mystic, Connecticut to check out the Chowderfest held in the Historic Mystic Seaport. The event wasn't so much a Chowderfest, but a small gathering and a pretty average one at that too. This had the makings of something special, but the quality of the food was average (except the fresh clams) and there were only 3-4 chowder food stalls to choose from. All of our friends weren't very impressed with the chowder either - we probably tried all the chowders there. The good news was Mystic, Connecticut was a beautiful town to visit and there was good food to be had in town...more on that in tomorrow's post.

My Menu
1) New England Clam Chowder
2) Whale Rock Oyster *
3) Bluff Point Littleneck Clams **
4) Mini Lobster Roll
5) Corn Chowder *
6) Kettle Corn **
7) Lobster Mac and Cheese ---

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

1) Average chowda flavor (tasted cream only), with 2 puny clams in the whole chowda.
2) Solid oysters, nice and briney. Surprisingly tasty with a drop of sambal and lemon juice.
3) Great clams. Rich, juicy, and tasted like that sea.
4) Lobster was pulsed in a food processor or something, so you couldn't tell it was really lobster meat. Obviously, the texture was pretty bad and they could've snuck canned tunafish in there and you wouldn't know...
5) The best chowda there in my opine. Loads of corn and vegetables with a relatively thin broth. Great corn flavor, but pretty salty. Adding a bunch of common crackers solved that problem.
6) Forgot how much I love this stuff. The perfect balance of salt and sweet and a nice roasted flavor.
7) A complete what the f moment in a bad way. Gummy penne in a cheese paste (not sauce) with lobster that looked like canned tunafish. Not good times...