The Best Places for a Plate of Pasta in Australia Right Now

From traditional recipes to unconventional riffs, a plate of pasta is always a good idea. These are the dishes to seek out.

It’s not often that a pasta dish begins with citrus. But when life hands a chef lemons – or clementines, as was the case for Jemma Whiteman from Ante in Sydney (Warrane) – they get to work. “We had this amazing glut of beautiful organic clementines,” she says of planning the menu before the sake bar opened in the Inner West suburb of Newtown in late 2021. “Because we had so many, I pickled them. They were so delicious we started putting them on everything.”

It wasn’t until she paired those pickles with a Japanese fermented chilli condiment called kanzuri then brought both ingredients together with prawns and casarecce pasta that she realised where the fruit’s potential lay. “The clementines are sweet, acidic and a tiny bit salty. Then there’s the richness and a bit of spice in the kanzuri. Both lend themselves well to prawns and butter, and the twist in the casarecce helps capture all that sauce.” The result is one of the most talked about plates of pasta in the city – rich, unctuous and “smashable”, as Whiteman puts it. “Whenever I sit at the bar myself, that’s what I order.”

There’s no doubt that Australians love pasta. It was originally brought to the country in the mid-1800s by Italian immigrants and it’s believed that the first pasta factory was built in Hepburn Springs, Victoria, to serve gold miners. Today, all shapes, sizes and flavour profiles appear on menus, from creative takes like Whiteman’s to a dependable spag bol or boscaiola and fine-dining spins that don’t involve wheat at all (the delicate noodles served at Saint Peter in Sydney’s Paddington, for example, are translucent strands of squid).

But old-school, “like Nonna makes” styles are still the benchmark. More chefs are honing in on specific Italian regions, sometimes so niche that they become known for a single dish. At Scopri in Carlton, Melbournen (Naarm), Anthony Scutella’s menu is mostly based on the pastas of Piedmont. His agnolotti del plin – a filled shape loaded with veal, rabbit and pork – has become a signature and Scutella believes diners are drawn to its authenticity. “A lot of people have tried to make an agnolotti like it but I think ours is probably the most genuine representation of that particular pasta.”

In Subiaco, Perth (Boorloo), Joel Valvasori from Lulu La Delizia takes his cues from the aromatics and spices of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The sugo he serves with bread is vegetable- rather than tomato-based (tomatoes are typically a Southern Italian ingredient) and fragrant with cinnamon and rosemary, which were brought to Italy by the seafaring Venetians. Valvasori’s pasta sauces, too, give a nod to the region; his ragù, for example, is basically that spiced sugo with the addition of pork and veal.

Like most restaurant dishes, chefs will mix things up depending on produce. But for aficionados, eating a favourite pasta that’s been on a menu since day one is pure comfort. “We sometimes talk about taking the casarecce off the menu,” says Whiteman. “But then we tell someone and they’re like, ‘Oh no, please do not!’ So I don’t think we will. I love it too much, too.”

More pasta dishes to try around the country

I Maccheroni, New South Wales

Cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper) is one of the great Roman pasta dishes. But while it’s delicious in its simplicity, it gets a bit more delicious when it’s served with a little theatre. At I Maccheroni in Sydney’s Woollahra the dish is prepared tableside, twirled inside a big wheel of pecorino romano. The restaurant has even started offering classes so diners can learn how to prep their own at home.

Osteria di Russo & Russo, New South Wales

On the surface, Russo & Russo in Sydney’s Enmore looks like a regular Italian spot. But chef Jowoon Oh is creating pasta dishes that fuse the traditions of his Italian training with flavours from Asia. A spaghetti might swap out salsiccia for a Sichuan-style sausage, while a filled mezzalune shape might be given a twist with XO sauce. The restaurant still serves plenty of classics, such as tagliolini with prawns and bisque and fettuccine with pipis.

Tipo 00, Victoria

Squid ink tagliolini at Tipo 00 in Melbourne

Ask any Melburnian where to find a good plate of pasta and a fair percentage will recommend Tipo 00. Head to the compact, always packed trattoria on Little Bourke Street for the inky tagliolini al nero with calamari, bottarga, chilli and salmon roe. If it’s sunny, grab a footpath table and a bottle of wine and make an afternoon of it.

Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar, Victoria

This storied central Melbourne café has been around since the mid-1950s and is most famous for its coffee. But locals know the coffee here plays second fiddle to pasta, which is served on white plates with zero fuss or fanfare. The old-school lasagne is generous and cheesy, as is the classic spinach and ricotta ravioli, and the fact that there’s often a clutch of Italian gentlemen of a certain age propping up the bar only adds to the authenticity.

Ramona, Queensland

Ramona specialises in dough, according to the website for this friendly neighbourhood spot in the Brisbane suburb of Coorparoo. That maxim sets the scene for the most important part of the Ramona experience: chef Ashlee-Maree Kent and her team hand-shape and cut every piece of pasta, from crimped and filled bottoni to rough-strand spaghetti.

Fugazzi Bar & Dining Room, South Australia

Located in the heart of Adelaide’s CBD, Fugazzi is more of a New York-style grill than an Italian restaurant but its pastas stand on equal footing with its steaks. The locally caught blue swimmer crab taglierini with chilli, garlic and salmon roe is a crowd-pleaser, as is the pork sausage fusilli with cavolo nero and black garlic. Whichever dish you choose, kick off the meal with a brilliant bite-sized mortadella and crisp salami sando.

Latteria Bar, South Australia

The laidback, retro vibe of this Adelaide cocktail bar and restaurant brings 1970s energy (there’s even a couple of sunken lounges). It’s a great place to stop in for drinks and snacks but there’s also several tempting pastas, including Port Lincoln vongole served over housemade spaghetti with garlic and chilli, and pappardelle with wild boar.

Pitzi, Tasmania

As with most good Tasmanian restaurants, produce is the centerpiece at Hobart’s Pitzi, a pasta bar created by the team behind tricky-to-get-into Italian favourite Fico. Here, the best place to sit is at the stools near the door so you can chat to the bar staff and get a sense of what’s good to order on the day. A typical seasonal offering might be tubettini with a Genovese pesto made with basil from Valley Fresh Farm in nearby Huonville. But if the menu when you visit features pasta al forno – a tubular shape baked into a rich pasta cake of sorts – order it, pronto.