Hello, I am the humble servant of the intellectual gourmets, "The Solitary Gourmet ☆". When it comes to food, some people say "as long as it tastes good, it's fine." But what exactly do they mean by "taste"? It's not easy for most people to answer that question right away. I believe that the definition of "delicious" and "tasty" is often vague in their minds. If the person is only referring to the umami components when they talk about "taste," then in extreme terms, we could just survive on complete liquid food like space food. But I'm sure you wouldn't like that, right? This means that, although there may be individual differences, we are all looking for something other than just umami. This logical progression is okay so far, right? Oh, you couldn't answer right away earlier, but now that it's explained, you understand? That's what they call a "Columbus egg." Okay, let's continue. In the world, there are many people who include not only umami components in their definition of "taste" but also factors such as "presentation," "interior design," "service," "public reputation," and "chef's background." In many cases, these factors may dominate the person's idea of "taste." I take an approach of "yes or no" to everything, and probably due to some abnormality in my frontal lobe, I don't pay much attention to things like the chef's background in my reviews. I try to judge things based on my own eyes and senses, so my approach to tasting food is similar. If I can feel and appreciate the taste, texture, and balance of a dish, as well as the overall flow in a course meal, I am usually about 80% satisfied. Therefore, I prioritize taste, texture, and flow over other factors in my reviews. I have had a certain level of experience in cooking and have consciously and actively consumed delicious food since childhood, which is a privilege reserved for connoisseurs who have experienced such wonderful things. However, there are also many drawbacks to pursuing gastronomy and culinary arts, but that's a story for another time. [Scene 1] "The Solitary Gourmet, I would like to experience the authentic pasta from Northern Italy that you often talk about. However, as a company employee, I cannot afford to travel to Switzerland or Italy, and I feel embarrassed to go to 'origami' in Omotesando alone at night. Do you know of any restaurants where I can enjoy authentic and delicious pasta more casually?" [Scene 2] "The Solitary Gourmet, I have been running 'Base' in Myogadani for 8 years now, but I haven't had any encounters with women and it's not very profitable. I'm thinking of going to the United States to make a fortune. What do you think? I'm sorry if I suddenly close the shop." >1 Well, it's not that easy to have such a wonderful experience so easily... >2 Going to the U.S.? Oh, that's been featured in various media and by celebrities in recent years, right? Wasn't it effective at all? Indeed, for some reason, everyone keeps talking about the owner's background and business style, but they don't mention anything about the taste of the food. It's rare for someone to have a thorough experience of authentic pasta to be able to compare it with their own taste. Even though famous people featured on TV and in magazines are well-known, their comments on the actual dishes seem shallow, which may be why they don't have much influence on attracting customers. But still, going to the U.S. is not a good idea. Ah, it's so complicated, let's just match both scenarios together. Now, the restaurant is located down the busy street of Myogadani, turning right after coming down from Yutatezaka. Take a look at the exterior of the restaurant. I love the appearance of this place, like a stylish soba restaurant. It's inside ===========

At first glance, the exterior doesn't look like a typical restaurant. I passed by it once. The inside is clean and you can see where they make the noodles. I wanted to see them in action. They only have two pasta dishes on the menu. The thin, flat pasta was a new experience for me. The owner may seem gruff, but they are very considerate and I didn't feel uncomfortable. I would like to visit more often if they had a few more menu options!

The customer service, as mentioned in other reviews, is quite blunt and somewhat rough. The prices are high, but it's unclear if the owner is really interested in making money from dine-in customers. The flavor is delicious with a strong taste of wheat flour. Since there are only a few seats, it's best to go right after opening if you want to make sure you get to eat there.

