Trattoria di Monica a Quick Review

[meeps2002]

I will take my first real stab at this...a restaurant review. While I have dined in many, many places around Boston/Greater Boston - I never remember to throw my opinions down on paper.

On Friday evening, my wife and I decided to venture into the North End - a neighborhood of Boston which we both usually avoid like the plague due to high concentrations of tourists, long waits, and many times food that I could simply make at home.

This brings us to our 9 pm reservation at Trattoria di Monica.

We started with 2 appetizers - a simple caesar salad and fried stuffed squash blossoms...though I can't remember the type of cheese. The salad, was as you would expect, simple, safe, and just a run of the mill CS - all things being equal a nice way to start the meal. The blossoms on the other hand were simply over battered and over fried, with little taste other than the giagantic amounts of grease. It was 1 out of 4 bites that you could actually taste the blossom/cheese combo, with the others just forcing you to gulp down some water in between bites.

Entrees:
My wife ordered the house gnocci in their red sauce, a safe play to gauge Trattoria di Monica. Success. This dish, while it could have been a little larger, was delish. The red sauce was thin, but complimented the gnocci to a T. It wasnt heavy on garlic or too robust to taste the food, it simply existed and made for quick noshing.

Gnocchi alla Salsa Rosa:
Gnocchi in a plum tomato sauce with a splash of cream

My dish took the top spot in my North End dining to date...

Fettuccine al Nero di Seppia con Capesanti
Pan seared scallops in a white wine sauce with carrots and leeks over black fettuccine

My first experience with squid ink pasta, holy hell have I been missing something. This fettuccine and scallop dish was a mouth watering plate of continuous bites. The pasta was earthy, firm, and perfectly coated in the sauce. Three large scallops were nicely plated around the pasta, leaving you the diner, the option of seared scallop sans/avec white wine sauce. Each bite was better and better as you could really just pick up hints of the leeks and wine.

I would recommend dining at this location on any visit to this over populated section of Boston. I find it difficult to find the value in food and wine pricing in the NE - both of which hit the nail on the head here at Trattoria di Monica.

Full bottle of Pinot Nero, 2 Apps, 2 Entrees: Total $96

well worth every penny

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Trattoria di Monica
67 Prince St, Boston, MA 02113

[nachovegas]

I love this restaurant too, I discovered it by accident a few years back and it's been the only place I've gone in the North End for dinner ever since. It's TINY though, I mean REALLY tiny and a bit pricey for pasta I thought, but for the quality of the food they put out I it's totally worth it. They also own the grocery store on the corner and another restaurant in the North End (I think it's wine bar too?) that I've always wanted to check out. Has anyone been to that one? (I think it may be called Maurizio's?)

[mkfisher]

They own Monica's Mercato at the corner of Prince & Salem and Vinoteca di Monica on Richmond Street. Maurizio's is not the same owner (surprisingly his name is Maurizio and he's one of the few people doing Sardinian food in Boston).

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Vinoteca di Monica
143 Richmond St., Boston, MA 02109

[nachovegas]

Vinoteca di Monica, thanks! Has anyone tried it?

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Vinoteca di Monica
143 Richmond St., Boston, MA 02109

[Beachowolfe]

The Vinoteca is great- they have some quality carne dishes, and there's always something interesting in the daily menu additions. I believe the pasta is largely similar to the Trattoria. It is a quality alternative to the (extremely) more expensive Prezza.

They sell fresh homemade pasta at the Mercato where they also have (FACT) the best Italian sandwich in the city.

[retrofabulousity]

Who else does Sardinian food in Boston?

Thanks!

[BostonZest]

Great review and I love the addition of the summary of courses with a price at the end. Something to think about adding to tasting notes. Very Helpful.

Retro- Maurizio's on Hanover serves Sardinian food. It is in my North End rotation.
http://www.mauriziosboston.com/index.html

Penny
http://www.bostonzest.com/

[MC Slim JB]

Besides Maurizio's, which has a Sardinian-native chef/owner and a real focus on the cuisine, Taranta also features a few Sardinian dishes. I've seen fregola dishes at a few other places, too, like Terramia.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

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Terramia
98 Salem St., North End, Boston, MA 02113

[retrofabulousity]

Thanks all...I am new to Boston and knew of Maurizio but was surprised to hear people say there were others (a few dishes here and there makes more sense :)

I will post some more questions shortly after I make sure they haven't already been asked :)

Take care

[mkfisher]

Glad you enjoyed Monica's. It's one of our favorites.

The only thing I'd disagree with is your minor quibble about the portion size. We're all used to getting served these giant mounds of food in the US, while in Italy that would never happen. Instead, you would get a nice reasonably sized portion of pasta, exactly what they do at Monica's

[pasuga]

I love Monica's - tend to go early in the week when it's not so crowded. Glad you had a good experience. I took my brother once. He's traveled for work most of his adult life and has eaten all over the US and Europe and South America. He said it was one of the 10 best restaurant meals he'd ever had.

[gourmaniac]

Nice first review. You make a good point on one of my pet peeves: things I can make at home better and for less money. I find my own sense of dining out is colored by this. Hence, the fair to middlin' places bother me and the places with fancy descriptions of pedestrian food that doesn't deliver on their promise really get my craw. Hence, my preference is for ethnic places where I can't easily copy at home or stellar chefs making something delicious and creative. TdM seems like honest food at fair value.