Mare

05/12/2008 Posted by t1willia

I would like to start off by rebutting a few statements made by other reviewers. First of all, any time you see a restaurant with $30+ entrees, it should be small. Beware of any restaurant that can seat 150, and/or one which you don't need a weekend reservation for. Generally speaking, you can be sure your food is prepared with less care, probably by some first year sous chef or lower. Secondly, these restaurants are only in it for the money. Finally, if you have ever been to Italy, you will know that the majority of Italian restaurants are small and family owned, not corporately franchised. As for the bar scene, obviously you don't go to an Italian seafood restaurant for the bar. As for the food, we stuck to the seafood, because it is a seafood restaurant. I started with the grilled octopus, which was good. It came with a pesto sauce and a potato foam. My girlfriend ordered the chef's grilled fish sampler for her entree (a nice idea, more places should do this). It came with six fish, all great accept for the monk fish, which was dry (way overcooked). I ordered the whole sea bass, which was fantastic. If you have never ordered whole fish before, just beware of small bones than can stick or choke you. The service was on par for a restaurant of this caliber. My only complaint was that the waiter charged us twice for alcohol. I quickly noticed the price discrepancy and pointed it out to him. He immediately apologized and recalculated the bill for us. So just look over your bill before paying. But after all, you won't find any mathematicians who wait tables on the weekend. So in conclusion, very good seafood, good service, wine was fine, nice atmosphere, don't go to propose or to get trashed at the bar.

Pros: Good seafood

Cons: Check your bill twice

03/29/2008 Posted by bettygurl2008

My boyfriend and I went to Mare for the first time & when we got there we saw that the place is really small. There is virtually no bar, so you can't sit and have a drink before dinner. The waiter arrived and was on top of us and pushed us to order when he arrived, took our drink order, delivered our drinks.... you get the idea. Anyway- we ordered the Bufala Mozz and it was insanely yummy. The mozz just melts in your mouth and the heirloom tomatoes and mushrooms with it are a great addition. Just before the apps came out a woman came over and said that our waiter went home so she would be taking care of us. She was wonderful, kept up with us without being in our faces. Our main dishes were not impressive at all. The Wild Boar was so salty that I couldn't eat more than half and my throat was on fire from it. His spaghettoni was good but being at 6'5" he was upset with the small portion. The dessert however was DIVINE. the vanilla bread pudding with caramel and Amaretto Gelato was the best I have ever tasted. I was fine, but he left hungry and ate again when we got home. End Result: go for Mozz and bread pudding. Eat dinner elsewhere

Pros: great service(2nd time) and dessert

Cons: Main Courses not worth it

03/14/2008 Posted by kelbot74

We live about a 10 min. walk from Mare and it is in a good location and the outside is very appealing. The restaurant is beautifully decorated, although small, but is unique to most restaurants in the city. We were disappointed to find out they did not have bar to sit at and have a cocktail before dinner, but they did make us some drinks as we waited for our table. The lemon drop martinis are made with lemoncello and they are incredible! We decided to order from the restaurant week menu and the mussels were fresh and delicious! Our dinners took about 40 mines to arrive after our appetizers, which were a bit annoying, but they were very nice about it and we were having fun anyway so it did not matter so much. I had the salmon which was very fresh and sweet, one of the best pieces of fish I have had in Boston. My husband ordered the gnocchi and it was ok, not great as the gnocchi seemed to be a bit too firm and the sauce was a bit tasteless. There are many other places in the North End to get better gnocchi. This is a seafood restaurant, so I would stick with getting fish here. Dessert was nothing unique but very tasty and fresh. We would go back, but we would order from the regular menu this time and stick with the fish dishes.

Pros: Very good fish and seafood

Cons: Too small, and tables are way too close together

03/10/2008 Posted by veggie2001

Went for an early Sunday dinner, and really enjoyed the experience. Our waiter (I believe his name was Giovanni) was very helpful in describing the dishes and specials. He helped us select wines by the glass and advised us that the primi course can be ordered in half portions. I had the restaurant week menu - the mozzerella in the caprese salad was so fresh, and the gnocchi had a lovely sweetness balancing the earthy vegetables. Also samples were the truffle skate (very rich), the stuffed lobster (SOOO much food), fried clams (from Ipswich, with a light batter), octopus (the foam accompanying it was very interesting), and lemon pasta (a fresh, light alternative to oil & garlic). My menu came with the ricotta torte (basically a lemony cheesecake) for dessert. The space is simple and fresh, and we enjoyed watching the videos of the Italian countryside on the TVs. All in all, a really great experience.

Pros: Natural, creative

Cons: you might be put off my the small portions/big plate. But it's filling!

