Pasta Fresca

A few things annoyed me about our group dinner at this restaurant this week. First the waitress was Very pushy asking us if we want to order drinks. She asked we said no, just water please. She asked us ‘are you sure’ ‘mulled wine?’ ‘No thanks’ ‘glass of wine?’ ‘No thanks just water please’ ‘how about some juice?!’ ‘No. Thank you you’. When the water did arrive, it was poured in to our glasses. Now– I drink a lot of water with my dinner. I soon finished the glass and asked for a refill Twice and never got a refill. Last straw was a vegetarian at our table had ordered a vegetable tower, which has a layer of goats cheese on top. Instead, she was served with a lasagne (all our plates were served to our place without consulting what we had ordered. I usually like this extra attention to detail). She took a bite of her lasagne before the waitress realised she had served the wrong dish. A meat lasagne to a vegetarian ! She just apologised briefly. When we mentioned it to the manager, he refunded us the price of the vegetarian meal. But still, left a bad taste in our mouths

I don’t know how this place is still open after 30+ years. Service was strange and inattentive and food was not very good. We came pretty early on a Saturday evening and were seated immediately in the middle of a long banquet table. While waiting for service, a woman who seemed to be the owner told the host to move us to a different table because that table was reserved. We were moved to a table by the window and then ignored for about 20 minutes before being offered drinks. Then waited for another 20 minutes for our food order to be taken. We ordered the Pasta Fresca pizza and a pasta with seafood. The pizza had an excellent thin, crispy crust but the parma ham looked and tasted old. Their supposedly famous pasta was either overcooked (I like mine al dente), or just too soft and pasty. Sauce was nothing special but mussels were fresh and cooked just right. We would have sent it all back to the kitchen if we had been able to get our server’s attention. When we finally caught her attention to ask for the check, we waited almost 30 more minutes for them to bring it. Don’t bother!

If there was a button for zero stars I would have pressed it.
Absolutely appalling customer service from the lady who runs this.
Avoid it if you want to keep your sanity.
Women seems to have no regard for parents with babies/​kids. No changing facilities.
Save your money and keep walking to a restaurant who will treat you properly.

Bad service for a nothing special food.
Pizzas tool 30 mints to arrive and they forgot about one pizza.
Definitely a plave to add to my «don’t go places». Is not even an alternative when steps to rome is full.

I highly enjoyed my pizza. I had the one with the hole filled with salad in the middle, though I don’t remember the name of it. I liked the thin crust especially.

I have been to Pasta Fresca few times mostly saturday nights when all restaurants are fully booked. Overall, I think their food tastes differently every time and my experience the first time I have been there is totally different than today. For example, the first time I had their pizza it was fantastic almost perfect, the second and third time like any other pizza in an ok-​ish restaurant in Dublin, I tried different types of pastas, some were good and others are no good (at least) to
one of my my friends ordered pasta with arabiata souse and it was overcooked and very boring, the waitress did not bother her self to ask if the dish was ok! especially, that my friend did not eat it. Their food is absolutely not worth their prices.

Perfect location, friendly staff, delicious food. No wonder its so busy during weekends!

Not sure why they have bad reviews. We went for dinner on a Thursday night. Fresh made pasta was very good. Pizza is thin crust and done very well. Service was perfect and very attentive. We waited at the bar for only 15 min the manage hooked us up with a table outside. I recommend this place. Everyone has been very nice.

