L.A. Is My Beat: The Barge

On Saturday evening, Larry and I decided to chuck our usual restaurant choices and have a mini-adventure. I'd always wanted to visit the Chowder Barge in un-gentrified Wilmington, so we hopped in the car and headed toward the Port of Los Angeles.

Wilmington is the last little sliver of the Port. Most of the Port is in San Pedro. Once we got to Harbor City, we started seeing the cranes, barges and big ships at the Port. We got off the Harbor Freeway (I still call it "The 11"), turned left on Anaheim Street until we reached Henry Ford Avenue and the signs for the Chowder Barge. We drove into the ample parking lot and viewed Leeward Marina. This is a very small marina with maybe 50 boats moored. It was a cool and cloudy evening, very noir. The tide was high.

We walked down to the dock and entered the Harbor's only floating restaurant. The Barge was built in 1934 as a support vessel for the original movie, "Mutiny on the Bounty." Later, it was moved to this spot and plastered over for stability. The exterior is not a particularly architecturally significant building, but the inside was worth the drive.

The interior of The Chowder Barge definitely looks nautical. There are tables, lots of seafaring accessories, a few tikis and the most interesting booths. The booth benches look like portions of boats, specially carved for the restaurant.

It was about 6:30. There were a few people inside and some at the bar. The place closes at 8pm. It's a very friendly, cozy place. Looked like mostly locals inside.

Nautical, but Nice

We ordered drinks and perused the menu. Lots to choose from, including burgers, sandwiches, fried fish and broiled fish. We opted for the signature clam chowder. It was rich, creamy and full of fat clams. Then, we split the broiled swordfish dinner. The food was simple, but beautifully prepared...very fresh.