Pasta @ Oishii Pasta, Tenjin Inachika, Fukuoka

 

It has been a very long while since I made a post specifically on pasta. That is not to say I had not eaten any this whole time. But it is usually some simple meal near the office, a famiresu, or just some macaroni I knocked up. However, a recent shop with a lot of fanfare just popped up, and I took this opportunity to finally clear the drought. 

Oh wow, what a line!

To be perfectly honest, this was partially unplanned. While I was passing by the underground passage in Tenjin station, more specifically in the Inachika food section,  I couldn't help but notice an insane line piling up at 11 am. And it seems like they are patrons waiting for a shop with the generic name of Oishii Pasta (おいしいパスタ). While since I did not have any idea for lunch at the moment, I thought I might just join the line and wait. Little did I know, that wait ended up stretching for 45 minutes. Luckily I did not have anything planned for the day. I did end up watching baseball later in the evening, but I digress.

Petite

Being in Fukuoka, it was a non-starter that my first sampling would be the mentaiko pasta, more specifically the "ultimate mentaiko pasta" (最高明太子パスタ). It is relatively simple and has a low commitment level of 900 yen. So I thought of giving it a go. It turned out alright, nothing too spellbinding, as mentaiko did all the heavy lifting in the flavours of the bowl. 

Creamy...

A good helping of scallions added some freshness, and I can taste some melted butter between the spaghetti that was served. I have to admit that the serving was a bit small, and had to have some fruit when I arrived home to clear off any future hunger pangs. The presentation was nice though. And I was curious to try something else. 

Ok, this is getting ridiculous. 

So the next week, I decided to go there for lunch proper on a free Saturday afternoon. But this was a clear mistake, as the line this time outstretched the shop and I have to wait for over an hour. Still, I was determined in giving this place a proper review. And this time I ordered the Japanese-style carbonara. The normal serving stood for 1100 yen, but I upsized mine which lead to a final price tag of 1300 yen.

This was actually pretty good. 

I found this to be much better than the mentaiko one as it has more flavour and personality. There is more than the expected cheese, bacon, and eggs. Bear in mind this is not traditional carbonara, which uses guanciale or pancetta, and it has other not-so traditional ingredients too. So Italians who are reading this, please calm down. After all, they did mention it is a Japanese-inspired pasta. On the Japanese side of things, bonito flakes and garlic oil has been included in the mix.  

Shiny...

This led to a very interesting and punchy flavour. It is quite familiar but unusual at the same time. It was very savoury, and the bacon bits were pretty generous. The bits of garlic and also flakes of bonito give an extra dimension of texture, always a plus for me in most cases. However, I felt the textures do not compliment the overall dish well. That with chewy and juicy bacon created a very interesting bowl, but I believe this may not fit the palate of some people. Still, I was pretty hungry at the time and after a wait that was 1 hour and 15 minutes, I just gobbled down everything pretty quickly. 

The menu in front of the line. Gotta give props for the aesthetics.

This was a hard take for me. On the one hand, the locally inspired pasta dishes are pretty interesting and colourful. Honestly speaking, the food in general isn't too bad. However, the waiting time is just atrocious and although the food can be decent, it does not justify the commitment needed. Also, I do note that the dishes are too local-friendly. If you look at online reviews, most of the positive comments are from native Japanese. But the negative ones tend to be foreign customers. Do what you will with that information.  

The front of Inachika. You can clearly see the line forming from here. 

Still, the pasta here is pretty interesting and worth trying at least once. So if you have the time to spare, or you are able to visit Tenjin during off-peak hours, then why not give Oishii Pasta a chance? The address is as follows:

〒810-0001 Fukuoka, Chuo Ward, Tenjin, 1 Chome−10−20 Tenjin  Inachika  B2F