Basta Pasta

I AM OBSESSED WITH THIS PLACE. Order the spaghetti that comes served in the half cheese wheel. It’s a great presentation and also tastes incredible. Also they serve good bread.

Bread, pasta, desserts and wine — everything was perfect. We had uni linguine pasta, lava cake and tiramisu with pinot grigio. We all loved their food and planned to visit again. Restaurant is quite loud but not too much. Staffs were nice. They only accept reservations through phone calls.

Overhyped.
I ordered the uni pasta and the uni was not fresh at all. The noodles were totally undercooked and brought a whole new term to the meaning ‘al dente.’ The dish overall was super watered down and not very flavorful. Overpriced, especially for the lack of quality. The service wasn’t terrible, but the server could have been more attentive, given that our party was only one of two in the restaurant at that time. Perhaps that should have tipped us off.

Ive always wanted to come here so my bf finally took me here. He didnt kno it would be so packed so we didnt have rsvp. We ended up sittin at the bar. I remember ordering the uni pasta since i saw so many photos and it was delicious. I really wanted to sit at the table cos i saw them use the cheese wheel which looked so cool! Definitely will come back and sit at a table (w a rsvp!!!)

After a long enduring aggravating work week, I needed to unwind with some wine. In the passage of my travels to Flatiron with a friend/​former co-​worker, in stillness, to libations at the bar. Free bread sticks available at the bar to eat my fill. I am addicted to Basta Pasta’s bread sticks! No comment on the food as we did not intake any. This Italian restaurant has modern Japanese influence since it was established as a small chain in Tokyo, Japan now migrating into New York.
My libation: Vino Rosso
Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, from Abruzzo region of east-​central Italy which is medium-​body and rather hearty for an Italian rosé with aromas of orange peel, cinnamon, strawberry and dried cherries. Very subtle.
His libation: a cocktail which I cannot recall the name or the ingredients.
Note: Basta Pasta does not accept reservations from Open Table.

Get the pumpkin gnocchi appetizer! Possibly the best rendition of gnocchi I’ve tried. I’m not always a fan of gnocchi cause if they don’t make it right, it can lack flavor and just taste like a ball of dough. Not the case here! Try it for yourself ;) ⁵⁄₅
The sea urchin pasta is soo good! Definitely a must try as well. So flavorful and creamy without being fishy or too heavy! ⁵⁄₅
Also, the cheese wheel pasta is delicious and they will make it with shrimp instead of prosciutto if you ask! Love that they were willing to substitute and are pescetarian friendly. The flavor itself was good, not great but definitely above average. Anyway, it is the experience of seeing them mix the pasta in the cheese wheel that you have to try at least once :) ⁴⁄₅

I have enjoyed every single meal I’ve had at Basta Pasta. I love the layout of the restaurant (open kitchen) and I love the food. The pastas are $ 15-​$ 25 and you get a pretty large amount of food. They have appetizer portions available that are half the size but not half the price, so I always get the entrée sizes.
I’ve had the Spaghetti con Prosciutto e Parmigiano (prosciutto slices and Parmesan cheese), the Linguine ai Ricci di Mare (pasta with sea urchin), and the Ravioli di Vitello (veal, prosciutto, and mozzarella). My favorite has to be the spaghetti. They toss the spaghetti inside a wheel of Parmigiano cheese, so that’s pretty neat to watch. The salty/​savory prosciutto works really well with the creamy Parmesan cheese. The dish looks deceptively simple because the pasta is extremely delicious and flavorful.
This is definitely one of my favorite Italian/​fusion restaurants and I highly recommend this place.

