It’s easy to walk past places every day and never venture in. 100% Pasta is a classic example, situated on the far side of Gloucester Green, on the way to the bus station.
The large Italian restaurant opened in 2024, sister restaurant to BBuono Pinsa Bar next door, and while its offering is fairly self-explanatory, and you might think we can all cook pasta at home, take it from us – not like this you can’t.
Braving the wind and the rain we popped in for lunch this week, and were hugely surprised by its offering. Because having quite wrongly filed it as a tourist restaurant, it’s actually completely the opposite – a bona fide family-run Italian business where pasta reigns supreme and made fresh on site every morning, which you can watch for yourself through the windows.
Greeted by GM Chiara Montironi, we were shown to our table in the huge open plan restaurant, immediately transfixed by the silver pans (called tegame in Italy) of pasta continually pouring out of the kitchen.
It’s not an elaborate or decadently decorated space, almost like a diner, set up for a transient clientele, diners happily eating alone en route to the bus station, or on their lunch hours, tourists and groups of friends drawn by the lure of proper pasta, a group of teenage boys all tucking in with glee.
And if you’d thought there wouldn’t be much choice, or just your bog standard dishes, you’d be wrong again. The menu is huge – so many different types of pasta, sauces and ingredients on offer that the waitress had to come back three times before we’d made a choice.
To start then, the pork stuffed fried olives (ascolane) (£7.50), the pinsa bread with pistachio pesto and Sicilian yellow tomato sauce (£6.50) and the calamari fritti with lemon and garlic aioli (£7.90). The pinsa was perhaps the most unusual, like pizza crusts served with two dips – the pistachio crunchy, sweet and salty, the yellow tomato, light and sweet.
The mains are divided into three sections; classics, filled pasta and 100% Pasta creations, so we tried a bit of everything, from the simple to the sublime – the spaghetti al pomodoro, because how better to tell an Italian restaurant’s validity than by its tomato sauce, and it was sublime. The spaghetti itself was unusual – al dente to an extreme – as specified, more than we’re used to here certainly, an acquired taste perhaps, but the sauce literally blew our minds, so we tucked in regardless with a gusto that would impress any Italian.
The tortelloni alla ‘nduja – homemade egg pasta filled with Italian sausage dressed with Sicilian yellow tomato sauce, spicy ‘nduja and topped with sun-dried tomato pâté (£16.90), the rich, peppery sausage filled pasta parcels heavenly, again the sauce that shone; vibrant, and strong with a hint of cream and a hit of chilli.
And after much debate, the tagliatelle al ragu with a rich Bolognese of slow cooked (six hours) beef and pork, soffritto (the veg mix you use in bolognaise), wine, Sicilian tomato sauce, parmesan and basil (£14.90), which was so good it sadly eclipsed all our best efforts at home.
The tiramisu had just the right amount of ladyfingers soaked in coffee, mascarpone cream and cocoa (£8) and the deconstructed cannoli Sicilian scomposto – the crispy pastry shells with the sweet ricotta cheese on the side, topped with pistachio granules.
Done and dusted, replete and impressed, we now know never to judge a book by its cover. So next time you fancy a stunning plate of pasta, you know where to head.
And the good news is that there are plans afoot to open a deli at 100% Pasta, so soon you’ll be able to sample their pasta and incredible sauces for yourself, even in the safety of your own home. Buon appetito!
100% Pasta is at 100-101 Gloucester Green, Oxford OX1 2DF. https://www.100percentpasta.com
