The Pasta Shop

Many of us have heard of Pasta de Waraku but less can probably be said about one of its competitors, The Pasta Shop by Sakae Sushi, which has a sole outlet in Wheelock Place. Me and Daphne had never planned to dine here, but the crowds all over Orchard Road (especially at Orchard Ion) on a bustling Friday night literally pushed us to its fringes. Tired and hungry, we picked the nearest restaurant that we could find, and one in particular without a queue that would force us to wait for more than thirty minutes.

Iced Green Tea: 1.5/5
Spinach Soup-of-the-Day: 3/5
"Mentaiko" Salad: 2/5


There was this special set ($16.80++) that seemed appealing enough with its chilli crab pasta. It was also appealing to me because the set comes with a drink! The Pasta Shop is one of those infamous eateries still operating in Singapore that simply refuse to serve free iced water and yet charge relatively high prices for its drinks ($3.80++ for a coke). Maybe all of its iced water goes into its iced green tea, which was terribly tasteless. The soup of the day meanwhile was alright, but the "mentaiko" cold salad wasn't appetising at all with its mix of spice and cheese.

Chilli Crab Pasta: 3.75/5


At least the chilli crab pasta saved the dinner! There was that nice, familiar hint of the same chilli crab gravy that many of us slurp greedily up at seafood restaurants, though a tad more eggs and a much thicker gravy would have been better. The softshell crab needs to be a bit fresher too.

Carbonara Pasta: 3.25/5


It was okayyy, but Daphne found it just too creamy for her liking. She had trouble finishing it up.

Service
Excellent, very polite and friendly. I did observe that it would be a tad hard for an understaffed restaurant to serve free iced water, because that would mean having waiters to tend to calls for refills as well. If hiring extra staffs is out of the question, I don't see why they can't invest in small water jugs, like those at 3 Monkeys Cafe for example.

Price
$16.80 for the chilli crab pasta set
$12.90 for the carbonara pasta
$6.80 for a glass of "tea freeze"

* Prices subject to the usual 7% GST and 10% service charge.

Place
Wheelock Place, #02-13/14.

Additional Comment
First picture source here.