On Saturday, I was staying at home, which was unusual for me. I had some cheese, potato chips, and leftover red wine for lunch, and ended up taking a nap without realizing it. When I woke up, it was already evening and dark outside. I thought about going to Saizeriya for dinner, but I wanted to enjoy this luxurious feeling a bit more. I hesitated for a while, but then decided to try going to Base. Despite the light rain, I made my way to the restaurant. It was open but empty, so I had the place to myself. I ordered my usual pasta with no toppings and white wine. I ended up having two glasses of wine and the total bill was around 3,000 yen. I had a great time chatting with the staff about alcohol. It was enjoyable and delicious. Thank you for the meal!

Today's lunch was at this restaurant. I heard from a friend who loves pasta that it was delicious, so I decided to visit. The owner of this place, Sfoglino Kosaku Kawamura, learned handmade pasta at the pasta school "1 day La vecchia scuola bolognese" in Bologna, Italy, and was in charge of pasta making at the local restaurant "Ristorante Garganelli". He later returned to the pasta school and served as an instructor for the professional course. After returning to Japan, he opened Kawamura Seimenjo. In 2012, he was involved in the opening of the Italian restaurant "BUCATO" in Los Angeles, USA, and returned to Japan in 2014. In 2015, he opened the authentic handmade pasta workshop "Base". He won the 2007 Ripieno Nuovo (Bologna, Italy), was the runner-up in the 2008 Matterello d'oro professionista (Bologna, Italy), and won the 2013 LA WEEKLY Best Pasta Restaurant award (Los Angeles, USA). In Bologna, those involved in pasta making are called by two names. One is "Pastaio", which refers to those who use machines to make pasta, and the other is "Sfoglino", which refers to those who make pasta completely by hand using a Matterello (rolling pin). The menu offers two types of pasta. Today, I had a very simple pasta with olive oil, Parmesan, and black pepper for 1600 yen. It was delicious, and the flavor of the noodles came through beautifully. I also tried the Tagliatelle with ragu for 2600 yen, which was also very delicious. Thank you for the meal.

The storefront is so simple that you might miss it if you don't know it's there. I like it. When you order pasta, the area where they cook it is made of glass. As soon as you enter the restaurant, the master asks, "We only have pasta, is that okay with you?" Yes, of course, that's why I came here. So I take a seat. There is one two-person table and three seats at the counter. It seems like the master is running the place alone, so this size is just right to keep things running smoothly. The space for cooking pasta seems bigger than the seating area. I like that attention to detail. I asked to sit at the counter, but they said a table was fine. The menu is very simple. Pasta with olive oil and pepper seasoning, and pasta with meat. Only these two options on this day. I ordered one of each for myself and my companion. And also, apple juice. (My companion really likes apple juice.) First, the simpler pasta arrived. It was thin and flat, but when you bite into it, it's chewy and has a nice wheat aroma. The olive oil is rich, and the pepper adds a nice touch. It's really delicious. I could eat endless plates of this. Maybe not endless, but two plates for sure. Next, the pasta with meat arrived. The meat flavor couldn't outshine the greatness of the pasta, so I prefer the plain one. Just pasta with olive oil is perfect. I'd love to try different flavors with this pasta. I wonder if the menu changes. I want to go back again. P.S. It's so simple that it doesn't fill you up, so my companion had a second lunch afterwards.

I happened to see a review of a restaurant that I really wanted to visit. When I came in August, it was closed for the month, but I was able to visit due to a friend's recommendation. Upon arriving at the restaurant, I saw an open sign but no one was there. The room along the street seemed like a pasta classroom, and going through the right door led to the dining area. There, the owner was sitting in a bar-like atmosphere. As mentioned in other reviews, he greeted us with the phrase "We only have pasta, is that okay?" The atmosphere may be intimidating if you don't know in advance. The information mentioned that the pasta portions were small, so I ordered two dishes of tagliatelle pasta, tagliatelle with ragu, and an apple juice. The apple juice had a strong sweetness from the apple fructose, and it was delicious. The first dish was tagliatelle, with thin flat noodles topped with cheese, olive oil, and black pepper. I was amazed by the thinness of the pasta yet the chewiness it had, along with the perfect balance of cheese, olive oil, and black pepper. It was a unique experience to taste such a simple yet flavorful pasta. The second dish was tagliatelle with ragu, which had a refined flavor and a perfect balance of Parmesan cheese aroma. The owner, who initially seemed reserved, turned out to be quite talkative. He had been at his hometown for all of August due to personal reasons. He truly had the qualities of a craftsman, and his talent shone through. This restaurant may not be for those seeking extravagance, as it caters to a specific audience. I will definitely visit again. Thank you for the meal.

