I had pre fixe egg fettuccine lunch was delicious. Fresh salad greens good serviceFood: 4/5
Joel K.
Weak portions for the price. Flavor was lacking in both the chef special pasta (vongole with fish roe) and the lava cake dessert. Service was great though.Much better restaurant options can easily be found in Little Italy
Brooke O.
Their salad is just a head of romaine sitting on a plate. They didn't add "DIY" to the menu.
Tomas Roggero
Short version: come visit only once, and order the wheel cheese pasta.I last visited a couple years ago and it was 5/5 then. This time (Nov 2022):- burrata was excellent. The tomatoes and cheese had the perfect balance of flavor and textures.- the pasta was great, al dente. Prosciutto was decent and cheese wheel also great. Main course approved.- however, timing wasnt great. 30 minutes wait for burrata and another 30 for pasta seems a bit too much. Add another 30 for dessert.- desert was okay / poor. I had a flan, good taste but caramel was too watery. A friend had a vulcano, not recommended, it was completely dry. The name is supposed to indicate lava flows...- service/waiters were fine and attentive, I don't blame them for the timing issue.- drinks were probably the best of the experience.In conclusion, a bit underwhelming for the price tag. But would still recommend it if you have never been here before.
Tony R
After 37 years, Basta Pasta is still going strong. The place is hopping. The pasta of course is the star of the menu, but there are other selections as well such as scallops, burrata, octopus, tuna, etc.. The prosciutto is sliced thin, and it is lean. TheF usilli con Prosciutto is excellent and the Tagliatelle al Ragu equally good. Service was efficient and pleasant.
Evelyn M.
Came here for dinner and was pleasantly surprised to realize it was Italian-French fusion. I didn't know at first because we went as a recommendation from a coworker and I didn't really look up the place beforehand. We just got the recommended dishes (poipo and fusilli) and our friends ordered the rest. Portion sizes were perfect and our waiter was a very sweet older Japanese man. He was such a cheerful person to be around and was very pleasant to talk to. Ambiance is a little classy-- it's a white tablecloth restaurant, but my friend mentioned that it didn't feel like a fancy, stuck up/stuff collar place so I would recommend this place to someone who wants to take a date to a nice place :) Only con was that I found that some of their items were quite expensive. Don't get the vegetable dip. DO get the octopus and fusilli. Tiramisu was ok, but not the best that I've had.
Anant G.
I found Basta pasta highly overrated / not worth the price. Food 2/5: The reason Basta Pasta popular I think is the pasta in a cheese wheel dish. However I think they cook too many pastas in the wheel because I actually didn't find the pasta that cheesy / it was thinner than when I've had pasta cooked in a cheese wheel elsewhere. I also got the grilled vegetables which were lower quality than I expected for a $20 dish. Service 2/5: Nothing special but nothing bad on the service side. However I found it a bit loud / kind of hard to have a conversation with my dining partner.
Binal T.
Ok this review is only for the lack of vegetarian options on the menu and the extremely pricey food they have with mediocre taste. I basically had to customize one pasta dish to have no meat so essentially I got tomato sauce and pasta. The whole dish was bland and didn't taste good. I would definitely not recommend vegetarian folks to stop here for food as there are no options unless you like mediocre food.
Jimmy Li
Great atmosphere, flexible service, and a nice experience overall.I've visited a couple of times and enjoyed each visit. My favorite appetizer so far is the Octopus, although I haven't really tried all of them.The pasta served in the parmesan wheel, is always *chefs kiss*However, some of the other pastas have been lacking a little. Either too bland or the dish is too distracting by the added parsley.The Spaghetti Nero and its accompaniment looked good, however, it felt like it was put together just because they can. It felt like it was lacking either seasoning in the toppings or in the sauce.The Spaghetti Uova di Pesche was good, but the bare shiso leaves threw me off a little because I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be eaten or decorative. I assume eaten because it was draped all over the dish. But it was tasteless and raw, not an issue itself. But mixing it with a hot dish, it didn't seem to mesh well. The dish itself felt light, perhaps if the clam juice was also made creamier or thicker it would add to the overall taste.I hope they make improvements in the dish.
