Mother Anna's--Boston, MA (The North End)

With seemingly every other North End restaurant overflowing with customers during the heart of the dinner rush last week, we ate at Mother Anna's, which didn't have a line. And, I can't figure out why. The service was fast and with a smile and they prepared basic dishes exceedingly well.

Gnocchi Juliana--a masterpiece

The lasagne was rich with the pasta baked to perfect doneness. The crusty outer layer went well with the soft pasta underneath. And, did you get a load of the number of layers they had? I counted ten.

Calamari

The Fettucine Alfredo I didn't get a chance to try--the boys polished it off too quickly.

Fettuccini Alfredo

The only dish I can say was merely "good" was the calamari. It came to the table fresh, hot and lightly battered. Though it hit the spot, I probably wouldn't have remembered it had it not been for this dinner being made most memorable by...

...the Gnocchi Juliana. It was the best dish of the trip. And, we had many dishes on this trip. Jenny loved the lobster in this dish; I'll never forget the scallops, more than an inch thick. Everything was done to a perfect consistency. The giant prawns were solid and meaty.

Lasagna

Although Mother Anna's ended up being our last resort last week, the next time we go to Boston it'll be the North End restaurant we'll try first!

The salad that came with the gnocchi

Mother Anna's
211 Hanover St.
Boston, MA 02113
(617) 523-8496
www.motheranna.com