One Pepperdine student’s quest to find the best chowder Malibu has to offer
By Sarah Pye
Living Editor
Driving down Malibu’s 27-mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway, there’s no shortage of dining options for the seafood connoisseur. Among the myriad of seafood options available along our local stretch of the Pacific, perhaps most tempting is the wealth of clam chowder Malibu is awash with. So many options for Californians in love with the New England specialty – and yet, just as a good bowl of chowder can hit the spot perfectly on a foggy coastal afternoon, a bad bowl can ruin any day at the beach.
Practically everyone claims their chowder is “award-winning.” But how to tell whether the award was given out by the L.A. Times’ food critics, or by the owner’s great-aunt Martha? As a chowder-lover myself who has sampled some truly great bowls up and down the California coast (though, sad to say, none actually made in New England, yet), I dutifully proclaimed myself Malibu’s resident chowder expert, and set out to find the best version of the soup the town has to offer.
My first stop was Neptune’s Net which, though not technically in Malibu but north of the city limits in Ventura Country, is immensely popular with the Malibu locals. Whatever is to be said about this quirky little PCH restaurant, it is not short on character and neither are its patrons. Stop in on a weekend afternoon if you’re seeking the real Neptune’s experience, because that’s when the motorcyclists are acrowding the patio while lunching on fried shrimp or a squid sandwich.
The folks behind the counter have just as much character as those who are ordering from it. As a small sign hung over the grill reads, “If you are grouchy, irritable or just plain mean, there will be a $10 charge for putting up with you.”
Standing in line on a Wednesday afternoon, I was glad I skipped a full-on biker day so I could give my full attention to determining the quality of the chowder. Neptune’s Net offer’s chowders in two size options: a half pint for $2.75 (better order some onion rings too if you want to make it a meal), or l pint for $4.95 (enough for a substantial lunch).
For those seeking a bread bowl to hold their soup, this might not be the best bet – Neptune’s Net only deals in Styrofoam cups. With no pretenses about presentation, the servers also aren’t shy about ladling the chowder out of a steaming vat in full view of customers placing their orders at the counter.
So Styrofoam cup of freshly-ladled chowder in hand, I sat down at one of the indoor booths and eagerly took in my first mouthful. Then I took a big gulp of my Diet Coke and waited for about five minutes for some feeling to return to my mouth, because the chowder turned out to be roughly the temperature of the surface of the sun.
When I let it cool off long enough to taste, however, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this chowder. It was flavorful and creamy, though slightly runny and there were few noticeable clams. To my delight, there was no noticeable celery, a pet chowder peeve of mine. I tend to like my chowder a little heartier than what was offered here, but with enough saltines floating around in the mix, it wasn’t bad at all.
Neptune’s Net Clam Chowder: B+
Neptunes’ Net is located at 42505 Pacific Coast Hwy, north of Pepperdine. The restaurant can be reached at (310) 457-3095.
A few miles farther south was stop number two on my Malibu chowder tour, Malibu Seafood. Malibu Seafood is fun to go into, though quite cramped. Place your order at the counter and then check out the huge salmon fillets in the display case or the live lobsters in the tank while waiting for it to be ready.
I narrowed my focus immediately, happy to see that bread bowls are on the menu there. Chowder is also offered in 8 ounce ($2.95), 16 ounce ($5.50) and 32 ounce ($8.75) sizes. Forking over $6.50, I went straight for the bread bowl and eagerly awaited taste test number two.
The Malibu Seafood chowder is completely different from what I had eaten at Neptune’s Net, with a much thicker and somewhat lumpier consistency. While Neptune’s Net offered a thinish opaque white broth, broken only by the occasional tiny chunk of potato, Malibu Seafood’s chowder was too full of different odds and ends, though noticeably lacking in actual clams.
The mix included celery, potato and, interestingly, carrots, adding a little color but not an altogether pleasant crunch. This wasn’t a creamy chowder, but in a seafood broth more clearish brown than white. Not what I was looking for in a chowder, but still, likely appealing to some tastes.
The bread bowl itself was rather good – not too stale, or so crusty that you might break a tooth trying to tear a piece off. I found myself eating the sides of my bowl after I’d had enough of the chowder inside. Still, I might go with the salmon next time I stop in.
Malibu Seafood clam chowder in a bread bowl: C-
Malibu Seafood is located at 25653 Pacific Coast Hwy, north of Pepperdine. Malibu Seafood can be reached at (310) 456-3430.
Next, I decided to take my chowder search to a place where I wasn’t allowed to park my own car: the Chart House. Having been there before, I knew of Chart House’s reliability for tasty food and an elegant dining experience. I decided to put their chowder to the test – this time served to me on a real plate.
Actually, when the chowder arrive to the table, I had a chuckle that I was not only getting china instead of Chinet, but a small iron caldron, as well. Though once again no bread bowl was offered to me (on the dinner menu), the cute caldroned presentation, combined with the diverse bread basket already perched on the table, made up for the loss.
I dug into this chowder with the best view of any so far. And priced at an extremely reasonable $4.95, I didn’t have to feel guilty about spending a whole week’s food budget on one nice dinner.
Though expertly presented by a wait staff that couldn’t have been nicer, the Chart House chowder wasn’t among my favorites. It wasn’t cooked to be as homogenous as some chowders are, leaving the potatoes and, sadly, celery with their own distinct flavors and crunch. Happily, I did note that I was finally seeing some sizable chunks of clam in my bowl – er, excuse me, caldron – thus lifting my spirits about Malibu’s apparent lack of shellfish.
The Chart House clam chowder in iron cauldron: B
The Chart House is located at 18412 Pacific Coast Hwy, south of Pepperdine. The restaurant can be reached at (310) 454-9321.
With just one more eatery on my list of Malibu chowder must-tries, I was hoping to find an A-grade chowder that would put Malibu on the map. I’d heard rave reviews of the chowder at quirky Malibu celebrity hot-spot Gladstone’s 4 Fish and so made it my final stop.
I came away satisfied with every aspect of the Gladstone’s experience. From the fun bar where patrons waiting for a table can peruse a wall of photos of Gladstone’s past celebrity diners or watch the strong man competition on ESPN 2, to the ocean view dining inside or outdoors on the patio, Gladstone’s is just plain fun all around.
Combining the luxury of a fabulously extensive fish menu with the casual elegance of beach-front noshing, it’s a nice, yet comfortable restaurant to be in. But the real gem for me was the chowder, for it was only at Gladstone’s that I finally found the chowder I had sought.
It passed my all-important celery test right away, with not a discernable speck of green in the mix. The beauty of Gladstone’s chowder (served in a bread bowl perched on a delightful little cutting board) is that the base is thick enough to make the whole soup rather homogenous yet hearty, holding clams and potatoes together solidly enough so they won’t run immediately off your spoon should you tip it.
Because it is so thick, what originally appeared to be a small-side bread bowl of chowder ended up more than satisfying my dinnertime appetite. For those on the go, the clam chowder is also available in several sizes from the bar ($6.79 for a bowl, $7.79 for a loaf, whether you eat it there or get it to go), where you can snack on peanuts out of a barrel and throw the shells on the floor while you wait.
Dine in or take out, for a thick hearty chowder, it’s Gladstone’s all the way.
Gladstone’s 4 Fish clam chowder in a bread bowl: A
Gladstone’s is located at 17300 Pacific Coast Hwy at Sunset Blvd., south of Pepperdine. Gladstone’s can be reached at (310) GL4-FISH.
Submitted April 1, 2004