Kristy Tang
I had been coming here for over 10 years since my family brought me as a child. It used to be my favorite restaurant. One that I used to recommend to everyone. The pastas used to taste like perfection and the appetizers were great. I recently went for dinner for the first time since the pandemic. The menu has gotten much smaller than it used to be, which is a shame because some of my favorite items had been cut from the menu. The pastas I ended up ordering were not great not bad but definitely whole worlds away from the quality I had grown to expect over the last decade. I plan to visit at least once more because they used to be so great that I’m willing to give it another chance.
Amazing as always! We used to go to Basta Pasta often before pandemic and we really miss Basta Pasta. We miss Jun but we also had an amazing server, Daniel! He was so attentive, kind, nice and friendly. We will definitely be back. Thank you so much, Daniel!
Ellen C.
This place was recommended to us years ago by one of my husband'a expat co-workers who loves this place and always raves about the cheesewheel. Years ago based on his rec, my husband and I came here but my husband doesn't like cheese so I didn't get to try the cheesewheel. This time I either wanted an Japanese influenced pasta or the cheesewheel. Thought of ordering the spaghetti with tobiko but took a look at the posts on Yelp and decided against it as it didn't look as interesting. The cheesewheel was the perfect choice. Had a choice between fussili and spaghetti and ended up getting spaghetti. It was a fun experience. The server rolls over a cart with a wheel of parmigiana and mixed the hot pasta directly into the wheel to coat the pasta with cheese. They were kind enough to split one order into two plates for me and one kid. They topped it with prosciutto and basil. Delisioso. We started the dinner with scallop crudo. The sauce was very refreshing with the sliced beet and the scallops were fresh but we didn't enjoy all the different flavors. Could have done without the red pepper. It ruined the taste of the dish as it was too overpowering. The octopus was delicious and we ate every last drop.
Max Yuan
Good portions, decently priced for NYC, and tasty appetizers. The actual pastas were not that great, and the ones we had were cooked way too “al dente”
Chen H.
Hola all pasta and cheese lovers, Basta pasta has all that you need. One of the best experiences here is their famous cheese wheel.
Kammy F.
Haven't visited this place for awhile. They still have the best Caesar salad dressings
I had pre fixe egg fettuccine lunch was delicious. Fresh salad greens good serviceFood: 4/5
Weak portions for the price. Flavor was lacking in both the chef special pasta (vongole with fish roe) and the lava cake dessert. Service was great though.Much better restaurant options can easily be found in Little Italy
Their salad is just a head of romaine sitting on a plate. They didn't add "DIY" to the menu.
Short version: come visit only once, and order the wheel cheese pasta.I last visited a couple years ago and it was 5/5 then. This time (Nov 2022):- burrata was excellent. The tomatoes and cheese had the perfect balance of flavor and textures.- the pasta was great, al dente. Prosciutto was decent and cheese wheel also great. Main course approved.- however, timing wasnt great. 30 minutes wait for burrata and another 30 for pasta seems a bit too much. Add another 30 for dessert.- desert was okay / poor. I had a flan, good taste but caramel was too watery. A friend had a vulcano, not recommended, it was completely dry. The name is supposed to indicate lava flows...- service/waiters were fine and attentive, I don't blame them for the timing issue.- drinks were probably the best of the experience.In conclusion, a bit underwhelming for the price tag. But would still recommend it if you have never been here before.
After 37 years, Basta Pasta is still going strong. The place is hopping. The pasta of course is the star of the menu, but there are other selections as well such as scallops, burrata, octopus, tuna, etc.. The prosciutto is sliced thin, and it is lean. TheF usilli con Prosciutto is excellent and the Tagliatelle al Ragu equally good. Service was efficient and pleasant.
Came here for dinner and was pleasantly surprised to realize it was Italian-French fusion. I didn't know at first because we went as a recommendation from a coworker and I didn't really look up the place beforehand. We just got the recommended dishes (poipo and fusilli) and our friends ordered the rest. Portion sizes were perfect and our waiter was a very sweet older Japanese man. He was such a cheerful person to be around and was very pleasant to talk to. Ambiance is a little classy-- it's a white tablecloth restaurant, but my friend mentioned that it didn't feel like a fancy, stuck up/stuff collar place so I would recommend this place to someone who wants to take a date to a nice place :) Only con was that I found that some of their items were quite expensive. Don't get the vegetable dip. DO get the octopus and fusilli. Tiramisu was ok, but not the best that I've had.