To start we were seated in a tiny doorway/​bar area to wait on our table. This didn’t bother us, nor the fact we were seated 20 minutes later than the booking we had made… it was a sign of things to come!
The restaurant was bustling upon arrival and appeared quite busy, perhaps this was the reason for the tart humour of the curt hostess who greeted us. Too busy to smile? She seemed to only exchange pleasantries with the select few. In my opinion, this lady provides poor front of house representation and welcoming she is not!
Our waiter had a face that would sour milk from the get go. He was by no means friendly and in fact, quite condescending. I asked for tap water with our order… I received it upon my third request.
When replenishing the water at a later stage, the waiter oddly poured the remaining water from my first glass into both mine and my boyfriend’s new glasses of water. Eh, don’t do this!!! Either let me finish it or just take the glass away!
Our starters arrived an hour after we first ordered them, with many tables who arrived after us getting served first. I asked our waiter would they be much longer, to which he replied they’re on the way… before even checking with the kitchen?
He then arrived some 10 minutes later with a garlic pizza bread type offering to say sorry for the delay. We ordered starters of prawns and mussels… surely the fish we ordered would have taken the same length of time to cook. Just bring us the food we ordered!!!
When the starters did eventually arrive, they brought my boyfriend the wrong one, which meant engaging with our unhelpful waiter again! Mine was a salty disappointment, the mussels once they arrived were quite nice.
After another lengthy wait our main courses arrived. My ravioli was missing ingredients listed on the menu and was not cooked very well. Chewy and unmemorable! The fettuccine was average.
I would have left before receiving the starters, however my boyfriend said we should give them a chance as perhaps they were busy. By the end of our meal he was sorry we had stayed too!
A few professional development workshops in good manners and efficiency wouldn’t go astray for the crew we encountered here. Pasta Fresca needs fresh, new staff who want to work in the hospitality industry!
Don’t waste your money on the over priced, salty, poorly cooked tripe they offer here!!!

Stopped in New Year’s Day evening. The first weird thing was they told us all the tables were full but if we waited 20 minutes they might have somewhere for us to sit. We sat at the impossibly small bar by the front door because there were not many options open. After 15 minutes they said they had a table. No one had left while we were sitting at the door so we thought this odd but did not question the host/​manager. We walked through a completely empty seating area into a ¾ full area. Hmmm. The servers working were obviously not happy about new customers because there was a lot of hand moving and yelling. The host /​manager then sat 7 – 8 other tables after us. Food was not memorable although my pasta was made fresh. Expensive too as we had a lovely lunch the same day and it was ½ the price.

Big fan of pasta so I always find it hard to downgrade any pasta dish so you’ll have to excuse any bias in my feedback.
Have been to this restaurant twice and the food was nice. I tried the Tagliatelle Al Pollo (in the cream sauce) and Fettucine Pasta Fresca. I found both dishes were quite tasty. A friend that I was dining with however ordered the Agnolotii and found it to be very «greasy».
While I enjoyed the food, the service left a lot of room for improvement which is the reasoning for my low grading. On my first visit I had intended on ordering another round of drinks but after waiting ten minutes with empty glasses and empty plates we decided to just collect the cheque instead. On the second visit (caused by starvation and the close proximity of Pasta Fresca) I happened to be washing my hands in the bathroom when a waiter emerged from the bathroom and proceed to the restaurant without washing his hands. I thought he may have another sink to use somewhere in the staff area but when I exited the bathroom within seconds of him exiting I saw him carrying a dish to a customers table. Thankfully we did not have the same waiter serving us.
As nice as the food may or may not have been, the service left a lot to be desired during my visit and is the reason I would be inclined not to return.

Pasta Fresca was fine… not delicious, not great, but perfectly tasty, uncomplicated and unsophisticated quick and simple Italian food. Was perfect for a quick meal with the kids, but for the price, delivered average (not great) value.
We tried the bruschetta (excellent), two pizzas (good) and the tagliatelle with tomato sauce (nice/​average).
Service was was timely & kind… not exceptional. The food was perfectly middle-​of-​the-​road.

Hadn’t been here in several months, so decided to give it a go last week when we were in town late-​ish.
Bascially, we just wanted an edible pizza, without lounging around for ages after, and thats what we got. It wasn’t very busy, so service was quick enough. My pizza was good, but I envied my husband who got the double cheese with peperoni. The pepperoni they use is quite nice compared to most. The sauce was lovely and fresh tasting, however, no parmsean cheese was offered.
Most the food is basic enough, not terribly exciting. Flavour can be a bit bland, we’ve been before and had some food which was perfectly edible, but just a bit disappointing.

