Date Visited: Tuesday 2 June, 2020
Sydney Olympic Park is far from the first suburb you’ll think of for good food, but The Pasta House is definitely putting in a strong showing to change that perception. Housed at Abbatoir Blues, this historical place is a cafe during the day and pasta heaven in the evening.
The menu is fairly concise with 7 signature dishes, which I feel is a good thing for a new menu. It’s better to do a few things excellently, than have a huge menu with differing quality. Even with 7 dishes, I love the variety – there’s 4 halal options and 2 vegetarian options, with a mix between classic napoletana, bolognese, as well as creamy lemon butter and cheesy sauces. There’s also an awesome alcoholic beverages and drinks list capitalising on some of the cafe style drinks from Abbatoir Blues. I had the Egyptian rose iced tea ($7), which had a refreshingly unique taste – I would highly recommend it!
Aside from the signature dishes, the garlic focaccia and a rocket salad are the options for side dishes. I was so impressed by their garlic focaccia, which was entirely made in-house and baked in a gorgeous garlic butter. It was such a crunchy delight to eat and I’d definitely suggest getting this to accompany your pasta.
Garlic focaccia – $10
We decided to give the pappardelle ai fungi a go, one of the two vegetarian and halal options. Every signature dish features house-made pasta and this pappardelle was made so well. I really loved the generous ‘wild mushroom medley’ and the parmesan sauce added a lovely light cheesiness flavour. I thought the dish could’ve been enhanced with even more creaminess in the sauce for cohesion, but I still really enjoyed this one.
Pappardelle ai fungi – $18 (small) – vegetarian, halal
The prawn ravioli came strongly recommended and as soon as I took a bite I understood why. Perfectly handmade from scratch, the soft prawn filling went so harmoniously with the lemon butter sauce. It looks like a pretty unassuming dish but I found this to be the most addictive and the one that I wanted to keep coming back to for more!
Prawn ravioli – $20 (small) – halal
Last but not least was this classic lasagna, which definitely wowed us when it came to the table. It is an incredibly generous slab with amazing layers of house-made lasagna sheets, bechamel, tomato mix and beef mince. This plate is more than enough for the average person and filled my tummy with such happiness and warmth. Comfort food at its finest.
Lasagna emiliana – $18
For a place named The Pasta House, I definitely expected some good pasta, but I was overwhelmingly impressed with all the food we tried! The prawn ravioli was undeniably a massive hit, and the hand-made pasta brilliance was also evident in the pappardelle and the lasagna sheets. Not to mention, the garlic focaccia and iced tea really exceeded all expectations and rounded off such an enjoyable meal. Another thing I really appreciated was the portions – the lasagna was especially huge, but even the ‘small’ pastas we got were such a decent size.
The service was also so on point, so thank you for the amazing hospitality during my visit. If you plan to visit – The Pasta House is located very conveniently opposite Olympic Park train station, and street parking was plentiful considering the current lack of events. For delicious good value pasta and a soul satisfying Italian meal, this family run place is so worth a try.
Disclaimer: I dined as a guest of The Pasta House, but all opinions and photos are my own.
The Pasta House | Building C/1 Herb Elliott Avenue, Sydney Olympic Park NSW 2127 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
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