I found Basta pasta highly overrated / not worth the price. Food 2/5: The reason Basta Pasta popular I think is the pasta in a cheese wheel dish. However I think they cook too many pastas in the wheel because I actually didn't find the pasta that cheesy / it was thinner than when I've had pasta cooked in a cheese wheel elsewhere. I also got the grilled vegetables which were lower quality than I expected for a $20 dish. Service 2/5: Nothing special but nothing bad on the service side. However I found it a bit loud / kind of hard to have a conversation with my dining partner.
Ok this review is only for the lack of vegetarian options on the menu and the extremely pricey food they have with mediocre taste. I basically had to customize one pasta dish to have no meat so essentially I got tomato sauce and pasta. The whole dish was bland and didn't taste good. I would definitely not recommend vegetarian folks to stop here for food as there are no options unless you like mediocre food.
Great atmosphere, flexible service, and a nice experience overall.I've visited a couple of times and enjoyed each visit. My favorite appetizer so far is the Octopus, although I haven't really tried all of them.The pasta served in the parmesan wheel, is always *chefs kiss*However, some of the other pastas have been lacking a little. Either too bland or the dish is too distracting by the added parsley.The Spaghetti Nero and its accompaniment looked good, however, it felt like it was put together just because they can. It felt like it was lacking either seasoning in the toppings or in the sauce.The Spaghetti Uova di Pesche was good, but the bare shiso leaves threw me off a little because I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be eaten or decorative. I assume eaten because it was draped all over the dish. But it was tasteless and raw, not an issue itself. But mixing it with a hot dish, it didn't seem to mesh well. The dish itself felt light, perhaps if the clam juice was also made creamier or thicker it would add to the overall taste.I hope they make improvements in the dish.
I had been coming here for over 10 years since my family brought me as a child. It used to be my favorite restaurant. One that I used to recommend to everyone. The pastas used to taste like perfection and the appetizers were great. I recently went for dinner for the first time since the pandemic. The menu has gotten much smaller than it used to be, which is a shame because some of my favorite items had been cut from the menu. The pastas I ended up ordering were not great not bad but definitely whole worlds away from the quality I had grown to expect over the last decade. I plan to visit at least once more because they used to be so great that I’m willing to give it another chance.
Restaurantji Recommends
Amazing as always! We used to go to Basta Pasta often before pandemic and we really miss Basta Pasta. We miss Jun but we also had an amazing server, Daniel! He was so attentive, kind, nice and friendly. We will definitely be back. Thank you so much, Daniel!
This place was recommended to us years ago by one of my husband'a expat co-workers who loves this place and always raves about the cheesewheel. Years ago based on his rec, my husband and I came here but my husband doesn't like cheese so I didn't get to try the cheesewheel. This time I either wanted an Japanese influenced pasta or the cheesewheel. Thought of ordering the spaghetti with tobiko but took a look at the posts on Yelp and decided against it as it didn't look as interesting. The cheesewheel was the perfect choice. Had a choice between fussili and spaghetti and ended up getting spaghetti. It was a fun experience. The server rolls over a cart with a wheel of parmigiana and mixed the hot pasta directly into the wheel to coat the pasta with cheese. They were kind enough to split one order into two plates for me and one kid. They topped it with prosciutto and basil. Delisioso. We started the dinner with scallop crudo. The sauce was very refreshing with the sliced beet and the scallops were fresh but we didn't enjoy all the different flavors. Could have done without the red pepper. It ruined the taste of the dish as it was too overpowering. The octopus was delicious and we ate every last drop.
Good portions, decently priced for NYC, and tasty appetizers. The actual pastas were not that great, and the ones we had were cooked way too “al dente”
Hola all pasta and cheese lovers, Basta pasta has all that you need. One of the best experiences here is their famous cheese wheel.
Haven't visited this place for awhile. They still have the best Caesar salad dressings