In hopes of finding another Dozzino-esque experience without the whole always being turned away due to the restaurant constantly being rented out part, my partner and I set off to the very depths of Hoboken. Having heard about Panello from a friend and having passed by their location at 7th and Monroe quite a few times, I was intrigued by the industrially rustic décor and large wood burning pizza oven.
I figured on a Friday night that the restaurant would no doubt be packed with fans of Panello’s BYOB policy and reasoned that bringing take out to one of the piers could make the perfect date night. I tried calling the number listed on their website three times, and all three times I was met with a mix between a busy and a “this number has been disconnected” tone. Nevertheless, we made the trek back, and upon reaching the restaurant, I saw or rather heard why a phone call would have been pointless – the roar from the packed tables was deafening, and the brick walls and stainless steel décor was doing nothing to help. I had to yell to place my order, and I certainly had no idea how tables were managing to hold a conversation.
We only had to wait about 15 minutes for our food – a kale-abrian pizza, polpette, and a cannolo. Unfortunately it was dark by the time we had made it back to campus, so there went my date night on the pier, but good food can salvage anything.
Sadly, this date was not salvaged.
By the time we got back to my room, the food was lukewarm which obviously isn’t the restaurant’s fault but time is no excuse for a lack of flavor. The pizza which had ricotta, Fior di Latte, ‘nduja Calabrian hot sausage, kale, and pecorino Romano had zero flavor aside from the five or so plops of sausage. I don’t know where they get their water, but it certainly did nothing for the taste of the crust. Definitely not worth $18, and the tiny size didn’t help to lessen the blow of the price.
The polpette or meatballs of veal, beef, and pork which were supposedly fire-roasted and then cooked in “signature” tomato sauce were described much better than they tasted. Maybe I’m just super picky because my mom happens to make the best meatballs I’ve ever had, but these like the pizza were just blah. To make matters worse, the sauce was really rather sweet and had no bite. I was looking for a good base of herbs to help bring out the beautifully bright acidity of the tomatoes but what I got tasted more like a can of Ragu.
And then the cannolo… The shell was crispy; I will give them that one. From there, I wasn’t a fan. The filling had a slightly bitter taste, and the cream which was a mixture of ricotta and mascarpone had a weird consistency, not to mention I don’t think I’ve ever spent $8 on a single cannolo. My partner thought it was fine, I took two bites of a dessert that I normally can’t get enough of before handing it off.
I can’t really understand why Panello was so crowded, perhaps it’s overflow from Dozzino three blocks away or maybe the dining experience is different in the restaurant, but I can say that I will not be going back.
