Basta Pasta
Do you remember the old Iron Chef. I’m talking about the one that started in Japan with the hilarious voice overs that used to play on Food Network before it was replace with the American version. It was dramatic and a totally new type of cooking show. This restaurant was first established in Japan and modeled after the Iron Chef show with a completely open kitchen and the NYC sister has an open kitchen as well.
The restaurant itself is simple and clean but it is the food that I had been dying to try. It’s Japanese Italian. It’s Italian done Japanese style. It’s interesting.
I started with the hamachi (yellowtail) special appetizer served with thinly sliced radishes and a simple vinaigrette dressing. The fish was very fresh and so light and delicious. The radishes added a textural crunch as well as a mild spiciness. I really liked this appetizer.
For main, I had the dish most associated with this place, the spaghetti pasta in an uni cream sauce. I LOVE uni. It’s like the foie gras of the sea in that it’s creamy and embodies the definition of the word decadent. Sadly this dish didn’t do it for me.
It was a bit bland and uninteresting to me. I couldn’t taste the uni and it was almost too creamy for me. I preferred my friend’s dish of parpadelle pasta with mushrooms and ricotta.
The pasta had a deliciously tender bite to it and the mushrooms were hearty and earthy. This dish had flavor. My friend Heath probably had the worst dish in my opinion. He had the chilean sea bass.
Chilean sea bass is already a pretty fatty fish but the fish was so greasy. It had been cooked in what tasted like too much oil. I have no idea what the foam was but it imparted no additional anything and the side of edamame, although well seasoned, was overcooked.
I had been looking forward to trying this place for so long so I’m disappointed I didn’t enjoy the tastes more. I probably won’t be back.
Basta Pasta, 37 West 17th Street, New York, NY
