Eating Pasta With Chopsticks

While sorting out my memory card and at the same time doing some backing up of data, I spotted some pics taken in Pasta Zanmai restaurant. Don't seem to remember 'journaling' about this restaurant. It was ages ago, three/four months? Yeap, sometime in August.

Pasta Zanmai is the latest venture of the Super Dining group of eateries which include Sushi Zanmai, Rakuzen, Zen, Kura group of restaurants. There are now a number of branches scattered in various shopping malls. We went to the one at 1 Utama. It is situated on the ground floor of Promenade, right opposite Sun Moulin Bakery and next to Carl's Jr. It can be hard to spot as it is hidden behind the Japanese grocery shop, Shojikiya. The place is quite small with semi-circular booths in the middle.

Acknowledged as a fusion of Japanese and Italian cuisine, I was skeptical initially as I thought it was a funny and weird mingle. Upon entering and scrutinizing the menu, we were spoilt with choices of different varieties of pastas, rice and other Japanese dishes. It offers a more fashionable fare, creating Japanese pasta dishes cooked with Japanese ingredients such as seaweed, miso and sesame are liberally used here. The outcome? Well, let's just say the combination is interesting; the palate requires no time in getting used to.

The interior is appealing as it is decorated creatively with huge lamp-like structures.

The open kitchen is at the back, allowing you to observe the chef preparing your pasta.

The colourful yet informative menu.

My son was somehow attracted to this slab of meat as opposed to all those mouthwatering pasta dishes.

The dessert menu is so enticing!

The iced green tea filled in a bamboo shaped glass.

After so long, I can't recall what this is called? Something mushroom, enoki in cream sauce ...

Tempura prawns in goma. Very nice stuff, definitely the best pasta dish of the day.

Sirloin steak, sexily glazed.

Ordinarily, Italian style pasta have three bases, more or less: tomato-based (bolognaise), cream-based (alfredo) and oil-based (Olio). At Pasta Zanmai, there are currently seven bases, and growing. Apart from the three mentioned above, there are the traditional Japanese style, called wafu; sesame sauce made from grinding sesame seeds into a paste; soup-based and meat sauce.

The goma (sesame sauce) versions are very popular. The nutty texture adds a dollop of luxury to any dish and also uplifts appetite. That’s why it's their signature dish.

We Asians, tend to regard pasta as an unbearably heavy meal. But this new pasta trend from Japan is breaking that prejudice. And once you eat at Pasta Zanmai, your perception of pasta will never be the same again.

Interestingly, at Pasta Zanmai, you eat the pasta with chopsticks instead of a fork and spoon, adding to that Japanese experience.

Overall, we enjoyed ourselves a lot. I would definitely return to try the other pasta dishes. Umm, and the desserts coz this time we didn't save our stomach for the dessert, pity!