I give Basta Pasta 4 stars because the food was great and surprisingly wasn’t too expensive, the warm atmosphere, and great service.
First, we were served 3 different types of bread. 2 slices already had a blue cheese spread that was delectable. The other 2 types were regular bread slices and crunchy thin bread sticks that we dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinagrette.
For appetizers, my friend and I ordered the Galletto Ruspante Saltato con Insalatino (chicken with salad) and the Zuppa di cozze e vongole (mussels and clams in garlic white wine sauce). I was very impressed with the salad and chicken. The chicken was tender dark meat with great flavor and extremely crispy. As for the mussels, the portion was very generous! The mussels and clams were steamed perfectly and had a light lemony garlic broth.
I ordered the Spaghetti con Proscuitto e Parmigiano. The pasta was tossed in a huge cheese wheel beside our table. Then the proscuitto and basil was added on top. I also asked our waitress for fresh cracked pepper. The proscuitto was so fresh and nearly melted in my mouth! The noodles were undercooked, not even al dente, but edible. There were chunks of fresh parmigiano in the dish as well. I’d give this entrée a ³⁄₅. It was very light and refreshing but did not blow my mind. However, the presentation was a sight to see.
My friend ordered the tagliolini con ragu di pesce (pasta with chilean sea bass and capers). I had a bite and the sauce was extremely flavorful. The sea bass was shredded up in little chunks. The dish had a strong seafood taste but was not overpowering. My friend loved her dish!
Overall, I would definitely return to Basta Pasta again! Our meal of 2 apps and 2 entrees was only $ 70 after tax. Prices were decent and service was great!

Lunch prefix is such a great idea. You can add the table side parmigiano reggiano pasta (fresh made with a huge wheel of parm cheese!) for $ 1 to your prefix order. And it is so worth it!
The pasta is so fresh, and so is the cheese. The prefix is perfect because it’s not overwhelming and, and the dessert and coffee is perfect with it.
The interior is cute, a giant room mixed in with the kitchen (so it smells amazing), and it’s bright and clean.
The place is a bit small though, so make reservations! I’m coming back regardless for the pasta itself

Basta Pasta was recommended by 2 friends recently, so I thought I’d try it out for myself. I recommend making a reservation. We were seated as soon as we got in. Our server was a little pushy, but I don’t think it was on purpose.
We ordered the mussels and clams, which were good, but not the best I’ve ever had. We ordered the Spaghetti Con Prosciutto E Parmigiano, which takes about half an hour to prep… But is SO worth it! It’s very cheesy, so I recommend splitting it with someone (which I did). It’s very creamy and flavorful, but not overly buttery. We also shared the Linguine Ai Ricci Di Mare (Uni pasta). That was by far the winning dish. It is amazing! I highly recommend it.

Pretty tasty, pretty tasty… We came here for a late Friday night dinner and really enjoyed the food. The ambiance, for me, was a bit like a stepped-​up Chinese restaurant. The service was brisk if not a bit impersonal which is fine. Ikea chairs and table, but somewhat hidden– you get the picture. But the stand out was the food…
Actually the apps were what we found to be special. The duck breast salad– not sure what they did to that duck breast (actually I am– smoked and sous-​vide) but it was delicious. Against our better judgement we had one of the specials, which we thought was also actually quite good– the quail. Small but very creative and tasty. Finally the pumpkin gnocchi was absolutely wonderful. ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL and special in every way. Definitely the highlight of the meal.
The pastas were just OK. We had the ubiquitous spaghetti in the cheese wheel (way too cheesy but tasty nonetheless) and the ravioli with veal/​prosciutto which was decent (loved the tomato in that dish). Neither were as good as the apps but like I said, pretty tasty.
For dessert we had the volcano chocolate cake and the cheesecake which we both thoroughly enjoyed.
I think the prices here are about right for the small’ish portions; we left full but it was only two of us, we ate two bread baskets with butter and breadsticks, and ordered seven dishes.
We’ll definitely be back…