Pasta only restaurant. They have a special dedication to pasta. Even the Bolognese dish puts the noodles in the spotlight. The hand-cut tagliatelle stands out for its sweetness, good texture, and melt-in-your-mouth quality. The pasta is very delicious, and I wish I had tried all the varieties on the spot. I should have come earlier. What I had: Tagliatelle Bolognese 2300 yen.

This is a pasta restaurant in Myogadani. It's a bit far from the station, but I was curious so I decided to visit. The restaurant is very stylish, both inside and outside. You can see the pasta making station from outside, which is a distinctive feature. The interior is simple and sophisticated. It feels like the pasta served here is the star of the show. When you enter the restaurant, you are told that they only serve pasta, but I had done some research beforehand so I was prepared. The chef is handling everything alone. At first glance, the chef may seem intimidating, but he turned out to be a friendly and talkative person (It may be a bit tricky to explain, but as long as you don't mistake yourself for a god when entering, you should be fine). They offer only 3 types of pasta, all without any additional ingredients. It's a place where you can enjoy the simplicity of the pasta itself. I ordered the pasta with olive oil, pepper, and Parmesan cheese. It had a simple yet delicious flavor. The aroma of the wheat, the fragrance of the olive oil, the saltiness and richness of the cheese, and the accent of the pepper - that's all there is, but it's tasty. Not recommended for those who prefer strong flavors or enjoy junk food. They also have wine on the menu.

It was a little after 12:30 on a quiet Wednesday afternoon near this shop. I got the warabi mochi from Ikkokuan and then went here for lunch. The exterior of the shop only showed a room that seemed to be a noodle-making area, giving off a somewhat intimidating vibe. I decided to go in, and found myself facing a hallway with the noodle-making area visible to the left. The seating area seemed to be behind a door at the end of the hallway. Upon opening the door, I entered a slightly dim room with tables in front of me. To the left, there was a counter with seating for three. The owner was inside the counter. They asked if I was okay with only having pasta, to which I said yes. I ordered the flat pasta with olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and pepper for 1300 yen including tax. The drink options were limited to wine, beer, and apple juice, so I chose the apple juice for 600 yen including tax. The pasta arrived quickly, and its thinness was noticeable as the fork was almost visible through it. The texture was unique and difficult to compare to anything I've had before. The taste was very simple, almost too simple that it made me crave for some side dishes. The owner, who was wearing a mask, seemed to be a handsome yet intimidating person. After paying, I realized there was a mistake in my change, and the owner ran to give me the correct amount. Despite the intimidating appearance, the owner seemed like a kind person. I would like to try other items with simple flavors in the future. Thank you for the meal! 🍽️

It's about a 15-minute walk from Myogadani Station. I visited during the weekday opening hours, so there were no other customers. I usually prefer dry noodles, but I decided to visit this restaurant, where they learned hand-made pasta in Italy, in order to experience the charm of fresh pasta. When I entered the restaurant, I was asked if I was okay with pasta without any toppings. They also encouraged me to eat quickly when the dish was served. Despite the somewhat cold service, the pasta was delicious. We ordered the following dishes: - Pasta with olive oil, Parmigiano cheese, and pepper only: 1,300 yen - Tagliatelle with ragu sauce: 2,300 yen While the fresh pasta itself didn't impress me much, the sauces were incredibly delicious. It's amazing how something so simple can taste so good. Thank you for the meal.

