Before lockdown 2.0 stole our freedom like a thief in the night, I had the pleasure of being invited to review Pastaio in Soho. Pastaio, (meaning someone who hand makes pasta), is the brainchild of Stevie Parle, a British chef, restauranteur and food writer whose other projects include Palatino and Craft. There are two Pastaio restaurants, one in Westfield and the one I visited on Ganton street just off Carnaby street, right next to Rosa’s Thai Café that I recently reviewed.

Londoners love pasta it has to be said, there’s something about a plate of delicious carbs that just makes everything better. Pastaio is one of many pasta-focused restaurant serving fresh high-quality pasta at excitingly low prices (you can get a main pasta dish from £6 and that in itself is enough to write home about in my book!) Pastaio has proven to be very popular and *Spoiler Alert* it absolutely lives up to the hype!

The restaurant has a bright and buzzy canteen-like modern feel to it with low hanging lights, an open kitchen, marble tables and an all-round minimalist feel. What keeps the restaurant from feeling sterile and cold is the back wall which immediately draws your eye in and is a bold, vibrant technicolour geometric mural that is in contrast with the rest of the restaurant and really stands out. There is also the addition of a compact alfresco dining area at the front of the restaurant so you can soak in the buzz of Soho.

While we took ages perusing the menu (a popular custom while dining out with me), we sipped on Raspberry and Gin Prosecco Slushies which were deliciously refreshing and well-worth the brain freeze.

I can never overlook Burrata on the menu so we had to order the Burrata with oregano, aleppo chilli & Pastaio Olive oil and our waitress recommended we order the Rosemary focaccia with Pastaio olive oil to mop it up with and this was a stroke of genius! We also ordered the Beef Carpaccio with 30 month Parmesan and New Season’s olive oil.

I am an ardent Burrata fan which you will know if you are a regular reader, but genuinely this up there with the best I’ve ever tasted. It was an absolute knockout dish, a must-not-miss dish and one that still makes my mouth water thinking about. Indulgently creamy and delicious you’ll want to order another and another and another, the addition of fragrant chilli gave it extra depth and extra yum. The inspired addition of the focaccia which was perfectly golden and crisp on top and light and chewy in the centre was a deliciously salty vehicle with which to mop up the extra oil and the Burrata’s liquid centre – yum!

Beef carpaccio is another favourite of mine, thinly sliced raw beef (for those that don’t know) that is deliciously meaty and almost melts in your mouth. This was topped with 30 month Parmesan which was deeply rich and fruity, lashings of olive oil and some lemon zest for a perfectly rounded and delicious start to the meal.

For the main event I went for the 8-Hour Beef & Porcini Bolognese with Mafaldine. I had never had Mafaldine before and it is now one of my all-time favourite pastas, it is flat and wide with wavy edges and it is similar to tagliatelle. The ragu was deliciously rich with a great depth of flavour, I would absolutely order it again but it was very filling!

Mum went for the Carbonara made with guanciale (an Italian cured meat made with pork cheeks), egg yolk and Pecorino and served with Mezze Maniche which is essentially half sized Rigatoni. The Carbonara was a great colour and rich from the egg yolk, but mum wasn’t a huge fan of the addition of the guanciale.

By this point we were both very very full, but who can resist a little Italian pick-me-up to end a meal, enter the Tiramisu! I haven’t ordered Tiramisu from a restaurant in a while and I feel like I’ve been seriously missing out if they’re anywhere near as good as this one was. Velvety smooth mascarpone atop well-soaked soft and silky sponge and the dry bitterness of the cocoa powder to balance it out.

It was a brilliant end to a really fantastic meal, I will absolutely be returning in the future for more carby heaven! This is definitely one for your post-lockdown list!