Even with snafus the food was THAT good.
The breadsticks and cranberry bread were yummy!
But onto the REAL Food!
Polpi braised octopus, baby fingerling potatoes, radishes, olive flakes, pangrattato, paprika tomato sauce
— Perfect!
Spaghetti Ai Ricci Di Mare spaghetti, fresh sea urchin, fresh tomatoes, jalapeños, garlic oil, fresh basil
— UNI!!!
This creamy dish was surprisingly light. The Uni was delightful! Its like a happy dance in your mouth. I wish I had a triple serving size. If I were at a regular great Italian restaurant and had double this portion, I would probably just eat half and take the other half home. But here, I want a double portion and I would most definitely eat it all. Huh? Share? I can’t hear you…
Spaghetti Con Prosciutto E Parmigiano spaghetti with parmigiano reggiano & parma prosciutto, served in a half wheel of parmesan cheese at the table
— The Cheese Wheel! So awesome! The dish was delicious! A close second favorite. The sauce was so rich and heavy, the Prosciutto and basil was the perfect pairing.
The Panna Cotta was delicious with it’s Mascarpone Gelato and Citrus compote.
The tiramisu was good but nothing extraordinary.
I would highly recommend this place to anyone and can’t wait to go back!
Snafu’s — Negative: A dish came out wrong (Shrimp was supposed to be subbed for Prosciutto).
Positive: They let us keep the mistaken dish. This seems like something restaurants would do to make up for the boo boo but few places actually do this.
Negative: The corrected dish came out when the rest of the table of 8 was nearly done with dinner.
Negative: They put breadcrumbs on a dish for a person who specifically mentioned they have a gluten allergy.
Negative: We never got breadplates.

Basta Pasta = awesomeness. Took my British friends here on a Thursday night and it was the best decision of that week.
They sat us right away, even though our reservation was later that day. I ordered that famous Spaghetti Con Prosciutto E Parmigiano that comes in giant parmesan wheel. Boy, that was quite an entertainment to watch my pasta swimming in all that cheese. It was perfect, some people say it’s too cheesy, but I think it was great.
I asked them to substitute prosciutto to shrimp and they agreed to do so without thinking twice. The pasta was aldente just like in Italy. I have been spoilt after my visit to Italy and cant eat in every Italian restaurant in NYC. But Basta Pasta got my heart.
My friends had Linguine Alla Pescatore and Ravioli Di Vitello and they were satisfied too. The only thing is it’s too plain, not much décor in this restaurant. Service was good too.

Pretty disappointed by this restaurant.
I’m a huge fan of both Japanese and Italian food, so I’ve always been amused at the idea of the two ethnicities fused together.
I tried the pasta that comes in the wheel because I figured I had to try the famous order, but it was so plain. It was literally average spaghetti with an average cheese sauce and thin slices of prosciutto and cut up basil on top. My friend got the Bow Tie pasta with salmon and that was very ordinary as well.
I don’t get how some people say they’ve been dining here for x amount of years. This is possibly the most average pasta I’ve had in NYC.
Service was good, and I thought it was a good touch to serve baguette slices with blue cheese in the beginning.
The ambiance is confusing. It’s too loud for a classy joint, but the restaurant tries to give itself an upscale feel.
Probably won’t be back.

We came here a little after 6pm on a Saturday (it’s across the street from Raines Law Room) and got the last two seats by the bar. All the other tables were reserved making it difficult to dine in their restaurant without a reservation. Coming from a speakeasy, my eyes had to adjust to the bright lighting of Basta Pasta. The décor definitely has the minimalist and clean Japanese polish. Their bread sticks on the table were deliciously thin and crispy. They were placed in a clear cup and cleverly doubled as a decoration piece!
We ordered their pasta dishes– a seafood linguini ($ 24) and a mushroom spaghetti with mozzarella cheese balls ($ 18). The pasta was unexpectedly hard and a bit undercooked. I’m not sure if it was meant to be molto al dente (slightly undercooked) but I prefer my pasta al dente.

I really wanted to come here because I watched a vlog of California YouTubers visiting New York and they came to this spot more than once so it had to be good!
I made reservations and good thing I did because there was a wait!
Looking through the photos and reviews, and on the vlog, I saw the spaghetti con prosciutto e parmigiano so that’s what I planned on getting. When they bring it to you, they toss the spaghetti in a huge wheel of parmesan cheese and then put prosciutto on top! It’s super fresh and interesting to look at. It was SO cheesy, a little too cheesy for my liking but none the less it was still good! My boyfriend got the linguine alla pescatore with red sauce and it was soooo yummy. I preferred his over mine because it wasn’t as heavy since it didn’t have cheese. Both dishes were super tasty and I would definitely go back again!
One negative is that the tables are so so close together, it felt as if all the tables were on top of each other. A bit too squishy in my opinion, but worth it to taste their pasta!

