Another Lenten Meal -- Donatello's

As you can see, the date of this post and end of Lent, I'm still a little behind in my blogs.

It was a Friday night, and we were looking for a place to dine where we knew we could get substantial meatless meals. We had a gift certificate for Donatello's (on Ben Franklin Rd near Lowe's) we needed to use, so we thought no better time like the present.

It's a small establishment in a strip mall. We did have to wait for 10 minutes, but for a Friday night during prime time, I thought that was very reasonable.

The menu consisted of various Italian appetizers, entrees, pastas, desserts and specials. It's also BYOB if you should desire. Of course, I left our bottle of wine at home! We were attended to almost right away and in general, the service was good.

My husband opted for the baked cheese ravioli while I went for the pasta primavera with a pink sauce. You have your option of soup or salad. We ended up choosing the salad, but that's only because there was meat in the wedding soup (which is to die for). Breadsticks were readily brought to our table. They're almost like Pizza Hut breadsticks but not as greasy. I had to be careful not to eat too many so I didn't spoil my appetite for dinner. The salads were your typical dinner salads. Fresh and adequate.

My husband's cheese ravioli looked pretty good. The dish was very hot as they had pulled it out of the oven to melt the cheese. He readily finished the dish -- no leftovers to take home.

I ordered my primavera with penne pasta. The pink sauce was very tasty and rich and there were plenty of veggies to provide some filling fiber. My only complaint (and this has happened before at the restaurant) is that the penne was cooking for 1 minute too long. I like more of a tooth feel to my pasta in general. I don't know if they precook and nuke their pasta or what -- I certainly hope they don't. But next time I dine there, I'll be requesting my pasta be cooked al dente.

We were too full for dessert, so we passed.

Overall a good dining experience. I think what draws us to Donatello's is their red sauce. It's not to sweet, not too spicy and just really well-balanced overall. We will certainly go back for me.