Pasta is a poor Asian's Ramen

To be perfectly honest, the occasions when I have had a truly satisfying ramen are far and few in between. However, out here in the westward way the the suburbs with our derelict cars and mullet haired ethnics, there is one substitute for the lack of ramen that I am glad for.

This is of course, pasta.

The concept is the same. Topping, Sauce/Soup, Noodles. Rather than buckwheat noodles (Soba), milled flour noodles (Mein), udon noodles, egg noodles, fried noodles, soy noodles, vermicelli noodles (Phen`) and rice noodles (Pho`), you have spaghetti, fettuccine, macaroni, bucatini, etc.

So it is with the craving for ramen that I so frequently go to pasta shops for my dose of noodles and sauce, hungrily jamming wads of tomato and basil coated carbohydrates down my pie hole.

Getting together a few of my close mates, we went to a locally well known restaurant called Le Porchettas. The pasta there was quite nice, I would even say al’donte`. For the price that you are paying to eat there, the food is most definitely worthwhile. The servings are good, the sauce is robust, and the toppings are generous. I had the Carbonara Gnocchi, and the sauce to my surprise was not powdery but actually creamy and delightful. Earlier I had the Marinara Spaghetti and it too was delectable, with a health helping of seafood and impressive amounts of prawns and mussels.

As such for a mere $13 - $15 AUD, it’s quite a decent bang for buck. The shop settings are simple but effective, clearly catering for middle class faire and families. The waitress was quite attentive and friendly for a family restaurant, and even made some recommendations and stopped for a chat.

The Veal (right) was however judged by our mate to be 'dry' and 'un-inspirational'. Not surprising as deep frying a succulent steak in a family restaurant, not to mention then throwing it in the pizza oven would kill any tenderless the meat originally may or may not have possessed.

In other news (and also in code ^.^), seeing that our luncheon was a gathering of titans, it was inevitable that we would assail Mount Olympus. However, much like any Greco-Roman drama it was doomed for the inevitable tragic end. After much debate and construction about the clear and distinct lack of efficacy regarding the US Medicare system, and the poor padding made by the inadequate cover it provided, the verdict was Clintonesque, and this punter resigns to never again engage in open debate about socialised Medicare ever again.

Back to the matter at hand.
This would be my dollar for flavour pick of the week.