Modern Pastry
257 Hanover Street
Boston, MA 02113
Yelp

I like to compare the best of anything within a city.  While Mike’s Pastry might be the most well known cannoli shop in Boston, it certainly isn’t the only place for this classic Italian dessert.  Modern Pastry is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Mike’s Pastry, but has a totally different vibe.

They definitely offer a larger selection of other sweets and pastries.  The exposed brick and warm yellow lighting of the pastry shop give a more inviting feel than the white washed walls and fluorescent white light of Mike’s.

Now down to the nitty gritty.

The cannoli’s here are just as delicious as the ones at Mike’s.  The differences are subtle, but don’t necessarily make one better than the other.  It really comes down to preference.  Mike’s cannoli was slightly heavier in its flakey crispiness, while Modern had a lighter more wafery or cookie-ish feel to its crispy flakey shell.  I think I preferred Modern on this aspect.  The filling at Mike’s tasted slightly more delicate and smooth, while Modern had more ricotta bits.  Both were wonderfully light in it’s ricotta flavor and not too sweet.  

Frankly, you cannot go wrong with Modern or Mike’s.  If the line at Mike’s is too long, just go to Modern.  Either way, you’ll be in for a real Boston treat.  I’ll never look at a cannoli the same way.

10 – You NEED to eat here (if you love cannolis)
9 – Awesome (especially if you know nothing about cannoli’s or always felt underwhelmed by every previous cannoli you’ve ever had)
8 – Very good
7 – Good
6 – OK
5 – Average
4 – Not bad
3 – Not good
2 – Terrible
1 – Do NOT eat here