Blasi's Cafe & Fat Belly Deli

Don't be fooled by the Irish pub aesthetic- Blasi's has one of the best marinara's in Boston! Try it on the eggplant rollatini- it's delicious! They are now serving an absolutely addictive oil with their fresh table bread that is worth stopping in for on its own!

Posted 10/13/09 | Report Abuse

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If you haven't been there in awhile check out there new menu and hit up stump trivia tuesday night at 8!!! ps let me add that cathy is right, no parking so be prepared to circle a few times!

Posted 10/13/09 | Report Abuse

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Excellent salads and sandwiches, huge portions, small bar, family friendly, limited seating evenings and weekends, usually a short wait. parking a pain.

Posted 10/13/09 | Report Abuse

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Great place - very friendly, family-oriented - food and drink are awesome. Portions are very large so go hungry!! Great place to watch a game or enjoy a meal with family & friends. check out the kareoke on Thrusday nights!!!!!!

Posted 10/10/09 | Report Abuse

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Blasi's Cafe and the Fat Belly Deli is a little bit of delicious irony in the Adams Corner neighborhood of Dorchester.

Most local's simply call it "Blasi's" or "Fat Belly," but either way you're talking about delicious food at a reasonable price. In the interest of full disclosure... it is my "go-to" restaurant. I go there when I know I just need a good meal, and often when a group of friends or family can't make up their mind on what to eat or where to go.

The small eatery offers traditional Italian fare that is delicious and free of the all-too-common yuppie frill. Rather than herb-encrusted posh with balsamic reductions, you're going to get casual tri-color tortellini with a choice of sauce (or "gravy" for you other old-school Italian gourmands) tossed in a medley of mushrooms, capers and garlic; you mgiht also sink your teeth into their always-filling "Eggplant Rollatini" with a healthy helping of penne al dente draped in the phenomenal house marinara sauce. The food is great, and the casual Italian fare is an ironic delight in what appears from the outside (and much of the inside) to be a small Irish bar and restaurant, characteristic of the neighborhood.

Now as for me, my preference is the deli fare and the cheap eats. I like the deli sandwiches, which are a hearty helping of meats and fillings, along with the french fries or soup. The sandwiches are only served until 8:00pm (I think), so I've been a little upset when I drop in after a late night at work... but more often than not... these sandwiches are outstanding (and overstuffed). Most importantly, you can get any sandwich off the menu - including a number with specialty meats - for under ten bucks.

As far as soups, they're not the best I've ever had, and that's not the claim they make, but they're pretty darn good. They generally offer soups like homemade chicken noodle, tomato bisque, and clam chowder. Delicious.

The salads are also very good. The cheap eats I mentioned above used to be offered on trivia nights, and became the reason to go. The menu included nachos, french bread pizza, wings, french fries, and more. These were truly cheap eats - I think the highest price was $5.95 - and most were delicious. None were bad, so it was a good call all around.

The bread they bring to the table is no-frills but fresh. It's the same bread as the sub roll, and it is decent with butter, but better with the house oil. Sometimes you might have to ask for one, as they will only bring the other... but I go for a little smear of butter with a healthy dip in the seasoned oil. Mmm.

It should be mentioned that there is a small in-house deli, with a big reputation, where you can pick up cheeses and cold-cuts from the regular ham (which is excellent, and my personal favorite by the way) to mortadella, linguica, roast beef, and more specialty items. This is the key to why the sandwiches are so good... they're deli fresh and deli quality with the in-house service and sides. I don't know much about the deli orders other than having gotten a sandwich via take-out there a few times, and salads for my girlfriend. They're generally busy, and the quality has been high in my take-out experience, and word-of-mouth reinforces the good experiences.

I highly recommend it. So does the Phantom Gourmet. Many local newspapers too. Any drawbacks would be the occasional "new" server that doesn't get something exactly right, or doesn't know each menu item. If you're a regular customer though, you can just help them learn the ropes, or have an innocent smirk and giggle at their expense. But the bottom line is that you're going to have to try to find something that isn't a delicious bang for your buck.

Enjoy the hidden gem!

Posted 10/03/09 | Report Abuse

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