Our Latest Great Place To Eat - Pasta Fresca Restaurant
Thursday 13 February 2014
Just off Grafton Street lies one of Dublin’s most popular restaurants, so popular in fact that it has been running since 1985. The secret to its continued success is that on top of serving really delicious Italian food, there is always a buzzat Pasta Fresca. May Frisby knew back then when she first opened her doors what people wanted of a hot city center restaurant and she has been feeding the eager punters ever since. It is the perfect place to pop in for lunch after shopping in Grafton Street, or just to meet up with friends. It is likewise the perfect place for an evening out, see and be seen. It is a snapshot on any day of Dublin City life, filled with both locals and visitors.
May started out on a good premise, to offer good Italian food at good prices. Pasta Fresca was an instant hit. All of the pastas and sauces are made fresh in house every day, you can also purchase them to take home. All of the pizzas are also freshly created on order. There is an extensive menu with something for everyone from grilled meats and chicken to the aforementioned pizzas, pasta and risotto.
I am a great antipasti fan and I love the selection at Pasta Fresca. Cozze Marinara are fresh mussels in a fresh herb and tomato sauce, whilst another favourite Carpaccio is wafer thin raw fillet of beef drizzled with Extra Virgin olive oil and served with delicious Italian bread. Gamberi Piccanti sees delicious panfried prawns in garlic and chilli oil with bread for mopping up those delicious juices. The popular Calamari Fritti is lightly breaded deepfried calamari served with a spicy tomato sauce. They also do a cracking Antipasto Misto Gigante which is perfect, as the name suggests, for sharing between two people with its fine selection of Italian salami, Parma ham, fresh Mozzarella, oven roast vegetables, bean salad and olives and it is served with Focaccia.
The ‘Insalate’ selection is also great and includes a classic Caesar Salad with herb croutons and Parmesan shavings – you can add chargrilled chicken breast to this also. Caprese salad is another classic as is Insalata Rucola featuring rocket, Parma ham and shaved Parmesan drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice. I rather like the Insalata Contadina, which has grilled Mediterranean vegetables with Baby Gem leaves, a roasted garlic dressing, and Parmesan shavings.
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