This place is quite special.
First of all, make reservation. We sat at bar by door.
Its kitchen is completely open. By «complete» I mean its kitchen is right there by dinning area with nothing blocking your view on what they’re doing. Whatever they’re cooking, you smell it.
Service was absolutely great. This is one of the reason I love Japanese owned restaurants. The gentleman who served us at bar looked like owner or manager was very nice.
Pasta were awesome. Living in US, we have all seen pasta way too many times. However they look don’t matter to me anymore. The difference starts at the moment you have it in your mouth. Tendency of pasta noodle was perfect. Sauce had distinctly great scent. The original meat sauce I ordered actually came smoking. My gf loves her fish roe pasta as well.
Tiramisu was right on the spot. We agreed that we’ll comeback to try the pasta that goes into cheese block next time.

Came in here for an early dinner with three friends on a Sunday. I ordered the crespelle with mushrooms and was expecting way more of a mushroom flavor. The entire dish was pretty bland and watery, but everyone else seemed to enjoy their meal!
I could tell the pasta was really fresh so points for that!

Basta Pasta is a Italian restaurant, done Japanese way. Here at Basta Pasta, Japanese chefs do their best to bring you very delicious Italian cuisine their own way. The interior was simple and clean, and with high ceilings, it made the space feel much bigger. The servers were nice and polite, the service was good, nothing to complain about.
They have a pretty good lunch Prix Fixe menu, which comes with soup or salad, main dish, dessert, and choice of coffee, espresso, or tea. If you choose pasta dish as the main, it is $ 19, if you choose meat of fish dish, it is $ 24. Not bad when you are getting all that.
The pasta is very high quality and seasoning was perfect. Super tasty and satisfying without being completely over-​stuffed. Read my full review of this restaurant and food on my food blog, foodlovergirl.

I have never been to (or even heard of) an Italian-​Japanese fusion restaurant before eating at Basta Pasta, so I was really interested/​excited to try it.
Upon entering there’s a large bar counter to the left and an open kitchen on the right. Décor is sparse, mainly white walls with simple tables and chairs. The décor overall has a very Asian-​restaurant feel to it.
The menu itself is mostly Italian food with little touches of Asian here and there. We started out by sharing the duck salad and the grilled calamari with sausage. The duck was good and paired nicely with the dressed arugula and watercress. The calamari app was solid and paired nicely with a sausage stuffed with curry risotto, raisins, pistachios, and prosciutto. For my main I had to try their pasta, so I went with fusilli which came with a chicken ragu, tomatoes, prosciutto, and parmesan cheese; everything was fresh and tasty. My friend went with the spaghetti with prosciutto and parmesan which was «dressed» in a large parmesan cheese wheel at the table. That prep in the wheel really added to the dish and made it a unique selection.
Service was fast and friendly, and overall the food was okay. What was missing for me was the melding of the Italian and Japanese flavors — for the most part this was a Japanese-​decorated restaurant that served mediocre Italian food; the two cultures were there but almost running parallel to each other. The food really does not compare to Italian food you can get elsewhere in NYC; perhaps that’s not the goal for the food, but its a solid 3 for me regardless. I’m glad I experienced Basta Pasta but I wouldn’t necessarily go out of my way to return.

Restaurante razoável, comida muito cara para a qualidade de que é servida!!!
A garçonete chinesa falava um inglês macarrônico (rsrs) que ninguém conseguia entender !
Não volto!!!

Ate here twice and tried to like it. I appreciated the interesting food (pasta with tobiko and shiso) and the cute modern Japanese décor (real contemporary Japanese, not Japanese restaurant Japanese).
However, Basta Pasta;
— Is crowded and noisy
— Has brusque and opinionated servers (one questioned my request for cheese with my dish, telling me I should «taste it first.»)
— Is pricey for what you get
The signature dish is the pasta tossed in a cheese wheel, which is cute the first time, but is a bit more gimmick than cuisine.
I’d say this is a fun place to go with an out of town friend but not pleasant place to linger or particularly memorable food.