Bland.
Over Priced on a lot of its stuff… and it’s a little bland. The soup is nice.
Staffs are friendly, that’s it. I think the owner is a lady she is very in your face (I’ll put it nicely.
I wouldn’t recommend this place for personality, or food, especially in the area that it’s in. I wanted parmesan I love cheese and all I got was a tiny bit…
Shop around, but the service is nice and a great selection of wines…

As a tourist who has been in search of good, reasonably priced food in the Dublin area for the past 3 days I was pleasantly surprised by Pasta Fresca which was mentioned as a passing recommendation. The décor and music was nice and soothing. And the owner (I’m assuming) constantly in evidence.
They had a nice selection of special price menus but unfortunately the chicken marsala was already sold out. Between us we had the chicken marengo and the beef/​wild mushroom ravioli. Both were delicious and substantial. Unlike many places, the bread was not complimentary so we had foccacia (2 pc for 2.50 euros) which was ok, had drizzlings of basil oil — not flat like I expected and could have tasted fresher, a bit oily but all in all it was a terrific meal. Cost overall around 35 euros including one glass of wine.
Lastly, the proprietor was very nice in getting us a cab back to the hotel, one that (and this is rare) took credit cards and moreover did this in the 60 seconds he claimed. Amazing — I have never seen this … or maybe he just wanted us gone — ok, I’m joking but those damn tourists!

We ducked in here for dinner last night & made use of their outdoor seating (plus outdoor heater — not necessary for the rare, balmy evening — but it felt nice). He ordered the ravioli; me the tagliatelle with tomato sauce. Both were, well, nice. Like what you might expect to taste at a friend’s house — homemade, simple — though admittedly, for the price, I was expecting something with a bit more flair or depth of flavor.
The service was timely & kind. The food was middle-​of-​the-​road. It’s cool that they make their own pasta though.

I was positively surprised. Service was good, not stellar, but professional.
The food was nice, tasted and looked nice! The dessert was also good
Prices are certainly above average, and it would not be my first choice in Dublin, but I would certainly return.

Wir haben bei unserem Trip nach Dublin eine der besten Pizzen meines Lebens gegessen und zwar im Pasta Fresca.
Wir hatten eine Pizza Margheritta die sehr schmackhaft war, der Teig ultradünn die Tomatensoße mit frischem Basilikum gewürzt und der Käse flächendeckend :-)) einfach himmlisch.
Das Personal war freundlich, unaufdringlich humorvoll,. wie übrigens ganz, ganz oft in Dublin. Das Restaurant machte einen sauberen Eindruck und die Tatsache, dass während der 2 Stunden (zwischen 15.00 und 17.00 Uhr) die wir dort zugebracht haben, die Tische immer wieder neu besetzt wurden, lässt vermuten, dass noch viele Leute meiner Meinung waren.
Für mich: The best Pizza in town :-))

Weird vibe. The woman who greeted us (owner/​manager) was crass and unprofessional. She acted like she had been doing this for years and was short on patience. She kept pushing the drinks too.
It took over half an hour to get a plate of spaghetti bolognese from the strange, older waiter. When I asked him for an extra 5 minutes to look at the menu before ordering, he said, «No.»
The food was not worth it.
Skip this place and the panhandlers who watch you eat from the sidewalk and ask for money. Yep, they are still an issue at this poorly managed place.

My last night in Dublin I decided to go off the beaten path and have a nice Italian meal. It was a nice night so I sat outside. Only downside was a couple of times we were asked for spare change by passer by’s.
We were greeted by the waiter and to my surprise he spoke fluent Italian. It was nice to converse with a fellow paison. Since I wasn’t totally starving I just had some apps. The anti-​pasto for 2 and a plain pizza is all we needed. Plus a bottle of wine. The food was quite enjoyable and it was nice to have a fun and lighthearted conversation with the staff. The antipasto was great. The pizza was no NY/​NJ style but still managed to hit the spot.
They all seemed to be Italian which hopefully translates into a nice home cooked meal. When I return to Dublin I will be going here again to try their pasta dishes.
The best part is I was able to purchase a bottle of wine to go since everything was closed and bring it back to the hotel.

I kept trying to work out «Why we were here?» during our meal. The answer came from the table behind us, a group of tweens and a Mum, celebrating a birthday. Pasta Fresca exists for fussy eaters. The menu is large and inoffensive enough for people who just want some no-​nonsense fuel, rather than a meal that’s an event.
It’s almost like the staff know this, and a member of their friendly crew is constantly hovering with pepper, or parmesan, or balsamic vinegar. They’re desperate to add even the slightest hint of flavour to the food.
Thanks for the carbohydrates, Pasta Fresca, if nothing else.