Ward 8 - North End

I've been going out to eat a lot lately. I have a list of about 100 restaurants in Boston to try, so it feels good to be crossing some off!

I went to Ward 8 with a few friends on Saturday night for dinner. The restaurant is located in the North End, but a bit outside of all of the Italian places lining Hanover and Salem Streets (West End?).

We had an 8:45 reservation and were seated by the hostess right away. We started with some drinks -- Spencer Trappist was on tap so I HAD to get it. So tasty.

We also ordered a few appetizers to start. Fried cheese steak dumplings with spicy tomato aioli:

And 5-layer dip:

The dumplings were awesome, especially the tomato aioli. I was a bit underwhelmed by the 5-layer dip -- it seemed like something I could make at home. In fact, I probably have!

For my entree, I couldn't pass up the summer seafood stew. My bowl was filled to the brim with lobster, shrimp, mussles, white fish, calamari, chorizo, rice and a spicy tomato broth. Can't forget the two hunks of grilled, buttery bread on the side! Gotta soak up as much summer seafood as possible in the next few weeks...

This is pretty much my ideal dinner and I was very happy with it. The whole dish was just slightly under seasoned (needed more salt), and I considered asking for some from the waitress. But let's be honest, with all the pickles I eat the last thing I need is additional salt.

I also took a photo of my friend's dinner because I thought the lobster "hole" looked good (it had black truffle mixed in which was an interesting addition).

Ward 8 is a great gastropub and a nice addition to the North End. I definitely plan to return!

Ward 8 is located at:
90 N. Washington Street

Boston, MA 02114