From cancellation policy controversies to TikTok-famous sandwiches with a two-hour wait time, Jen Royle’s TABLE has made quite the name for itself. With three storefronts on Hanover Street in Boston’s North End and a recent popup in New York City, her empire is spreading, and people have taken notice. Personally, I don’t care about internet drama or social media stardom. I care about food, and
@tablenorthend is serving some of the North End’s very best.
I first stumbled upon TABLE last spring, sitting down as a walk-in at one of their hand-crafted communal tables. The perfectly pillowy ricotta gnocchi alone was enough to place TABLE on my list of favorite restaurants in Boston. Tragedy struck, however, when they removed the option to dine à la carte. While I can certainly appreciate a prix fixe menu every now and again, I don’t always have the stomach for it (or quite frankly, the budget), so when TABLE announced its à la carte menu was making a comeback last week, I booked the first table available.
While it’s worth noting that their à la carte menu is offered at a fixed price this time around, guests can select three of the four courses. With two courses for the table (house focaccia with whole roasted garlic and an arugula salad), plus your choice of appetizer, a generous pasta dish, and dessert, I promise you won’t leave hungry.
For our first courses, we opted for the beef, pork, and veal meatball and fried artichoke with lemon aioli. For our mains, I couldn’t help but order the ricotta gnocchi with marinara and pistachio pesto drizzle. Ollie ordered the same dish “alla vodka”—spicy vodka sauce with guanciale. While the original preparation is perfect already, I think Ollie might be onto something with that combination. We concluded our meal with lemon olive oil cake with raspberry coulis and a perfectly soaked tiramisu.
Nearly one year later, I can still confidently say TABLE is one of my favorite restaurants in Boston. I swear I’ll be back much sooner this time. As long as the à la carte menu sticks around. And as long as TikTok doesn’t find out about the gnocchi, too.
