North End Roller Coaster...

Bricco Ristorante

241 Hanover Street

Boston, MA 02113

www.bricco.com/ 

We went to the North End on a Sunday evening trying to try to have dinner at a long standing favorite on the north end. When we got there the line was out the door and halfway down the next block, so we walked on until we found Bricco situated a bit further down on Hanover street. We were seated immediately and we ordered a bottle of Valpolicella ripasso to share and glanced at the menu. Everything looked pretty tasty. We decided on the seared scallops, agnolotti al plin, pumpkin tortelli and the peach cheesecake.

Our service was pretty good. Our waiter was a little bit too aggressive pouring the wine, but he was attentive without being overwhelming. They brought us some bread with olive oil, roasted garlic cloves, and olives before we received the scallops. It was a nice way to begin the meal. The scallops were seared deeply, topped with a very thick piece of crispy pancetta and served over a saffron rice cake with a side of pea cream. This was definitely the best part of our meal. They were the most perfectly cooked scallops I have ever had. They had a superbly thick crust, but they were still breaming with that sweet sea flavor. The pancetta was a little hard to cut, but delightfully crisp and salty. I loved the chew and flavor of the rice cake as well. The pea cream could have been removed all together and I wouldn't have missed it. If they decided to keep it on there, it really needed more flavor. It really was pretty bland and plain, not quite showcasing the peas as much as I thought it would.

The pasta dishes were up and down. My "agnolotti" were more like ravioli. The veal and beef filling could definitely have used more seasoning. The fresh pasta was awesome though. There was great chew and flavor to it. The truffle sauce was also great. It definitely added another element of richness to the dish. My fiances pumpkin tortelli were spot on. Again the pasta was perfection and the sweet pumpkin filling was delicious. I lived the shaved ricotta salata on top too. It provided a salty contrast to the sweet filling. I love when dishes hit different elements of flavor all in one bite. It makes for a very well balanced and more interesting dish.

Our dessert really wasn't great. There were parts of it I liked, but mostly parts I didn't. The crust was nice and I loved that there was a lot of it, but the cheesecake itself and the peach sauce on top really didn't fufill our dessert desires. It wasnt quite sweet enough, and it was lacking a lot of flavor. It was definitely one of those times I wish we had decided not to order dessert.

I can confidently give Bricco two and half pints. Ups and downs with some really high and low points are what really made me make the decision. Highlights included the scallop appetizer and the pumpkin tortelli, while the agnolotti and dessert were about as forgetful as it gets. I feel like you can have a stellar meal here if you make the right choices. They have tons of great options, I am just not so sure about the execution of all of those options. Check it out and let me know how you fare! Cheers!