A weekday dinner favourite for so many, pastas can also be a divinely scrumptious dish for special occasions. Of course, there was a lot of variety at the places we checked in, it’s a popular age-old dish that has evolved and people have been innovative with.

Though most coffee shops and restaurants will have this, we checked in at four, which are reputed to have good ones. But if you know of any other that has a better one, let us know! Echo was good, but could have been better. The Boulevard and Coco Veranda were hands down the best, and were yummy pastas that an Italian would recommend! Pasta Hut, in Nugegoda was the last place we included in our review.

Another place known to have good pasta is M3 Café (108, W.A.D. Ramanayake Mawatha, Colombo 02). The pasta range differs every week but they almost always include a creamy mushroom and vegetable and another dish involving chicken ham cooked in a white sauce.

They don't cost much and the most you'll end up paying is Rs.250. We hope you find our ratings on pastas useful as our recommendations come from passionate food lovers! Next time you crave for pasta during   your lunch break, you know where you can head out to.

 

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	Beef Bolognaise Echo, Cinnamon Grand (No.77, Galle Road, Colombo 03)
Taste	* * * *
Price	Rs. 880 + service charge and taxe
Value for money	Average
Variety	Echo serves a variety of traditional Italian pastas, which start from Rs.880 and upwards
Overall	The beef bolognaise was served steaming hot, with a warm aroma of minced beef wafting towards us even before it was placed on the table. The pasta was very good, and flavourful although we must note that the pasta hadn’t been boiled properly because it was a bit hard when bitten into. Certainly not something you’d expect from an Italian restaurant at a five star hotel in Colombo. The minced beef was rather delicious on its own and the sauce wasn’t too watery, which made it easier to scoop up the pasta.

 

	Penne Chicken with Basil, Olives and Nut Pesto The Boulevard (No.33, Queen’s Road, Colombo 03)
Taste	* * * * *
Price	Rs. 900 + Taxes
Value for moneuy	High
Variety	The restaurant serves a Homemade Chicken Stuffed Cannelloni with Creamy Cheese Sauce (Rs.1000 + taxes), Fettuccine with Chicken and Mushroom in Creamy Cheese Sauce (Rs.850 + taxes), Spaghetti with Seafood Marinara (Rs.850 + taxes) and a Penne Arrabiata with Mushroom, Bell Pepper and Eggplant with Parmesan Cheese (Rs.750 + taxes).
Overall	The pasta was drowning in creamy, thick white sauce and this proved to be very comforting and filling. The dish had boneless chicken, sliced olives and nut pesto, all of which combined was very delicious and well worth a second visit to the restaurant just to try the other pasta dishes.

 

	Spaghetti Bolognaise (Chicken) Coco Veranda (No.32, Ward Place, Colombo 07)
Taste	* * * * *
Price	Rs. 620
Value for money	High
Variety	Coco Veranda serves a wide variety of meat, seafood, chicken and vegetarian pastas, which range in price from Rs.600 to a little over Rs.1000.
Overall	A large bowl of tasty and flavourful spaghetti, served with two slices of toasted and lightly buttered brown baguette. The bolognaise wasn’t watery and again, this was easier to twirl the spaghetti with the fork. We’d definitely recommend this dish at Coco Veranda, and the beef bolognaise is just as delicious and worth Rs.620.

 

	Seafood Pasta Pasta Hut (No.285/1/c, Stanley Tillekeratne Mawatha, Nugegoda)
Taste	* * *
Price	Rs. 450
Value for money	Average
Variety	Pasta Hut serves a wide variety of seafood, meat, chicken and vegetarian pastas which range in price from Rs.350-450, which we thought was extremely affordable given the usually exorbitant amounts in coffeehouses and restaurants in Colombo.
Overall	Tasted rather fresh and homemade although sadly, it was nothing great. The pasta was tasty but we felt that something was lacking in it and we couldn’t exactly point out what. A hearty portion, and slightly spicy, we felt that the dish could have been executed in a better manner.

 

Our Pick: The Boulevard and Coco Veranda

 

 

By Sarah Kellapatha and Nivedha Jeyaseelan