The pasta at Sforino is truly delicious. The simple thin tagliatelle noodles that are well coated in oil or sauce, along with the cheese-stuffed pasta in sage butter sauce, are flavors that are hard to find elsewhere. If there were a few more simple salads or appetizers, it would be perfect. Thank you for the meal.

Barze is a place where you can enjoy artisanal hand-made pasta that is also supplied to restaurants. It is located an 8-minute walk from Myogadani Station and opened in 2014. You can see the hand-making area from outside the shop, while the seating area is located towards the back. Upon entering, the sharp-eyed owner will ask, "Would you like pasta without any toppings?" This creates a sense of tension but also heightens expectations! ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ◆ Food ◆ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ [Tagliatelle in bianco - Pasta with olive oil, Parmigiano cheese, and black pepper] Price: 1,300 yen (tax included) Light, smooth, and velvety. It has a pleasant touch on the palate. The seasoning is perfectly balanced and consistent throughout. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ◆ Ambiance & Service ◆ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The seating area is stylish and compact. The service may be a bit tense at first, but it becomes more relaxed as you engage in conversation. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ◆ Summary ◆ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The taste is exceptional. It is undoubtedly one of the best pasta dishes I have had this year! I wanted to try another pasta dish, but unfortunately, it was sold out. I hope to try it someday! In conclusion, Barze is a place where you can savor finely crafted hand-made pasta.

I went to see cherry blossoms at Koishikawa Botanical Garden and Hanasaka Hill over the weekend and had lunch at a restaurant nearby Hanasaka Hill. The surrounding restaurants were crowded, so I decided to try this place a little further away. I arrived 10 minutes early and the restaurant opened shortly after. The owner asked if I was okay with pasta without any toppings, and I agreed. The restaurant had a noodle-making workshop area in the front and a dining area in the back. There were only 5 seats in total - 3 at the counter and 2 at the tables. I sat at a table. There were only 2 types of pasta on the menu, so we ordered one of each. The owner explained that they couldn't serve both dishes at the same time. - Olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and black pepper pasta: Thin flat noodles with a delicate texture. The flavor was simple, with only the saltiness of Parmesan cheese and the fragrance of olive oil, allowing me to fully enjoy the texture and flavor of the noodles. - Tortelloni (filled with three cheeses and spinach, sauce: sage butter): I was advised to eat it in one bite, and the chewier texture of the pasta allowed the flavors of the cheese and spinach to spread. The seasoning was very light, with a hint of sage butter. It was a refined pasta dish that couldn't be masked by the sauce. The owner spoke in a deep voice and had a somewhat blunt manner, which made them seem unapproachable. However, they were seen chatting and laughing with two women who entered later, so they didn't come across as intimidating. With only these two pasta dishes on the menu, it shows the confidence of the restaurant. Overall, I had a unique pasta experience that I couldn't find elsewhere. (Bonus: Cherry blossoms at Koishikawa Botanical Garden and Hanasaka Hill)

Unusual restaurant and pasta. Olive, cheese, and pepper pasta for 1,200 yen. A pasta with a refreshing texture. It's like a thin somen or wide Inaniwa udon. You can taste the flavor of the noodles because only olive, cheese, and pepper are sprinkled on top. The manager looks quite intimidating.

◎Time: Saturdays at 5:30 PM, no waiting ◎Order: Pasta with only olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and black pepper. Dish: Pasta with three cheeses, spinach. Sauce: Sage butter ◎Access: 8 minutes walk from Myogadani Station ◎Interior: 3 counter seats, 1 table seat ◎Note: A shop where you can feel the dedication of the noodle craftsman. Early bird gets the worm.

