Fasta offers undoctored Italian pasta
Before I start this week’s review I want to share with you some great news that I spotted last week. I was Googling Irish Food Bloggers when I spotted Top 15 Irish Food Blogs and Websites To Follow in 2022. Well known bloggers such as Rosanna Davison, GastroGays, Lilly Higgins were on the list. Number seven, gave me a shock as it was me, and because of this, I finally got a logo which you can see below.
This weeks review
One of the best meals you can have is a wholesome hearty meal with natural ingredients. These meals are good for your health and will always put a smile on your face. Seen in many different cuisines, and most importantly, their recipes have not changed.
The dishes you tend to find in your local Italian, Indian or Chinese restaurant won’t be found in Italy, India or China. Try looking for a spice bag in China, Chinatown, London or Chinatown San Francisco. You won’t be able to find it outside of Ireland where it was invented. Legend has it that it was created in 2010 by the Sunflower Chinese takeaway in Templeogue, Dublin. In 2020 the Spice Bag was voted Ireland’s favourite takeaway dish in the 2020 Just Eat National Takeaway Awards.
If you go to most Italian restaurants outside of Italy you will find Spaghetti Bolognese on their menus. This is a dish that is inauthentic and you will never see any Italians eating it. Based on Ragù alla Bolognese which uses tagliatelle, Spaghetti Bolognese uses Spaghetti in a tomato sauce with minced meat.
What might also surprise you is that a lot of the food we think is Mexican is actually American, specifically Tex-Mex. Just like Italian, Indian and Chinese restaurants offers us dishes that we assume is authentic. One of the ways to spot if a restaurant is serving authentic cuisine is to look at its cliental. If you see lots of Chinese people in a Chinese restaurant, you are in for a fantastic culinary experience.
This week’s restaurant is?
This all neatly leads me on to this week’s restaurant which offers authentic, wholesome, healthy, and hearty meals. I was not sure what restaurant or cuisine I was going to be reviewing this week. So, I started researching restaurants by using my Just Eat and Deliveroo apps on my iPhone. I quickly spotted Fasta on Deliveroo and it was a no brainer. Fasta is an Italian restaurant that offers no meals over €10. It reminds me of Sprezzatura, one of the first restaurants I reviewed which also had no meals over €10.
Fasta, like Sprezzatura offers authentic Italian cuisine, pasta,made fresh every morning. Based in Connolly Station. Fasta can be found at the bottom of the escalators near the entrance. Fasta is the brainchild of former A&E doctor Noel Reilly and his brother. The menu offers you nine different authentic Italian pasta dishes including the Ragù alla Bolognese I mentioned earlier. Any dish you order will be ready in less than five minutes, hence the name Fasta.
So what did I order?
Well, I decided to order Bucatini Al Cacio E Pepe. This is thick spaghetti-like strands of pasta with a hole in the centre. Smothered with creamy Pecorino Romano cheese sauce and a bang of cracked black pepper. This dish is one of the staples of Roman cuisine and has just four ingredients.
Fasta, are also doing a great takeaway deal. 25% discount if you spend over €10, so I ordered a coke to avail of this.
So how was my Meal?
What I ordered arrived promptly, neatly packaged and warm. I guess living close to the restaurant helps. The packaging was similar to what you might get from a Chinese or Thai restaurant.
The Bucatini Al Cacio E Pepe was absolutely delicious.
The creamy cheese sauce was tasty, and the cracked black pepper gave it something I wasn’t expecting. A nice spicy kick, which put a big smile on my face.
Being authentic, healthy, hearty, and wholesome, it ticks all the boxes. Food that will leave you happy and of course healthy.
So what did my meal cost?
The Bucatini Al Cacio E Pepe cost €9.15 and my coke cost €2. With a service fee of €0.56, and a delivery fee of €2.00. The bill came to €10.92 before my Rider Tip.
Fasta is open between 12pm – 9pm, Wednesday to Sunday and does sit in and collection or delivery takeaway. I will definitely be ordering from Fasta again and I look forward to tasting their other dishes.
Fasta, Connolly train station, North Dock, Dublin, D01 V6V6
See more reviews here.