Pasta de Waraku

I know Pasta de Waraku has been around for quite some time, though for some reasons I haven't got down to trying it. Daphne likes Waraku, but I haven't tried that either.



You can always trust the Japanese with their creativity. Displays like these at Novena and Marina Square never fail to attract attention and make some of the hungrier people curious, or salivate, or both at the same time. The desserts look so tempting, don't they? But because we had a pretty heavy lunch and were heavily snacking throughout the day, we decided not to stretch our tummies further. Your foodie guide here has put on quite a lot of weight since he started this food blog a few months ago!


So what is Pasta de Waraku? It seems to me to be very much Italian cuisined with Japanese culinary skills and spices fused into it. For those who love to find examples of globalisation, this is probably one of it. You've got gratin and pasta with Japanese additions. Throughout the menu you'd keep seeing the words "healthy", and also this "wafu sauce" that I have little idea what it really is. Sounds cute though - wafu, wafu, wafu.

BBQ Beef with Spicy Sesame Sauce: 7.3/10


I was thinking between this and the "hamburg" thing with pasta. Since this beef pasta is on the "seasonal" menu (which probably means it ain't going to be there all the time) I thought I might as well try it now. And to be honest, it tasted pretty good. A little spicy and the beef was very tender. It seemed a little oily though, and I wonder if this is the sesame oil. There is another problem though.


Portion! Now I know why it's "healthy". That's because they don't give you much, that's why! Haha. You've got to adore their plates, it simply dwarves the food in the middle, as you can see in the picture just above that I purposely took to prove my point.

Katsu Tamatoji: 7.7/10


This is what Daphne had - pork cutlet with egg and tadah - wafu sauce! Portion was slightly larger, only slightly. But then I realise now that by default, they give you the larger sized one for the ordinary menu. That makes it $2 more! Still, she liked this, and was happily alternating between the different side seasonings available on our table - cheese, pepper and dried chilli.

Service
Exceptional. Very polite, the usual Japanese routine of one greet, all must greet sort of service. As they didn't take reservations after 7pm for weekends, one of them, who looks like one of the managers, put us top on the waiting list. We came at 7.10pm anyways, he remembered us and there were still a few seats left. Pretty crowded on a weekend for a more peaceful part of Novena if you ask me.

Price
$12.80 for the bbq beef with spicy sesame sauce
$15.80 for the katsu tamatoji with WAFU sauce.

Okay on checking, wafu just means "japanese style".

Place
Novena Square 2 #01-07
Website (with menu): http://www.waraku.com.sg/

Additional Comments
On observing we realised:
1. The eel pizza is awfully thin, like some thin biscuit.
2. The hamburg steak on its own was small, but if you order the set with rice, it's larger in size.
3. Their soup pastas are served in pretty large bowls, but it should be the same as the fairly large plates.

And, if you're wondering about opening hours: