Trattoria il Panino

Melanzane alla Parmigiana

Trattoria il Panino
278 Hanover Street
Boston MA 02113

February 16, 2016

I found this quote the other day and thought it applied perfectly to this quest we have embarked on, we are definitely embodying this statement and enjoying every part of it. Dad- thanks for taking this journey with me...

"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like" -Mark Twain

 After months of anticipation, we finally decided to try out the North End's first trattoria, Trattoria il Panino, and we were not dissapointed!

Mom's Quattro Carni Ragu

My dad and I started off with the Melanzane alla Parmigiana, which was baked eggplant, mozzarella and sauce and is fantastic! The sauce was so yummy and it was the perfect way to start off the meal. 

Pollo all Napoletana

We then had our main courses, which my dad ordered the Mom's Quattro Carni Ragu, which was homemade meatballs, sausage, brasciola, and pork short ribs in their ragù sauce. He was absolutely in love, saying the short ribs quite possibly have been one of the best things he's ever eaten, "So simple yet so satisfying and delicious, I would have a plate of just this and pasta all the time". Basically he'd give that 6 stars out of 5!

I ordered the Pollo alla Napoletana which was chicken breast, artichokes, kalamata olives and tomatoes with roasted potatoes and vegetables. My meal was also stellar, but very salty because of the artichokes and olives. Also the bread to munch on was super good and fresh! All together a fab meal!!

Ratings:

Service: 5

Atmosphere: 3 (kinda boring decor, not super decorative, not bad--just very plain)

Food: 4.5

Price: $$

La Summa
30 Fleet Street
Boston, MA

2/6/16

Thanks Logan

Blog, meet Mikey (hi babe if you're reading hehe). So it was finally time to introduce the fam to my boyfriend. I picked the restaurant after much debate, and we had a grand old time. La Summa was a great restaurant. It was tight and cozy but had great service and food. It did get very noisy, but it was crowded which isn't exactly a bad thing! Reservations aren't a bad idea here!

Brushcetta

Fried Mozzarella

My dad went a little crazy and ordered three appetizers to start off the dinner. (Don't do this unless you want to move up a pants size) We got the bruschetta, which was amazing, Funghi Ripieni, and fried mozzarella which was also spectacular. The mushrooms were pretty good, stuffed with breadcrumbs and cheese. I'd highly suggest the other two as they were cheesy deliciousness!

House Special

For the main course we each got something different. My dad got the house special which was a combination of veal, chicken, sausage, artichokes, pepperoncini, olives, mushrooms and italian spices infused with white wine. served over linguini. He loved it and ate every last bite. 

My mom got the pollo marsala. She loved it but was so stuffed from the appetizers she barely ate it. My dad was happy to take it home for her... she also said it was very sweet compared to a lot of chicken marsala she has had, but was still impressed!

Frutti di Mare

Guess what Logan got? Yeah, Frutti di Mare...shrimp, scallops, lobster, mussels and clams sereved over linguini in red or white sauce. It took her a good ten minutes just to get all of the mussels and clams out of the shells, but she enjoyed it and finished it off! It also had some calamari in it. She's still saying Bacco is the best, sorry La Summa.

Gamberi Siciliano

Mikey got his pollo parmigiana, his go-to pick in the North End. He loved the sauce and chicken, pasta was meh. He's tried a lot of chicken parm, so its hard to beat the competition!

I got the Gamberi Siciliano, which was jumbo shrimp sauteed with zucchini and broccoli in a scampi sauce over papparadelle. I liked it but was also very full, and so I couldn't enjoy it as much as I probably would have. It's always tough because appetizers are so yummy but you want to eat your main meal! Yeah, I know, first world probs...

Okay, ratings:
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3.5
Service: 4
Price: $$, appetizers are quite cheap, most meals at dinner are between $15-25.