pasta mia1790 columbia road NW, washington, DC 20009
tel: 202) 328-9114
hours: tuesday-sunday 6:30pm-10pm
what was consumed: bread, caesar salad, gnocci in pesto, pappardelle pasta in meat sauce, and wine! yum.
one of my biggest gripes about food in DC is that there seems to be a dearth of affordable italian restaurants in the city (or maybe it's my arrogance that says that i could "make it better" at home. is that true?). every time i mention it, though, there's always someone who says that i really shouldn't say anything until i try pasta mia ... to which i'd always respond with "i don't want to wait in that line" or "it's just pasta" and so on and so forth. i finally caved. and it was delicious.
c & i planned it all out. the first seating at pasta mia is right when they open, so we got in line about 30-40 minutes before (c got there first and was still behind, like, 8 people - what?). soon after my arrival, the line started to go eastward on columbia road. some people, in fact, got in line, considered their chances of getting in on that first seating, and decided to go elsewhere. when pasta mia opened their doors and we were ushered in, i could hear a little cheer coming out of my mouth (ok, so it was actually a verbalized cheer. don't judge).
c and i were seated right next to the window - wonderful seats. since we'd thought about this dinner all day long, we were already ready to order by the time our server arrived (which was soon after we sat down). a basket of bread was soon served and while it was so delicious (was it the bread or our hunger? no matter), dipped in olive oil, we had to remind ourselves that we had huge meals coming our way. our large caesar salad came next (good thing we ordered one to share). the lettuce was crisp, and was light on the dressing (just as we asked), with a hint of fish which is what (imo) makes caesar salads so delicious. so simple, and so delicious!
i'd heard that i should be patient and wait as all of the food is cooked to order. but soon after we were finished with our salad, our pastas came. hurrah! and boy, were people right about portion sizes! the mountain of gnocci and what would otherwise be a box of pappardelle pasta were placed in front of us, covered in sauce, and piping hot. yes! more please! the meat sauce over the papperdelle was generous with the meat and seasoned well in the tomato sauce. all of which was covered with cheese. and the pasta was cooked just right - not too soft, but cooked. the gnocci was super soft, maybe some of the softest i've had, but not mushy and formless - just the opposite in fact. and the pesto it sat in was light and flavorful (some people ordered the gnocci with the meat sauce - so heavy!). i've never eaten so much gnocci in one sitting. and i love gnocci! nom nom nom ...
c & i left with small containers to go (instead of the large ones that everyone else seemed to have). admittedly, this was a point of pride for the two of us. tee hee hee. and note. my (long) run the next day was awesome. yay carb-o loading!
some will say that pasta mia is their favorite pasta place in town. i can see why they say that. despite all of the negatives (i.e., waiting in that line), i can see it rising to the top of my list as well. quickly. yay carbs! haha~
online: no website! argh ... though so many people have review pasta mia (a la yelp and other sites). better that than nothing?
what was consumed: bread, caesar salad, gnocci in pesto, pappardelle pasta in meat sauce, and wine! yum.
one of my biggest gripes about food in DC is that there seems to be a dearth of affordable italian restaurants in the city (or maybe it's my arrogance that says that i could "make it better" at home. is that true?). every time i mention it, though, there's always someone who says that i really shouldn't say anything until i try pasta mia ... to which i'd always respond with "i don't want to wait in that line" or "it's just pasta" and so on and so forth. i finally caved. and it was delicious.
c & i planned it all out. the first seating at pasta mia is right when they open, so we got in line about 30-40 minutes before (c got there first and was still behind, like, 8 people - what?). soon after my arrival, the line started to go eastward on columbia road. some people, in fact, got in line, considered their chances of getting in on that first seating, and decided to go elsewhere. when pasta mia opened their doors and we were ushered in, i could hear a little cheer coming out of my mouth (ok, so it was actually a verbalized cheer. don't judge).c and i were seated right next to the window - wonderful seats. since we'd thought about this dinner all day long, we were already ready to order by the time our server arrived (which was soon after we sat down). a basket of bread was soon served and while it was so delicious (was it the bread or our hunger? no matter), dipped in olive oil, we had to remind ourselves that we had huge meals coming our way. our large caesar salad came next (good thing we ordered one to share). the lettuce was crisp, and was light on the dressing (just as we asked), with a hint of fish which is what (imo) makes caesar salads so delicious. so simple, and so delicious!
i'd heard that i should be patient and wait as all of the food is cooked to order. but soon after we were finished with our salad, our pastas came. hurrah! and boy, were people right about portion sizes! the mountain of gnocci and what would otherwise be a box of pappardelle pasta were placed in front of us, covered in sauce, and piping hot. yes! more please! the meat sauce over the papperdelle was generous with the meat and seasoned well in the tomato sauce. all of which was covered with cheese. and the pasta was cooked just right - not too soft, but cooked. the gnocci was super soft, maybe some of the softest i've had, but not mushy and formless - just the opposite in fact. and the pesto it sat in was light and flavorful (some people ordered the gnocci with the meat sauce - so heavy!). i've never eaten so much gnocci in one sitting. and i love gnocci! nom nom nom ...c & i left with small containers to go (instead of the large ones that everyone else seemed to have). admittedly, this was a point of pride for the two of us. tee hee hee. and note. my (long) run the next day was awesome. yay carb-o loading!
some will say that pasta mia is their favorite pasta place in town. i can see why they say that. despite all of the negatives (i.e., waiting in that line), i can see it rising to the top of my list as well. quickly. yay carbs! haha~
online: no website! argh ... though so many people have review pasta mia (a la yelp and other sites). better that than nothing?
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