Pasta & Co. has some hands-down incredible fresh pasta right here in Taipei City! None of that dried nonsense that boils in the pan for an unholy amount of time and is then topped with some watery tomato or cream based ‘juice’. No, not at Pasta & Co.. Right outside of Songjiang Nanjing MRT station in Taipei, you will find Pasta & Co.
Expect to wait a little bit for your pasta – but this wait assures you of the freshness and the attention to detail in the cooking process. Is it worth it, you ask? Well, if the writing above has led you to read this, then you can probably guess the answer to that question…
As you walk in to Pasta & Co. you can probably feel and hear the buzz of happy conversation interspersed with moments of silence, subtly followed by under-their-breath moans of delight from the food. Yes, it’s that good.
The Menu at Pasta & Co.
The menu reads like an erotic novel of the pasta worlds who’s-who. Check out their up-to-date menu here on their website. Something I am really excited by is what their seemingly new thing is – 3 course or 4 course meals! Priced at $700 and $950 respectively.
I do like a nice deli counter, and Pasta & Co. doesn’t disappoint, especially as it is in their restaurant. You can order your food then just go check out this little deli selection as you wait for it to arrive. Or, take out the pasta you most enjoyed after tasting it in the restaurant.
What about this picture does not excite you? I mean, Italian cheese and Italian ham get a huge YES in my book. And, if they don’t get a ‘Yes’ in yours, then we might not be able to be friends…
What did we eat?
So, for starters we went for the curated by Pasta & Co. Artisanal Charcuterie Plate ($480). What I liked about this plate is that it had a nice selection of cheese, meat, and some little pickled delights interspersed within there, too. However, what I didn’t like so much was the fact that we only got 2 little bits of bread. Some of the nicest Charcuterie boards I have had have had some little crackers, or some toasted bread sticks on the side, allowing for some variation of texture and flavour. Would I get it again? Maybe, but next time I would probably look to try the Steak Tartare (a weakness of mine) or the Grilled Provolone Cheese.
Next to find its way onto our table was one of the most popular dishes at Pasta & Co. – Smoky Pumpkin Nduja Pipe Rigate ($290). It came to the table smelling incredible, with wafts of paprika erupting all over our table. With a few dollops of sour cream in there, the sauce became a well-balanced delight.
What I really liked about this pasta dish was that the pumpkin flavour wasn’t lost, it remained there and palatable throughout. I also really liked the smoky heat that came out from the Nduja and the way that the sour cream helped to add that level of acidity that helped cut through the richness of it all. The pasta itself was al dente and all that, but it’s not my favourite style of pasta, personally.
Then arrived the Grilled Octopus Squid Ink Fusilli ($410). My eyes lit up as I saw some lurking pieces of octopus, mint leaves, and grated cheese as well as the sour cream dollops here. What also excited me was the shape of the pasta. I like this more non-uniformed pasta, as I like the slightly chewy bits with the slightly softer parts. The sauce was a tomato base, and was delicious.
Again, really nice balanced out this time with the creme fraiche and also the lemon. Now when we talk about the octopus, it was delicate and meaty – everything I wanted. The pasta was knockout, and the sauce was delicious. I’d order this again, hands down, thank you Pasta & Co.!
Finally, as we can never resist it, we got the Tiramisu. But, at Pasta & Co., they don’t serve up the typical interpretation of a tiramisu, here we have a tea based tiramisu, rather than the traditional coffee based one. The Cocoa “Tea-Ramisu” ($260) arrives in this cute little Taiwanese rice cooker, alluding to the fact that Sun Moon Lake black tea is used inside it, no doubt.
There’s some fun puffed rice on top which brings an interesting dynamic to the cloud-like soft tea flavoured sponge inside. Inside you’ll find more delicate sponge, some delightful black tea flavoured mascarpone, and then also a delicious little crumble of cocoa and almond tea. It was good, but as a fan of the traditional tiramisu, I would probably prefer to go to Gusto Market of Taste for theirs, in all honesty.
The bottom line at Pasta & Co. is that it’s really reasonably priced for some excellent pasta. The value here is seriously good.
We have also had their take-out pasta before, as an experiment. Oftentimes pasta, when taken home, can go soggy, soft, and blah. But, not at Pasta & Co! Their pasta integrity remains solid, with the pasta itself remaining al-dente, the sauce not congealing or going overly watery, and their main ingredients standing the test of a 15-20 minute drive home.
