Pino's Fresh Pasta

Food

I've heard such good things about Pino's from when I used to work at St Leonards, that on this Public Holiday Monday, when our first 2 lunch choices were closed, we decided to give Pino's a try.

Pino's is a very basic cafe/trattoria, serving pasta, paninis, focaccias, cakes and coffees, and that's it. Seeing the place was called Pino's Fresh Pasta, we decided to give their pasta dishes a go. About 5 minutes after we ordered, our pasta arrived, so it means everything was just reheated in the microwave. The Spinach and ricotta Ravioli with Gorgonzola sauce ($8.90) came with big plump ravioli, with great pasta but very plain and tasteless filling, drowning in a bitey blue cheese sauce. A sprinkling of not fresh Parmesan fails to lift the dish. The Fettuccine with Boscaiola sauce ($8.30)'s pasta was more al dente, but alas, the Boscaiola sauce tastes like milk and flour, with no depth of flavour whatsoever. All in all, it wasn't the best pasta experience, but passable for a quick lunch feed. What I cannot forgive though, is the sin of drowning their pasta in sauce too.

Apparently the coffee is good, but I didn't try it on this occasion, so the advice is? Despite the name, stick with coffee and cake, and give the pastas a miss.

Rating - 5

Atmosphere

It's basically a hole in the wall, with only a couple of very small outside tables available. However, it's not really a eat and go sort of place, with people who linger over coffee and discuss all facts of life. The people next to us were having a very intellectual conversation on politics. Another table had 2 grannies enjoying a leisurely lunch, and a family was working through Spaghetti Bolognese on another.

On this sunny day, it was a good place to pass the time, if you ignore the traffic.

Rating - 2

Service

You order and pay at the counter, and they deliver their food to you. The lady was helpful and explained to us the different pasta options, and their service was certainly quick - not really a good thing in this case.

Rating - 3

C-factor

Great place for coffee and a catch up, if you're lucky to snatch a table, but for lunch? You can do a whole lot better for your money.

Rating - 0

Brownie Points - 10

Info

2 Clarke St
Crows Nest
NSW 2065
Phone (02) 9439 3690