The latest carb-haven to join London’s strong line up is Pasta Nostra. Located just a stone’s throw from Old Street station, these guys are dishing up all manner of al dente shapes, alongside your more traditional Italian eats.
The restaurant is the brainchild of two chefs; 24-year-old Wilfred Mafham and 27-year-old Luca Cianti following a series of successful masterclasses at Tooting Broadway Market and stints at some of London’s top restaurants.
The open-plan restaurant is a pretty low-key, chilled out kind of set-up, complete with espresso bar if you want to grab and go. So much so, we weren’t expecting the food to be quite as special as it was. It’s a short and sweet menu, consisting of small plates and the real reason we were there – Pasta Nostra (which translates to ‘our pasta’).
We kicked things off with a round of expertly made negroni’s and sunk our teeth into freshly made focaccia topped with slivers of salty anchovies. Crispy prawns on sticks are served in shot glasses of heavenly parmesan foam (see, told you it was fancier than the décor would have you believe) and Cacio e Pepe had been given a new lease of life, served deep fried in an aracini. Burrata is always a crowd-pleaser and here it’s been given an entirely appropriate autumnal make over with the addition of toasted hazelnuts and celeriac puree.
For us, the must-order dish of the night was the tortello carbonara. Each perfectly presented little parcel is stuffed with crispy cured pork cheek and pops with a creamy explosion when you take a bite. We’ll be returning to try the 12-hour slow cooked oxtail ragu on pappardelle, finished with 24-month aged parmesan.
With the rain still coming down hard outside, we rounded off our night with a tiramisu between two and another round of negronis. An excellent addition to London’s pasta scene, bravo Pasta Nostra.
