The Best Pasta Places In Auckland

Sometimes it can feel like Italian restaurants blur together a bit: Mozzarella caprese and a rustic aperitivo board usher in generously sauced plates of gnocchi and cacio e pepe, giving way to a slice of tiramisu or a glass of affogato. But these Auckland institutions have the unceasingly vibrant feeling of knowing what they are and what they do well, and are where you go when you crave something carby and comforting but also something you definitely could not make at home. Some of our favourites are simple and devoted, hedging their merits on classics done well; others are loved most for their distinctive preparations: long, chewy noodles doused in torched cheese, parmesan and truffle.

Aigo

It’s hard to know what to expect from Aigo. It’s ostensibly a noodle bar, but one that occupies a place in that particular breed of fusion restaurant: here, Korean fare is also Italian adjacent. Case in point: the cacio e pepe tteokbokki, a slurpable bowl of pillow-soft noodles with a smattering of torched cheese and truffle that gives the whole dish its unfaltering decadence. While Aigo opened in Ponsonby last year, there’s already a second outpost in Newmarket with a slightly different menu. Find yukgaejang ragu, a fusion of dark spicy, soup-like wagyu mince with daikon, leek, scallion oil and homemade pappardelle, or the spaghetti miyeokguk vongole, mixed with cloudy bay clams and a seaweed mussel broth. 168 Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby; 2/8 Osborne St, Newmarket. — Julia Gessler

Baduzzi

A stalwart of the Wynyard Quarter restaurant strip, Baduzzi has been included in Viva’s Top 50 Restaurants for the past two years, with Viva’s dining out editor Jesse Mulligan noting “this Italian-American kitchen turns out deceptively fancy food inspired by the cuisine of the eastern seaboard. Every plate is perfect and the drinks list goes deep”. Its location near the water’s edge makes it ideal for a long lunch with a relaxed feel, but the interiors are fancy enough to make any visit feel like a special occasion, with its generous circular leather booths, tiled floors and accents of gold bling. The pasta here is handmade daily and cooked to order and some standouts include the saffron and potato tortellini, a beautifully yellow pillow of goat curd-encased pasta drenched in brown butter sauce. The buttered maltagliati with duck and porcini ragu is another unmissable order, and there’s also Baduzzi’s version of cacio e pepe. Bellisima! 10/26 Jellicoe Street, North Wharf — Johanna Thornton

Amano

Bossi

A regionless but devoutely Italian restaurant, Bossi marks a midway point for fancy dining: starchy enough to feel like an occasion spot, not so starchy as to feel daunting and unapproachable. The food here aims to deliver on authenticity, with everything from rolled pasta filled with scampi, to gnocchi stuffed with mozzarella and provolone, or parcels of agnolotti paired with veal shank osso buco. There’s lasagna, too — a long mille-feuille of pasta sheets and meat, topped with palpably gooey cheese, all sitting in a bed of thin, slow-cooked sauce — and a simple carbonara of bucatini, guianciale and egg. 10 Commerce St. — JG

Cotto

Cotto is the kind of restaurant that hums even on a Monday, and is the equivalent of a cool, trusted friend. At the Karangahape Rd restaurant there are many gems: the winter menu’s maltagliati beef cheek, rich and tender; the homely kūmara gnocchi with gorgonzola, watercress and walnuts; or the ravioli, a carb mirage of beetroot, whipped goat’s cheese and dark, sweet vincotto. Then there’s the spinach and goat cheese dumplings — thick and generously sauced with sage butter — which are encapsulations of what the restaurant wants to be: satisfying and irreverent. 375 Karangahape Rd. — JG

Daphnes

With Daphnes’ recent pivot from Greek food to a menu encompassing everything its new chef Hayden Phiskie loves to cook, pasta is back on the menu, but predominantly on Sundays for the chef’s special long lunch menu, available throughout the winter months. On Sundays, Hayden has designed a three-course sharing menu that includes Daphnes’ signature charred flatbreads with various delicious dipping items, burrata and olives, and a main course consisting of a generous, and gorgeous, bowl of pasta heroing whatever is inspiring the chef that day. Some standouts in recent weeks have been the pork shoulder ragu with pappardelle scattered in toasted almonds; a beef cheek ragu with pappardelle and pickled fennel and tagliatelle with mussels, garlic, chilli and lemon. Expect the pasta to be perfectly cooked, the sauce to be deeply flavoured and the toppings to pop. 71 Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby — JT

Pasta & Cuore

This authentic Italian restaurant on Mt Eden Rd in the heart of Mt Eden Village consists of a petite dining room and a generous outside courtyard, which is particularly charming in summertime with its string lights and greenery. The pasta is handmade fresh here every day and the counter space — visible through the restaurant’s front window — is dedicated to its meticulous preparation and presentation. The pasta menu at Paste & Cuore canvasses all the classics like tortellini. gnocchi, spaghetti and tagliatelle. There’s also a daily specials menu with some gems on it. Some favourites from past visits have been the tagliatelle with crispy prosciutto, lemon zest and a sprinkling of fresh herbs, tagliatelle al ragu bolognese (one of the restaurant’s signature dishes) and a silverbeet, stracchino and ricotta ravioli with toasted walnuts and oregano. 409 Mount Eden Rd, Mt Eden — JT

Pici

A glowing hive of a nook in St Kevins Arcade, Pici is small but potent. It has the kind of menu you have confidence in — one whose shortness is directly proportionate to its attentiveness — that ranges from slow-cooked beef shin ragu with thick webs of pappardelle, to hollow tubes of ziti tossed with oyster mushrooms and gorgonzola. While everything is beguilingly comforting, order the cacio e pepe, a bowl of squiggly, doughy tendrils swimming in parmesan and pepper. On the dessert front, the cheesecake is as divine as you’ve heard: a creamy, artery-distressing slab drizzled with lemon zest and olive oil. Shop 22, St Kevin’s Arcade, 183 Karangahape Rd. — JG

Prego

Pasta and Prego go together like Champagne and caviar. There’s no other restaurant more reliable than Prego, which has been serving happy customers Italian-style fare since 1986. It’s a place where a queue begins to form on the footpath outside as the restaurant readies itself for lunch service. Families, friends, and visitors from out of town, they’re all there to bask in Prego’s particular charm: great service, buzzy clientele and reliable Italian plates, plus an Auckland celeb or two. It’s always busy here, and the restaurant doesn’t take bookings, so expect to wait at the bar before scoring a table, when you can order from a menu that hasn’t changed much in a decade. On its pasta menu, we like the classic spaghetti agioli with olives, fresh chilli, garlic, olive oil, feta and parsley, and a seafood-packed linguine alla marinara with prawns, mussels, cockles tuna and a white wine, garlic and chilli sauce. But the best part is when the waiter brings a wedge of parmesan to your table and grates a fresh dusting directly onto your plate. 226 Posonby Rd, Ponsonby Rd — JT