Delfino

While I’m at school, I don’t have access to a car, so I’m limited to T-accessible restaurants for dining options. That’s why whenever I eat with my parents, I try to take advantage of the opportunity and dine at less accessible places. One such place is Delfino, a quaint Italian restaurant located on South Street in Roslindale.

I had heard good things about Delfino from quite a few sources. Delfino was featured as one of Phantom Gourmet’s “Great Ate” Italian restaurants. Plus, one of my mother’s friends lives in Roslindale, and Delfino is one of her favorite restaurants in the neighborhood. Given the positive reviews I had heard, I was quite eager to try it.

Fried Calamari

For our appetizer, we order this calamari dish, which was quite interesting and something that I had never really seen before. The calamari came fried as it does at most places but the unusual aspect was that the calamari was mixed together with some field greens and a light vinaigrette dressing, forming a salad of sorts. Everything came together to form a wonderfully balanced dish with great contrasts of texture, temperature, and taste.

Linguine with mussels, clams, and calamari in pesto sauce

My party both ordered similar dishes. Both dishes essentially came with spaghetti and different kinds of seafood cooked in pesto sauce. The scallops and clams I tried were cooked just right, and the pesto was garlicky green goodness.

Linguine with Mussels in Fra Diablo Sauce

For my dish, I ordered the spaghetti with mussels in fra diablo sauce. I usually order this when I eat at Vinny T’s – it’s one of my favorites. I wanted to try Delfino’s version to see how it compared. Although the quality of the pasta is much higher, I must admit that Delfino’s version wasn’t as good in terms of taste. The sauce lacked the sharp punch of spice and garlic that I particularly enjoy about Vinny T’s version. I think Delfino may have also used jalapeno peppers, which may have altered the taste slightly from what I am used to. The mussels, however, were quite fresh and delicious.

By the end of the meal, we were all stuffed, so we didn’t order dessert. The portions were huge – not one of us finished our entrees. We packed our leftovers to go, and I was the lucky one chosen to finish everything off in the following days.

Overall, I was really pleased with our experience at Delfino, and I would definitely go back. The portions were awesome, and everything was quite reasonably priced. I hardly ever go into the North End because it’s too much a pain. For someone like me who lives in the suburbs, Delfino is really nice – I can get high quality Italian food without the hassle of trekking into the city.