Jack's Chowder

Back in 2016, we did a trip to the East Coast of Canada and New England.  In addition to the sights and sounds, we feasted on lobster rolls, chowder and the sort.  That was a dream come true since that type of cuisine is one of my favourites.  There haven't been too many choices for spots that focus solely on chowder and the sort.  Now, from the good people who bring us the Shameless Buns food truck, we have Jack's Chowder, located in their former B&M store.  We finally got out there to check them out.

Getting right to the main event, we did indeed try their New England Clam Chowder in 2 ways.  First was their humongous bowl and then also, served in a sourdough bowl.  To further amp the flavours, we found some lobster oil and meaty bacon (from Crack-On).  Gotta say this chowder was thicc!  Lots of tender potatoes and carrots along with buttery clams.  The broth was creamy and rich with the smoky saltiness of the bacon coming through.  Of course the lobster oil added even more aroma.  Ah yes, we must not forget about the oyster crackers on the side too!  One observation is that there is more chowder in the regular bowl, so if you didn't care about the sourdough, this would be the way to go.

They also have fish & chips available, but we tried it in a different form with the Fish Burger.  The large piece of fish featured a uniformly crunchy batter that encased flaky and moist fish.  Loved the tartar sauce as it was creamy, mild-flavoured and full of dill.  The addition of pickles and banana peppers provided tangy and spicy notes to really kick up the flavour quotient.  Furthermore, the bun was well-toasted so that it held everything together without being soggy.

Of course, if we were treating this as a de facto fish & chips, we need to have the Salt & Vinegar Fries right?  These may seem familiar to you and if you have had them before, you would know how great they are!  They were super crispy but not greasy while totally seasoned with the tangy saltiness we love with salt & vinegar.  In addition to the tartar sauce, I would recommend you try the Mango Tamarind Hot Sauce.  Such a fruity and spicy compliment to the fries.  Other sides that we added were the Curried Slaw and B&B Pickles.

For me, I really enjoy a good order of Popcorn Shrimp and the one we had here was really good.   The best part was the actual shrimp itself as they used the Argentinian variety.  If you are familiar, these have a strong aroma and are very shrimpy.  So each piece was flavourful even before the tartar.  Texturally, the shrimp had a meaty texture (that is common with Argentinian shrimp).  I really also enjoyed the batter as it was very crunchy while giving way to soft fluffiness.

For dessert, we had both options including their version of Coconut Cream Pie Pudding and Sticky Toffee Pudding.  Both of these were creamy and light while being purposefully sweet.  Hence, I couldn't stop eating them since I never thought it was too much or too sweet.  The toasted coconut was nutty and aromatic while the sticky toffee pudding had delicious caramel vibes (and caramel crunch too).  In the end, the food at Jack's Chowder was really good and well-portioned.  Great to see a spot offer this type of food and isn't located on a dock or some touristy spot.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:
- Solid eats
- Good portions
- Nice people

The Bad:
- Not many seats here