Modo Mio
161 West Girard Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19123
My
fiancé and I wandered a little bit further for dinner one evening than we
usually do out to Northern Liberties to try Modo Mio. We went here on the
recommendation of my fiance's cousin's fiance, and overall we were pretty pleased
with our meal. Philly is always a place that offers a vast variety of options
in various places. This particular place is a little Italian BYO. We always
love the BYO nature of restaurants like this, but hate when they are cash only,
mostly because I am lazy and dont like having to go to the ATM. While the
restaurant
didnt live up to the hype in our opinion,
it was a very solid meal indeed.
We went the route of the turista menu, a prefixe of 4 courses for $35, a serious deal. The meal started with a little amuse bouche from the kitchen, consisting of ricotta cheese, caperberry and prosciutto, and then some delicious bread with olive oil and ricotta. The bread was fantastic and the amuse bouche was as well. The freshness of the ricotta was noticeable and it enhanced every item it was used with.
My
fiance ordered the beet salad special they were offering and I ordered the
grilled stuffed calamari for our appetizers. Both were very delicious. The
stuffed and grilled squid was very tender and flavorful. The little bit of
crust put onto the exterior was fantastic from the grill. The filling was rich
and hearty, as was the touch of sauce it was served with. The beet salad was a
pretty good start as well. Beets always go really well in a salad in my
opinion, and this one worked really well with the arugula and vinaigrette it
was served with.
Next
up was the fried gnocchi with pancetta for her and the rabbit agnolotti for me.
The rabbit agnolotti was the best bite of the evening in my opinion. The pasta
was tender and the filling was savory, seasoned properly and just damn tasty. I
love brown butter on pretty much any pasta, and it didn’t disappoint here. I didn’t
like the fried gnocchi as much however. I loved the pancetta crisps, but the
gnocchi were really dry. I don’t know if its just that I prefer my gnocchi in
the more traditional manner, but I really didn’t like the way they were
prepared here.
Following
that up was the next course of grilled ribeye for me and the seared snapper
filet for my fiance. The snapper she ordered was on point. There was really
crispy skin on the fish, and very flavorful. My steak however didnt have the
crust I was looking for. The flavor was good, but the lack of the crust kind of
doomed the dish for me. I really liked the brininess of the capers served atop
the steak. They brought seasoning without being too salty.
For dessert we had tiramsu and panna cotta. Again one was a star, and the other fell flat. The tiramisu was delicious, while the panna cotta was simply ok. The tiramisu was up there with some of the tastiest I have tried. While some tiramisus get overly boozy, this one had the perfect balance of booze to cream to coffee flavoring. The cake was not overly moist as some can be, so it was really a well balanced effort. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The texture was off on the panna cotta, which always messes with the dish. It didn’t have the gelatinous jiggle that I have come to expect from panna cotta and when it doesn’t have that, the texture tends to suffer.
3
Pints for Modo Mio. It is definitely a unique Italian dining experience here.
It's a little off the beaten path, but the food tastes as if its straight out
of South Philly. Its nice value for money, especially with the Turista menu and
the fact that you can bring your own bottle makes it even more attractive. It
gets very busy, so make sure you plan ahead. Overall though I think the place
has a ton of charm, great service, and very tasty food. I would definitely go
back! Cheers!
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