I experienced "pasta without ingredients" for the first time. "Base" in Italy, Bologna, offers noodle-making classes, wholesales to restaurants, and eat-in services to pass on the tradition of handmade pasta. The owner studied handmade pasta at a pasta school in Bologna, acquired noodle-making skills, and then became a course instructor before opening "Kawamura Seimenjo" in Japan. The entrance to the dining area has double doors, which made me a little nervous. The front room is a classroom where you can learn authentic handmade techniques. The back room has a small space with one table and three counter seats. When I entered the restaurant, I was asked right away, "Pasta without ingredients, is that okay?" I visited at 12:00 and there was already one foreign customer and one woman who seemed like an office worker, so I was the last customer to enter. The menu consists of two simple items: "Tagliatelle (olive oil, cheese, pepper)" and "Tortelloni (stuffed with three cheeses and spinach, with sage butter sauce)". This time, I ordered the former. I wanted to chat a little, but I decided to read a book until the dish arrived. It was served in about 10 minutes. The flat pasta was coated with flavorful, smooth olive oil, sprinkled with powdery Parmigiano, and generously seasoned with spicy black pepper that coated the noodles well. The "saltiness" was just a touch of decoration. Enjoying the refined beauty and leisurely pace of the pasta, like a clear river, was a blissful 15 minutes. It was so delicious that I realized it was gone before I knew it. I wanted to order another dish, but as I'm not a bourgeois who can spend over 3,000 yen on a weekday lunch, I decided to come back another day. I rarely cook this kind of pasta at home (or rather, I don't have the skills), so it was a very valuable opportunity. Thank you for the meal.

In Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, there is a hand-made pasta restaurant called Base. They only offer two types of pasta, and there are no additional toppings. It may sound unusual, but it was really delicious! I tried the Tagliatelle in Bianco, which is pasta with olive oil, Parmigiano cheese, and black pepper only, and the Tortelloni with three cheeses, spinach, and sage butter sauce. Both dishes were amazing!

I wanted to go to a pasta restaurant without any toppings, but I kept checking their website schedule every day and thought the dates didn't match... Turns out I was looking at it wrong (^-^; There are surprisingly a lot of eateries around, and I followed a company employee during their break, thinking it was a bakery and walked past the shop. I wandered around a bit since it's not an area I usually go to, but they serve their dishes incredibly fast, so even if you're short on time, you can rest assured. The pasta with just oil, cheese, and pepper is my first time trying it, so I can't compare, but the simple taste is so delicious that I think the noodles must be amazing. The portion size... it might seem small, but I think they usually have toppings, so that's also hard to compare. If you want to have tea after eating at Hanba-zaka, the portion size might be just right. I want to try another dish next time.

I went to this restaurant after seeing it on Tabelog and I was intrigued by the master of the shop, who turned out to be even more interesting than I had imagined. When I entered the shop alone, I was surprised by his stern expression! I didn't have any change to park in the parking lot, so I nervously asked, "Can you make change?" and he exchanged it for me with a scary face. From there, he told me many unexpectedly funny stories. The pasta didn't have any toppings, but it had a gentle hand-made flavor with a good taste of olive oil. Next time, I want to go when I can enjoy it with some drinks.

Everyone, as mentioned, the owner (more like a chef) is extremely unfriendly when you call. In my past memories, this place in Kagurazaka surpasses that top of Tokyo. That being said, I personally like chefs with an artisan spirit, so I visited with excitement from Myogadani Station. The first thing he said when we entered was in a small voice, "We only have pasta with nothing in it..." Internally, I was like, "This is it! I've been waiting for this!" and responded with, "Of course." I sat down while feeling excited alone, and of course, I waited while sipping white wine. The pasta that came out was indeed delicious. The flat tagliatelle was thin yet had a good elasticity, making me think how wonderful it is to make this by hand. While there was only a faint taste of pepper and cheese, the enjoyment of the pasta's flavor and texture was like being at a soba noodle shop. There is still so much potential in how to spend time during a meal. Next to me, a conversation about alcohol started between what seemed like regular customers. The content was so rich that it's a shame it can't be written here. It was a more intense time than expected.