When I was visiting Cape Cod in Massachusetts around the Holiday, I discovered a nice shopping mall area, called Mashpee Commons. It has lots of stores, eateries, and even a movie theater. It is an outdoor mall, so not super convenient on a rainy day or snowy day, but it is very well organized and very pretty looking. Here, there is a very nice Italian restaurant, Siena, right next to the movie theater.

Since it was the Holiday season, they had beautiful decoration, fully in the Holiday spirit. They have a nice foyer space right at the entrance, and from there, you can see the host/hostess station next to the staircase.

The inside was nice size, with lots of table and booth seating. They also have a full bar on the other side, with more seating around it. We went to a movie beforehand, and it is an easy walk from the theater. It only takes a minute, which is super convenient! It was not crowded when we got there, but it did bit busier while we were there.

They had interesting photos displayed in the restaurant, depicting several long dining table. I mean, really, really long. It was described as a banquet in Siena, Italy after the Palio horse race. The race is centuries-old, but still held each year today. It is quite magnificent.

Once we were settled in our seat, they brought out the complimentary bread with a side of olive oil. It was a nice amount of bread, soft and I liked how it was cut into small pieces. It was easier to share and eat when it is all cut up already.

We started off our dinner with some drinks. We ordered White Sangria ($11), which is house-made and I heard is popular. We also ordered their special drink of the day, Poinsettia Sparkler ($10.95).

 

White Sangria was a good size, good enough to get you through the meal. It had nice fruity flavor of orange and apple. It was sweet and refreshing. A good drink especially if you are having seafood dish, or I guess any dish if you like sweet, fruity drink.

Poinsettia Sparkler is made with Prosecco, Triple Sec, and Cranberry Juice. It came in a champagne glass, and had really nice, pretty color of deep red-ish-pink.  I liked the fuzzy bubbles and it was tasty. Not overly sweet, but very refreshing and enjoyed the cranberry flavor.

They had a special appetizer of the day, which was Truffle Fries ($9.95). It was indicated on the menu that it was brought back by “popular demand” so we jumped on that. I have a weak spot for truffle fries… The fries are tossed in white truffle oil, rosemary and Parmesan. It came with a side of roast garlic aioli. The fries were good, it had nice aroma of truffle. It was not great, but it was good. I liked the aioli, it added extra garlic-y flavor, and I like garlic, so that was nice.

Another appetizer item ordered was Harvest Salad ($12.95). It is made with Granny Smith Apple, Roasted Pistachios, Dried Figs, Fresh Unaged Goat Cheese, and Field Greens. It also have Cranberry, and drizzled with White Balsamic Vinaigrette. It was a big salad, very fresh, and lots of flavors. The apples were crispy and juicy, pistachio was crunchy and tasty, and the goat cheese was really nice too. A good salad!

For the main, our companies ordered Veal Piccata ($26.95) and Chicken Parmigiana ($14.95/small). Veal Piccata is Sautéed with Garlic, Capers, Lemon and White Wine, and served with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Sautéed Asparagus. It was very nice and generous portion. Chicken Parmigiana is all handmade, and served over spaghetti. Even though the small size was ordered, it was still pretty good size, filling and comforting.

For us, we ordered Shrimp and Spaghetti ($28.95) from special of the day, and Cioppino ($28.95). Shrimp and Spaghetti comes with six Jumbo Shrimps Sautéed with Cherry Tomatoes, Fresh Garlic and Herbs in a White Wine Butter Sauce, and served over Spaghetti. I am not sure if they are considered “Jumbo” shrimps, the were nice size, but not huge. They were plump and tasty though. The rest was basically just spaghetti and cherry tomatoes, which were nice but not much of flavor that jumped out. It was super filling for sure, with lots of spaghetti. This one did not offer half or small portion, but most of their regular pasta dishes offer the small size if you prefer.

Cioppino was huge with lots of seafood and shellfish. It is made with Scallops, Shrimp, Littleneck Clams, Mussels, Cod, and Salmon, cooked in sauce made with Tomato, White Wine and Fresh Herbs. It also comes with Grilled Crostini. Cioppino is usually a bit spicy, but if you don’t like spicy dish, you can ask the server to make it “mild” when you place the order. It had a generous amount of seafood and shellfish, with a nice kick to it. The soup was really nice too, and it was a big bowl of comfort and delight.

We were all quite full after the dinner, so we didn’t have any room for dessert (I know, very sad). We did get Cappuccino ($4.50) to end the meal. It came with a mini biscotti which was nice.

Our server was friendly and nice, polite and warm. We had a very nice dinner here. And if you ate too much, you can always walk around the mall after the meal and burn off some of the calories. The restaurant gets lit up at night, making it look even prettier. It is a nice spot, good food, good service, a bit pricey but the location and atmosphere is really nice.

Siena Restaurant – Mashpee Commons, 17 Steeple St, Mashpee, MA 02649