Mare...again

Tonight we had one last dinner in the North End with my BFF at Mare before she moves out of Boston and into the Sunny world of Philadelphia!  Hopefully it's not like the show, and much less clinically insane. 

For starters we got the pan seared diver scallops and the grilled octopus.  It turns out that I'm really not a fan of octopus but Abe thought it was terrific.  The scallops were perfectly cooked and very tasty.  I would recommend ordering these! 

For our entrees me and my BFF both ordered the wild mushroom spaghettoni with black truffles and spinach.  It was amazing, really creamy and full flavored, although it appears like a small serving in the photo and it felt like a small serving in my tummy.  Abe got the grigliata di pesce, which was a variety of chef chosen seafood - the langostino is what is a little excited looking... he was also slightly undercooked.  All around this dish was nice, and much too small for my husband's healthy appetite!  This was the perfect size for a light eater.    

Our main entrees were good, but they did not fill us up in the way that we like to be so we went for dessert.  Oh dessert, if we had left after the entrees I would have been happy, but no I let my stomach order tiramisu and apple bread pudding.  Which one is the tiramisu?  Is it difficult to tell?  Is it because tiramisu shouldn't look like custard on a plate that's throwing you off?  The first one is the tiramisu and it was Not good.  I do not like inspired classics when it comes to certain things like blueberry pie, pot roast, vegetable lo mein, and tiramisu.  I am actually much more upset about this dessert than I should be, but I feel as though an $8 dessert should be Good.  On the other hand, the apple bread pudding was quite good.  I enjoyed it very much, it tasted just like a nice apple pie.  So excellent job there! 

Overall, I had a much better visit here at Mare back in March when I went for Restaurant Week.  This time when I was paying full price and the meal was just So/So I had a different kind of experience.  I would go back, but I think that there are so many good restaurants in the North End that this one will not be at the top of my list...