Basil Pasta Bar

This is a casual restaurant with currently two locations in Vancouver offering pasta dishes at very affordable price. I visited their Kits location on Yew (their other location is in Downtown on Davie). In adition to their "House Special Pastas", they have a Build Your Own option where you get to pick your own combinations of sauces, meat etc. I went with the latter option, and got a Fussili and Gnocchi. Although I did find their sauces to be a bit bland an underwhelming, I still quite enjoyed the pastas, and am very impressed by the very generous amount of meat and cheese they provide. They did appear to have overcharged me: on my receipt I noticed that there was an additional $1.50 charge for extra meat/cheese/vegetable, even though I didn't add that any of my dishes, and I did notice the cashier struggling while punching in my order into their computer. Even with the surcharge however, the total came to $25, which was still a very good deal for two plates of pasta. While I personally didn't find the portions to be as enormous as some others claim, it was still very good, and a single plate is enough to satisfy me. All in all, I was very impressed by Basil Pasta Bar, and I strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a tasty and affordable meal.

Create Your Own Pasta (Fussili, $11.40):
3.5/5
I had the pasta with alfredo sauce, chorizo, broccoli, and parmesan. The pasta was cooked to my liking, being tender without being mushy. There was a very generous amount of shave parmesan and chorizo present. I was a bit disappointed with the alfredo sauce however, as I found it to be a bit on the thinner side and under-seasoned, making the entire dish a bit bland.

Create Your Own Pasta (Gnocchi, $10.94):
4/5
I had gnocchi with pesto cream sauce, chicken, zucchini, and goat cheese. This was the first time that I've had gnocchi, so I'm not really sure what it's supposed to taste like. I can say, however, that I quite enjoyed the dumplings here. They were soft, slightly chewy, and had a good savoury flavour on their own. The pesto cream sauce was considerably thicker here, forming a nice coating on the pasta, and had a nice fragrance of basil. Although it was also somewhat bland, since the gnocchi was already seasoned, that did not bother me too much here. Again, there was a good amount of goat cheese, which was creamy and tangy, providing a nice flavour to the dish. There was also a fairly good amount of chicken.

Amazing portion sizes, lovely prices, and incredibly flavourful/well-made food. Will definitely return. I might recommend take out rather than eating in, as the seating is kind of cramped, but the delicious food makes up for that!

This is the first 5 I have ever given out and it is well deserved as they ticked off every positive I look for in a restaurant. Posh eateries with expensive wine lists are not my thing and especially not after a rainy day around False Creek. Something delicious, filling, and affordable in a relaxed setting with amiable staff is what hits the spot and Basil Pasta Bar did that to a T. On another reviewer's recommendation I tried the Penne Arrabiata and was astonished at the serving size and the amount of wonderfully melting goat cheese they brought it. The presentation was well done, not just slopped onto the plate but pleasingly plated. So delicious.
The staff are welcoming and friendly which is nice when you are visiting from out of town. The server even mentioned that she recognized me the second time I came by that weekend which wasn't astonishing but just a nice touch.
Can't wait till my son's next dive trip so I can have an excuse to go again.

One-liner: Cheap, quality Italian cuisine with all the combinations you can think of
Highlight: Penne Arriabata
Recommended for: Creative pasta lovers and value hunters
Would I go back? Yes.

Check out my blog post for the full review!