Bucas & Pastas has been around for as long as I can remember but it’s never been on my radar to try. Located directly across from the west end police station and next door to Kazoku Ramen, it’s easy to spot. Puzzled why I’ve never stopped by as I’ve driven by this area a millions times over the years. It’s never too late right? They’ve even been open since 1996, almost 20 years in the biz!
Three of us decided to meet up for a quick Tuesday lunch. This is a no frills restaurant – menu is up front and food is served cafeteria style. You pick the type of pasta, sauce and meat that you want and the staff scoop your order on a plate for you.
There’s a daily special (cheese tortellini when we went). I’m not the biggest fan of these types of restaurants but at least Bucas makes their own pasta and sauces fresh. There’s also a side counter where you can purchase these in bulk to take home.
We were debating what to order when one of the ladies working the front asked us if it was our first time there and proceeded to speed talk/race her way through all of the different options. Guess that’s as good as “service” gets here.
Five types of pasta to choose from (plain, Cajun linguine, whole wheat, pasticcio and tortellini) and eight sauces (sundried tomato, meat sauce, hot Italian sausage, hot creamy mushroom, four cheese, sundried pesto, basil pesto and alfredo). If you’re the indecisive type, I’m sure you can ask them to mix and match to your hearts content.
Half pasticcio and half salad ($8.95)
Dbone and I both went with the half pasticcio and half salad. I picked the creamy dill salad, which consisted of cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and red peppers while Dbone opted for the Greek salad. I didn’t get much dill flavour, if any at all. For the sauce, I opted for the sundried tomato sauce, which tasted like a generic tomato sauce. They have chili flakes and parmesan at the front counter to give their pasta some much needed seasoning.
Half tortellini and half salad ($9.95)
M went with the tortellini (ring shaped pasta) with hot creamy mushroom sauce and a side of Caesar salad. The mushroom sauce is apparently “spicy” – it had the slightest hint of heat and that’s being generous. On a side note, I feel sorry for people that can’t tolerate spicy food, you guys are missing out on the good things in life. The tortellini pasta was much better than our pasticcio.
B&P is what it is. Cheap eats but their food lacks any real depth or flavour. I don’t have any plans to come back but if you’re a quantity kind of guy/gal, they have an AYCE pasta option for $12.95.
Bucas & Pastas
http://www.bucasandpastas.com/
16516 – 100 Avenue
Edmonton, AB
(780) 496-2461
CHERRY BOB-OMBS 