12/05/2007 Posted by bostondiner26

Usually the North End is a destination I reserve for out of town guests with indiscriminate palates who want Italian food. The typical restaurant can serve a good version of pasta with marinara and meatballs, but is rarely notable. Mare, however, was awesome. The food was atypical for the North End with a focus on seafood and gourmet pasta rather than the usual, boring dishes that can be found anywhere on Hanover or Salem Streets. I started with the grilled octopus which, while smallish, was VERY tender and flavorful. I split the spaghetonni (spelling ?) with a friend for the second course and it too was awesome, tastes of (i think black) truffles and wile mushrooms with a creamy sauce were perfect for the fall/early winter Boston weather. For a main course, I had the Halibut which, though other reviews said was not worth it, I found to be great. The accompaniments were neither imposing nor unnecessary. I will definitely be going back. The service was very good, knowledgeable, and unrushed (though the server did have a difficult time helping us decide between a few dishes as he said our choices were "all very good" and "depended on personal taste"). Also, good selections of wine by the bottle including good reserves, though the at least the red wines by the glass could use a slight tweaking (only one Chianti, no Barolo and a seemingly randomly placed tempranillo for an Italian restaurant). All in all, a good experience with great food, will definitely return.

Pros: great food and good service

Cons: limited red wines by the glass

10/26/2007 Posted by catalano1

This was our second time at Mare, the first was right after it opened, and was terrible, but we chaulked it up to "newness" and not working the kinks out yet. Unfortunately, it was even worse. The waiter wasn't friendly, and seemed like he just didn't want to be there, speeding through descriptions, and not enthusiastic at all. They then mixed up our wines pouring the wrong wine in the wrong glass. The octopus was small and tasteless, and the other fish wasn't fresh by any stretch. I took two important clients there and I got the great call 2 days later that they got sick from the food. I wanted to impress them with true "itralian seafood" as I keep raving about restaurants in my home city of Pesaro (I was born on the adriatic coast of Italy, sea food central!)

Pros: None

Cons: Everything

09/23/2007 Posted by jeno790

I have dined at Mare twice this year (2007) and my experience couldn't have been more different each time. The first time I went it was for a friend's birthday. The service was great and the seafood was just terrific. I just returned from my second trip to Mare and it was just terrible! The only highlight was the service - very friendly but not obtrusive. I ordered the caesar salad which was just plain bad. Lettuce was still very wet from being washed and the popcorn shrimp on top of the salad was an odd choice and not very good. We also ordered the Wellfleet oysters and the group agreed that the limoncello with the oysters was weird - the oysters were not finished. We also ordered the zucchini fritters - bland. For the entree I ordered the halibut - it arrived way over cooked to the point of being a bit shriveled. At $30 this was much too expensive to justify. I was embarassed that I recommended this restaurant to my friends as I could tell that they were just as disappointed as I was leaving the restaurant.

09/13/2007 Posted by elvistaco1

We answered the eternal Boston question: "Italian or Seafood?" with Mare, and regretted our indecision. We found the atmosphere plain, bare, and cold, rather than cool and hip. The vaunted BBQ Octopus was only a tiny piece with some grill seasoning, and the potato foam was pointless. Not the freshest, either. The Tuna Crudo was listless, really just a hunk of raw tuna, and the "Proscuitto Canneloni" was goofy; it neither complemented nor enhanced the tuna. The Seafood risotto was tasty, however.

07/17/2007 Posted by aruber

This restaurant was excellent! We were very pleased with the food, drinks, and service . The lemon drop martini and caribbean breeze martinis were very good. We had the halibut and the Frutti del Mar. Both were outstanding. We highly recommend this place!!

Pros: great seafood, great drinks, modern decor

Cons: price

05/26/2007 Posted by yabbadabba

I've heard such good reviews about Mare, I was psyched to finally check it out. Service was attentive -- but then again, it was very early so we were the first customers at that hour and the place was practically empty. My date ordered a pasta dish with scallops and in spite of the teeny tiny portion, he didn't bother finishing it. We both ordered the ceasar salad with shrimp. It was flavourless and bland. The "popcorn" shrimps were curious additions (I don't know what the chef's intentions were with these) as they were dessicated, like something that had been freeze-dried. The worst were the oysters. Truly the worst oysters I've ever had. They were not at all fresh and the greenish slime around the shells and edges made them unappealing. The lemon ice they were served with might have worked if the oysters themselves were palatable. Plus, they weren't shucked very well I had to navigate around the fragmented bits of shells in the meat. I have no idea how this place remains popular. To be fair though, the ambience, in spite of being a bit crowded, is refreshing. After the sad meal, we were afraid to order dessert.

Pros: breezy ambience

Cons: food and price