Devika Manjrekar
The name of the place has the word pasta in it and yes, we did have pasta that night. But first, I must tell you about the beer-battered fish that we had at Toast Pasta Bar @toastpastabar I am a slave to a nice, crisp batter, and this one had me at first bite. It was crunchy, well seasoned and tempting enough to eat on its own—which would have been a waste of the juicy, flavour-packed seabass inside. It came with triple-fried chips that had everyone at the table fighting over them
We had two excellent pasta dishes, but before I get to those, let me tell you about the steak tartare. It was zesty and had a lovely texture, crowned with a raw egg yolk. Really creditable, given that they have to work with buff (water buffalo meat).
Now for the pasta. They hand-roll most of it in-house. We had the trofie with wild mushrooms and cream, which had a heady mix of flavours. The pasta had a lovely bite and wasn’t drowned in sauce. Very elegant.
The other pasta that we tried was the gnudi: two large ricotta-filled pillows that were creamy and delectable. They came in a cherry tomato, basil and Bhavnagiri chilli sauce. While the flavours were lovely, what I really liked was the texture, which retained a gentle bite.
K & I had pappardelle with the 9 hour braised oxtail ragu on our last visit and one can safely say that this guys know their pasta!
Other hits on our table were the coccoli with truffle stracciatella, truffle honey and Parmesan—an ephemeral combination of airy fried dough, creamy cheese and a touch of sweetness—and the crispy zucchini flowers. The girls with me loved the ice cream and cookies. I only took a few nibbles, but they were satisfying.
I loved the casual vibe of the place. It was packed, but the young staff were on top of their game, while chef-owner Devika Manjreker @devikambing stood at the pass with a hawk’s eye on everything leaving the kitchen. Service was well informed and fast. The food was so good that we finished each dish the moment it was brought to the table.
We went in hungry and came out happy—and as fans of the place. And I was particularly kicked to see a woman led independent place do so well despite its non high street location. 
