First Look: Pasta Wafu, a Japanese Pasta Joint by the Ume and Banksii Teams, at Sydney’s Newest Food Precinct

It’s finally here. Almost two years after we broke the news, the Ume-Banksii (Kerby Craig, Hamish Ingham and Rebecca Lines) Japanese pasta collaboration is open and it’s exactly what chef Kerby Craig promised us it’d be. Fresh pasta made every day, inspired by wafu traditions – the Japanese reinvention of Western recipes.

There are five options, all $14 or under. Some of them, like the mentaiko spaghetti with marinated cod roe and nori, are just like what you’d find in Japan. Others – such as the miso-enriched bolognaise topped with fresh shiso, and the kinoko spaghetti with miso-butter mushrooms and a buttery shio-koji (a seasoning made from salted and fermented rice) sauce – are more loosely Japanese-inspired.

“Tomato and parmesan are really high in umami; if you think about spaghetti bolognaise it’s an umami bomb. For me it's just a natural progression to use mirin, sake, dashi and miso instead of adding tomatoes or red wine,” says Craig, who is also behind Ume Burger and the Japanese-Mexican fusion food at Redfern Surf Club.

All of the pastas are simple and petite, and there’s an eight-strong list of sides such as parmesan, nori, onsen egg and bacon to add extra texture, punch or mass. “We have cheese as an extra; a lot of Japanese ingredients are very soft. If you put cheese on an uni pasta it will completely dominate it.” There’s also Tabasco and shichimi (a Japanese seven-spice blend, usually with chilli). “That's super Japanese, they love Tabasco with their pasta. It's crazy,” Craig says.

It’s reminiscent of the spicy fried noodle dish mee goreng, just far more nuanced. That’s because of the softness of the house-made fresh pasta, the comparative dryness (they’re way less saucy than most Sydney pastas), the simplicity, the savouriness and the lack of cheese – just like a good pack of Indomie instant noodles.

Pasta Wafu is one of the flagship eateries in Darling Square’s Maker’s Dozen Food Hall within the striking six-storey Exchange, the Kengo Kuma-designed Haymarket building that looks like a hurricane made of wooden ribbons. Everything is takeaway, and you can have your pasta with a serve of potato croquettes, karage chicken and saké, or you can walk over to any of the other eateries such as the new Saga outpost or Bucket Boys to grab a cake and a beer.

Pasta Wafu
Makers Dozen Food Hall, The Exchange Building, 1 Little Pier Street, Haymarket

Hours:
Daily 11.30am–9pm

pastawafu.com

This article first appeared on Broadsheet on August 2, 2019. Menu items may have changed since publication.