Making the Internet My Accountability Partner

If you know anything about the Boston culinary experience you know people have strong opinions about whether Mike’s Pastry or Modern Pastry is better. My friend/roommate moved to Boston a year before I did and had recommended Mike’s, with the caveat that she had not had Modern yet. With the both of us being creatures of habit we have stuck to Mike’s for the past two years we’ve lived together. Well, I recently had the chance to visit North End on a week night, so those mile long lines were not a deterrent to picking up both.

The experiences of obtaining the cannoli were very different. Mike’s is an almost clinical all white interior with glass display cases corralling the crowds in a sometimes confusing haphazard manner. Pictures of the different types of cannoli are prominently displayed on the back wall. Meanwhile at Modern the warm wood features and single wall of glass display cases leading you to a counter feel reminiscent of a vintage bakery. Modern’s interior is also designed to encourage a single file line towards the counter. The cannoli offerings are written in chalk amongst all the other pastry options, so as a first timer to the store I had to do a bit of reading to find what I was looking for. The menu is also created in a build your own cannoli style, you get to choose your shell, your filling, and your topping. I went with a classic cannoli, while my roommate requested the chocolate covered style. In building hers at Modern I forgot that Mike’s would also put chocolate chips on theirs and so I erroneously requested no topping to try to keep them even.

Both are incredibly popular establishments and as alluded to earlier the lines on weekends and especially in the summer can be ridiculously long. Mike’s seems optimized to speed through multiple customers at a time, while Modern seems likely to have a longer wait for the same number of customers. I should note that both establishments are cash only, if you plan to visit.

I went in with the idea that I loved Mike’s and would likely be unswayed. Opening the boxes I felt even more sure, the cannoli were the same price and yet Mike’s cannoli are twice the size of Modern’s. On the initial bite, it was hard to tell the difference, but that may be because the initial bite of each is like 50% chocolate chips. The first difference I noticed was in the shells. Modern’s shell was soft, buttery, and flakey, while Mike’s fell completely flat in comparison. Mike’s shell was crunchy and dry. It took a little while for me to discern the difference in filling, but Modern’s is ever so slightly sweeter, while Mike’s retains some of the savory ricotta-ness of the filing.

During the eating process Mike’s enormous size proved to actually be a drawback, the cannoli would fall apart and you need two bites for the left and right side of the pastry. It is overall a very messy experience and can be overwhelming to try to eat out and about or sitting on a bench (as there is no tables inside Mike’s). Modern’s more reasonable size was a much more enjoyable experience, that will have the same ease no matter where you are eating, plus I noticed Modern did have a couple tables inside.

I’m grateful that I’ve finally had a proper taste test. I wasn’t even finished with my cannoli before I had my conclusion. I love Modern Pastry’s cannoli so much more. Next time I’m in North End looking for a treat the probably longer wait time is well worth it for a delicious treat.