La Pasta di Nonna arrived on the Taipei food scene in 2021. Located a 5-minute walk from Technology Building MRT, this Taipei Italian is hidden on a side street just behind the popular Chenggong Market in the Da’an District. Italian food in Taipei is rather easy to come by, but it’s only recently that good pasta in Taipei has seen an increase in demand and is more widely accessible as a result.
Whether you’re looking for a great carbonara, duck ragu pappardelle, ravioli, spaghetti with arrabbiata sauce, or simply delicious pasta with a bolognese sauce, you can pretty much get it in every single one of the main districts of Taipei. So what makes La Pasta di Nonna stand out from the crowd? Why should you come here for your next Taipei pasta fix, rather than somewhere else either in the Da’an District, or the next district along?
La Pasta di Nonna focuses on the pasta. They do 3 main dishes and 2 risotto but have 8 different pasta variations. The focus is on spaghetti or pappardelle pasta in most of their dishes, with orecchiette thrown in there for good measure, too. This focus on a limited type of pasta but putting love and care into the sauces is what makes this Taipei pasta at La Pasta di Nonna worth coming for.
Table of Contents
Unassuming from the outside, yet endearing in its simplicity and homely style, La Pasta di Nonna is intriguing. It looks like the kind of place that you would find in an Italian town, and once you step inside you’d be greeted by a nonna who’s been making pasta for the last 70+ years with a smile on her face and a flour-drenched apron around her waist.
Alas, it wasn’t quite like that. Inside this Taipei Italian restaurant, there’s a more modern vibe given off. Wine is scattered over the walls, with some quintessentially Italian pictures strewn around on some of the other walls. There is a long leather-clad bench stretching the length of the restaurant on one side, home to a few tables. The rest of the restaurant has cosy wooden tables with a simple seating style. Nothing is wildly elaborate here, but it feels thoughtfully put together to reflect a comfortable, yet stylish Italian feel.
If you aren’t sure how to order or what to do when you arrive at La Pasta di Nonna, then this is the post for you. See below for How to Order in Taipei Restaurants like a definitive pro!
3 Fast Tips on How to Order in Taipei Restaurants like a definitive pro!
The Menu at La Pasta di Nonna
From time to time, La Pasta di Nonna updates its menu. To ensure that you find the most up-to-date menu, you can check out this link to the menu section of their Facebook page:
What We Ordered
Tomato and Mozzarella Ravioli with Pesto 羅勒番茄義大利餃
I've not had ravioli for quite some time, so I was keen to order it and see how it faired here at La Pasta di Nonna. A tomato and mozzarella pasta with pesto should be bright, clean, and light in flavour. When the dish arrived covered in shavings of parmesan, I was quite happy. Each of the 5 ravioli comes topped with a bright and punchy pesto, sat atop a fragrant tomato sauce scattered with basil leaves, and filled with mozzarella.
Beautifully seasoned, delicious pasta encases mozzarella in each of these ravioli. They were light pockets of joy that were carried around your mouth with the fragrance of the pesto and fresh basil leaves. We have to remember that the pasta dish follows the starter in traditional Italian restaurants and is then followed by a secondi (main course). The ravioli here is classed as a starter, perhaps bending the traditional Italian rules a little... Either way, I enjoyed these ravioli, but I was more excited when the following two dishes arrived.
For the sake of variety, we ordered a risotto with another pasta dish. I could eat the beautifully wide pappardelle pasta on a daily basis, but I am not quite as keen on the spaghetti when eating out, as I tend to splash my clothes with the tomato-based sauce I so often order it with...
Diced Beef Steak with Chestnut Risotto 燒烤牛肩栗子燉飯
A generous amount of nicely cooked beef steak sat atop a risotto that, contrary to how it looked, had a fantastic consistency, with punches of earthy chestnut chunks and balsamic vinegar throughout. Once everything was stirred, the sticky risotto consistency came together to bring joy to the plate. The extra parmesan shavings that we ordered didn't quite melt in but allowed for a contrast in texture while bringing that incredible parmesan flavour that it quite like no other.
The beef steak was cooked perfectly, allowing a nice smokiness to the outside while retaining a juiciness on the inside. Paired with the delicately cooked risotto and a chunk of chestnut, it was a great mouthful of food. It's not often when dining on Italian food in Taipei that I will order a risotto, but I was glad that I had done so at this point. It wasn't the refined risotto that you may expect from a high-end establishment, but it also didn't come with the same price tag as one of those might set you back on.
Pappardelle Bolognese with Chicken Liver Paste 波隆那肉醬特寬麵
Easily my favourite type of pasta. Wide, freshly cooked pappardelle pasta was generously served with a bolognese sauce to be proud of, and an extra layer of decadence was added with the chicken liver paste on top. The chicken liver added an earthiness that went really well with this perfectly cooked bolognese sauce. A typical Bolognese sauce is a rich, slow-cooked meat sauce with a silky texture. It's made with ground meat (usually of more than one type), vegetables, tomatoes, milk, and seasonings. The key to a good Bolognese is balance and depth of flavour.
This bolognese sauce seemed heavy on the tomato puree, which I can't complain about because I love tomato puree! The pappardelle held the sauce nicely and went perfectly with even more of those parmesan shavings. Pasta in Taipei like this is what makes living in this amazing city worthwhile. To be able to get my Taipei pasta fix at a spot like La Pasta di Nonna easily on any day of the week is what makes me happy.
Tiramisu 提拉米蘇
I love tiramisu. There's something special about a whipped-up mascarpone with coffee and chocolate that just does it for me. It may or may not be traditional, but I like my tiramisu more on the boozy side. If you take a strong coffee and then add a few glugs of coffee liquor into it, I think it just lifts it up to new heights. This tiramisu was pretty good.
It was a creamy slice of tiramisu with those classic Italian ladyfingers that had been lightly soaked in coffee so as to still retain a crunch to them. The mascarpone mixture tasted good, and the chocolate sprinkles on top were good, too. I can't quite put my finger on what may have been missing.
The Bottom Line
Is it worth it? La Pasta di Nonna is worth stopping by at if you're in the area.
What is the best dish? The pappardelle with bolognese sauce was the winner. The addition of the chicken liver paste was bang on the money.
Are there other places like this? Taipei Italian's have been increasing in popularity over the years. Here are some of my favourites:
Taipei Restaurant- Pasta & Co. The best pasta in town!
Taipei restaurant – Antico Forno