That's the key...get it at "the source".I've had New England clam chowder all over the region,including coastal Massachusetts,New Hampshire and Maine...all fine restaurants.My one exposure to the Manhattan variety was at a very nice restaurant Manhattan restaurant (can't recall the name,it was many years ago).
Oh well....
I’ve only got two that I’ve made a point of hitting when I’m up there. One is Jimmy’s Harborside in Boston and the other is a rambling old place with a gorgeous view of the Atlantic from atop a cliff, a few miles outside of Ogunquit, Maine. Couldn’t tell you the name, just know where it is.