Bar Harbor, Chowder, Lobster and Corn, 15 Ounce

I emphasized the word CONDENSED because many of the negative reviews are about the lack of taste...salt, cream, etc. If you read the label of this soup you'll see many serving suggestions. You do not have to do anything to it, and if you like it that way great, but I personally like canned food that isn't overly salted or fattened up to give it flavor, and this soup does not. This soup gives me a wonderful base of big clams...something strangely hard to find in other clam chowders. I add low fat milk, butter, and some sea salt and pepper to my PERSONAL taste. It is divine and the consistency and taste is just right, because I made it that way. Sometimes I like it thinner and sometimes I like more salt.....I control all of that, so I always get "baby bear" soup. I have found my favorite clam chowder and I'm a repeat buyer so I highly recommend it to all.

Please note up front, you are not buying a "fresh can 'o lobster chunks". This is a can of lobster bisque, which is a cream-based soup made with minced lobster. Sure, if you go to an expensive restaurant, you can find seafood bisque with huge chunks of fresh lobster or crab at $30 a bowl, but you are not going to find this in a can, regardless of price, period. You certainly won't find it in a $5 can of soup.That said, I have tried just about any can billed as lobster or crab bisque (and yes I've had it in decent restaurants also, so yes I know the difference). I am here to tell you, all brands of bisque are NOT created equally. This is one of the better brands of any kind of seafood bisque. As anything canned goes, this is a decent can of lobster bisque. In fact, it is about the best you are going to buy in a can. It is creamy, it has a delicate seafood flavor (not fishy). It can be enhanced with fresh lobster or crab, if you are so inclined, but if I have fresh lobster or crab, I tend to eat that by itself. It can even be enhanced with an expensive can of crab meat, though said crab will be more expensive than the soup you are enhancing. But for me, living in the Midwest and suffering permanent seafood deficiency syndrome, it is worth it.As a stand-alone soup, this is still very good. Just don't complain that it doesn't have fresh chunks of lobster meat. Add them yourself at a significant price hike, or enjoy this bisque for what it is: a creamy seafood-flavored soup at $5 a can. Highly recommended.

Rhode Island Clam Chowder. I am seeing several reviews for other chowders/products from Harbor Bay mixed in with this one. Broth based (no cream.) Grew up in Rhode Island. Have the unfortunate experience of living elsewhere these days. One of the better purposes for Rhode Island Clam Chowder to be used to dip Rhode Island Clam Cakes. Clear broth... healthier that New England style... great with clam cakes to penetrate the cakes!. This chowder is exactly what I experienced as a kid, I love it, and what I would expect from Rhode Island style clam chowder. So if you do not like it, then you not like broth-based Rhode Island clam chowder.

This chowder (white) has a good clam flavor. The potatoes are somewhat mashed -- I like that, but you might not. I prepare this chowder as follows: Put condensed chowder in a mixing bowl; add a quarter cup of half-and-half; add the clams from a small can of cherry clams without the juice from the clams; stir to a smooth consistency; optionally, add two large dollops of tabasco sauce; heat in microwave or on stove top. Pour into bowl for eating and top with freshly ground black pepper and dried Italian parsley. Serve with saltine crackers.

For reference, let me start by saying Red Lobster Clam Chowder may be the best clam chowder going. Its thick, rich, full of potatoes, clams and flavor. For canned soup at home, Capt Marriner's was right up there, maybe even better than RL Since the Capt is now out of business, focusing on vegan dishes, probably the next generation, in any event, I am looking for a substitute and bought a few different brands available on Amazon, I tried this one first. If RLs is a 9.5 (no one gets a 10), this is a 2. Even with a half of can of half & half its extremely watery and bland, I couldn't even finish it. The 1 star is for the large clam pieces, not that there were very many of them and because I cannot give 0 stars. This is mostly broth with little flavor. Sorry bar harbor, not even close. The search continues.

I've read the reviews. I've lived in Rhode Island. I've eaten Manhattan Clam Chowder. I've never eaten anything that tastes like this soup. I won't argue with people who say it is authentic. But be warned it tastes like nothing I've eaten in my lifetime. It is flavorless except for a bitter taste that cannot be watered down or mixed with other ingredients to make it edible. I really, really wanted to find a way to enjoy the soup. I used it as a soup stock. I've added spices. It inevitably still just taste bitter with no redeeming flavor. If you are looking for the authentic clam juice stock that other reviews say this is, then by all means consider the product to be 5 stars worthy. But if you have no history eating such a thing, beware. It's not a food for a wide market of pallets. It's got to be one of those acquired taste things that either you love or you can't get past 1 bite. I rank it in with foods like chitlins or cows tongue that people exist who think they're great (I was a fan of pickle cow tongue sandwiches for a long time because I grow up in Pennsylvania Dutch country). But I can't imagine that you would like trying this for the first time as an adult.

If you are like me and want this because the image on Amazon shows “No MSG”, DO NOT BUY IT!!! The labels they have posted DO NOT match what is on the can. The can does not have “No MSG” printed on it at all!! It likely DOES contain MSG which causes me to have a migraine so I cannot eat it. This was a waste. False marketing for sure!!!

Quite delicious and like homemade, but I wish there were more clams. Even so, it tastes homemade and I'm ready to buy another 6 cans. It makes a perfect supper on a cold winter night. And it doesn't have the gluey texture of other clam chowders; in fact, it has nothing in it other than the basic clam chowder recipe in my favorite cookbook. Definitely recommend it.

I just received a SINGLE can of soup for which I had been charged C$72. It was advertised as a pack of SIX (6) on the Amazon website. Even at $12 per can, it would be a very expensive soup. At $72 for a can, it had better be the best soup I ever tasted.