Pastaio, Carnaby Street

Location: 19 Ganton Street, W1F 7BN
Cuisine: Italian
Average price: £30
Website: www.pastaio.london

Pastaio is a trendy new Italian style restaurant with aluminium windows found just off buzzy Carnaby street. Specialising in freshly made pasta (including gluten free options) combined with classic simple flavours, you will find this restaurant unlikely to disappoint.

For starters we ordered the Nocellara olives, fried mozzarella, nduja & honey sandwich and Buffalo mozzarella with olive oil, chilli & oregano. You can never have enough cheese! The Nocellara olives were the tangy favourite alongside the creamy and light buffalo mozzarella. The fried sandwich didnt quite meet my taste bud expectations. It was quite greasy and with very subtle flavours.
This was followed by the wild mushrooms tagliatelle. The fresh pasta gave the dish a rustic look and more of a bite while the sauce featured a distinctive lemon flavour alongside the creamy mushroom. Having eyes much larger than my stomach, i at first thought the portion was quite small – however after cleaning the plate of every morsel i could just about make room for dessert.
The orange & saffron cannoli was a generous size and quite rich. The flavour from the orange was slightly overpowering for my taste but was exceptionally enjoyed by my friends.

Pastaio is great for a casual evening out. Its long shared tables are particularly accommodating for large groups. However as they do not accept reservations, make sure to arrive early.