Pasta Pia Review!

October 6, 2015 by Rich - Foodie Reviewer

Pasta Pia Review!

So, its Saturday mid morning, Lou is busy doing her hair and putting her face on. I’m sitting in the lounge, with the cat, channel hopping on TV with a coffee, mulling over what to do with the day. Lou’s got her day planned. My sister is getting married in a few weeks and it’s the long anticipated Hen do today. Whilst Lou goes off for an afternoon of cucumber sandwiches and champagne, which I am sure will end up going on late in to the evening, I’m left home alone wondering what to do with the day. I’m due to go out for a couple of cold ones with the other abandoned chaps, but that's not until this evening, so what do I do with my afternoon?

I could gain myself some brownie points by completing a few of those DIY jobs which have been on the to do list for weeks, well actually more like months! How about a run along the seafront? I do like to keep in trim you know. I have to; as if I didn’t my waistline would soon needs its own postcode with all this food I eat! Maybe bake some bread? I do love a bit of baking. I know, lets pickle some eggs? I love a pickled egg and I’ve been meaning to get a batch on for ages! Gosh, the list is endless with wonderful activities! But then I realised, had I lost track of time, it's 1.30 and I haven’t had any lunch yet! I need to eat!

Normally on Saturday Lou and I would meander along the Broadway or Southend high street, picking up a bit of shopping and of course stop for a bite to eat somewhere, but I can't do that alone, it's no fun, or so I thought! That’s it I've decided, forget the diy, baking, or pickling, I'm heading out, to eat by myself!

I have driven past Past Pia on London road numerous times, and it looks a pretty interesting place. If you haven’t seen it, just head to Aldi on London Road by Chalkwell Park, and its right next door. It is a very funky looking Italian street food joint, which I have been meaning to try for a long time. But I was a little nervous; I've never eaten in a restaurant on my lonesome. The closest I have ever come to this is a sandwich and bottle of pop in Pret, but most people are there alone, so it doesn’t feel awkward. I have been to many restaurants and seen lone diners in the corner; I always wonder, why are you dining alone? To be honest, I seem more concerned over the whole affair than the lone diner themselves; they don’t seem bothered at all. So I should just shut up and accept, some people just like their own company and choose to dine this way, and why not I suppose. You only have to satisfy yourself, and that’s easy! Come to think of it, many of the most revered food critics will dine in a restaurant alone, so this could be the shape of things to come for me! But, today I had no choice, Lou was off having a wonderful time, so come on Richard be brave. With just my iPhone and Twitter for company I headed on down for lunch….’Table for 1 Please’

Pasta Pia is a cool little place. With Italian radio playing in the background, the vibe here is really relaxed and informal. Just order at the counter, where you can see all the food being prepared, grab a table, and when ready your freshly cooked food is delivered to you. The menu, is basically pasta or Piadina, hence the name ‘Pasta Pia’. Piadina is Italian flat bread served with a choice of fillings. These sounded tasty. With fillings such as smoked pancetta, sausage, egg and cheese or just simple mozzarella and rocket I was tempted. However, I needed some sustenance in anticipation of the pending beer consumption later! So, pasta it had to be. Ordering is simple; just choose your pasta, your sauce, and size, regular or large? I opted for tagliatelle, with Salsiccia. All the sauces sounded great! Homemade pesto, ragu or puttanesca to name just a few. My Salsiccia is described as Italian sausage, mushrooms and tomatoes, sounded tasty I thought. I only ordered a regular size and I’m glad I did! It arrived at my table for 1 in a cardboard container, obviously to continue the whole street food theme; it was piping hot and just enough for lunch. The large portions must be huge! The pasta was cooked to a ‘T’. Perfectly al dente with a nice bite. It was the star of the show, and so it should be in Italian food. What the Italians do so well with pasta dishes is balance. The sauce should be there just to add flavour to the pasta. It should just coat the pasta, not swamp it. These guys got it spot on. A lovely, tomatoey sauce with mushrooms and tasty sausage. Just clinging to the pasta I couldn’t fault it. Unfortunately Pasta Pia is not licenced, so its just soft drinks or coffee. Maybe that’s a good thing though. After all, I was dining alone, and I don’t want to get in to the habit of drinking alone, it’s a slippery slope from there! But a glass of Chianti would have been lovely!

My lone dining experience wasn't too bad at all, made all the better by the friendly staff and of course the wonderful food. Its super value too, £7 for a hearty box of pasta and lemonade, not bad at all. I could have stayed and sampled some of their homemade sweets and pastries, but I needed to get back. Next time I will for sure. Also, these guys are sitting proud at No1 in the tripadvisor rankings. As you may know from previous reviews I do have a few issues with tripadvisor, but, in this case I couldn’t agree more. I will definatley pop back again, and next time I will take Lou, she will love the place. I love the whole street food culture; normally you have to head up Shoreditch way to find it. Not anymore, we have Pasta Pia right on our doorstep for all our Italian street food needs!

Pasta Pia can be found at 664 London Road, Westcliff.