Borsa Pasta Cucina is building a strong reputation as one of the most honest and authentic restaurants in Adelaide.

Situated in a long-time under-utilised undercroft of the Grenfell Centre (aka the Black Stump), it is a welcome and relatively recent addition to the city’s dining scene.

There is no steak, no pizza and no burgers.

As the name suggests, it is really all about the pasta, which is made fresh daily and dressed with traditional sauces and condiments.

Chefs at Borsa Pasta Cucina also bake their own bread and do a “weekly pig” – a full swine which is ordered in at the start of the week, with different sections served each day, from scaloppine, to sausages to roast shoulder.

The restaurant has an old-style café setting of wooden chairs and tables, red carpeted floor, exposed roof and dim lights.

Wine racks in the back corner hold a decent selection of light Italian reds, while a long open kitchen runs down a side wall and is decorated with various types of fresh pasta drying over rails.

It is quite a large restaurant where the kitchen is a showpiece, creating a wonderful atmosphere for diners as chefs busily slice fresh prosciutto from the bone, toss pasta in pans and flambé sauces over the stove.

On this day, we start with a range of antipasto: prosciutto, fresh parmigiana reggiano, air-dried beef, fried bread and some amazing pickled whitebait.

It is authentic, light and delicious. The selection of pickled vegetables packs a cheek-sucking vinegar punch and the thinly-sliced prosciutto is salty, melt-in-the-mouth goodness.

The menu, which consists nearly entirely of pasta dishes, features many favourites: tutto mare, carbonara, con vongole and bolognaise.

It is a tough choice but we settle for a traditional set of main courses: spaghettini con vongole, spaghetti carbonara and a rigatoni polpette.

The vongole is perfection – long thin strands of fresh pasta coated in a rich salty jus you can only get from the freshest cockles, which in this case are sourced from Coffin Bay.

The rigatoni is hearty traditional tomato-based sauce smothering large pieces of pasta. The pork and veal meatballs are served on the side; they fall apart on the plate and, with a sprinkling of parmesan, are the ultimate comfort food.

The carbonara is another thing altogether. It arrives at the tables on a trolley, spaghetti and pancetta in a piping-hot frying pan. The cautious waiter pours a mixture of egg and pepper and stirs quickly before sliding it into a bowl at the table.

The result is a true and lovely carbonara: no cream, no cheating, just long strands of pasta smothered in rich egg and parmesan, a little heat from pepper and a smattering of salty pancetta. The joys of authenticity.

The cost per dish ranges from $18 – $32 for mains while entrees are generally under $10.

The wine list is well priced. A nice selection of medium-bodied reds are the perfect complement to many of the tomato-based dishes, while a good bunch of whites hover around the $40 mark.

All the pasta is cooked at high heat in quick time and served straight to the table, sauces and pasta as one, as it should be.

The service is prompt, efficient and quiet. It is a good spot for a quick lunch but all too often diners will find themselves settling in for a longer session.

Pasta Cucina is operating in a very tough position in the market. Adelaide has many Italian lunch spots offering similar fare, but Borsa is Adelaide’s closest thing to a real trattoria. Its honest and even humble cuisine and service is a refreshing change.

Four out of five.

Borsa Pasta Cucina

Shop 1 Plaza Level, Grenfell Centre

(08) 8211 6572

www.borsapastacucina.com

Monday to Friday – 11.30am – 3pm
Friday and Saturday – from 5.30pm