A fast pasta meal doesn’t have to equate to a nasty bain marie pasta. Sauced pasta bar is going after the casual market, but the seating area is much like a regular restaurant. The concept is simple: pick your sauce, pick your pasta, order at the counter and the kitchen will put it together for you. There are extras you can add to your paste, and other sides, appetisers and desserts you can indulge in.

Wanting to try a traditional version for once, we pick the carbonara with egg, pancetta, spring onions and fettuccine. I’m not sure if the carbonara could really be classified as traditional, as it still has a lot of cream, but it was still tasty.

Our Marinara Aglio Olio spaghetti with scallops, prawns, calamari and white fish is a nice and simple pasta with fresh seafood. The osso bucco red wine ravioli sounds enticing, so we order some and pair it with the Amatriciana, which includes pancetta, Napoli, spring onion and chilli. The osso bucco is finely minced, making for a smoothly textured bite all round, and the spicy tomato-based Amatriciana goes very well with it.

Certain options at Sauced seem to be on the higher end of the price scale for a casual restaurant, though they still provide reasonable serves. Their Camberwell branch is directly opposite the venerable Sofia’s, where the pasta is cheap and servings are humongous. The lighter, fresher sauces at Sauced are ones I wouldn’t mind returning to.

Sauced Pasta Bar
700 Burke Rd
Camberwell, VIC, 3124
saucedpastabar.com/