Carasau Pasta Bar

"Carasau Pasta Bar—a casual, counter-service spinoff of Carasau in Downtown Culver City— lets you mix and match different housemade pasta and sauces. Good news: you have plenty of options and flavor combinations to choose from. Bad news: we’re yet to try any that are memorable. Some are flat-out bad, like the chewy, overcooked meatballs in watery pomodoro, but most are perfectly fine, including the ricotta and spinach ravioli that’s nicely al dente but tastes like a mouthful of soft cheese. If you need to squeeze in a sit-down Italian meal while on a time crunch, head to Uovo instead. Food Rundown photo credit: Sylvio Martins Meatballs We didn’t get the mint that’s allegedly infused in these chewy beef meatballs, but we did get a hard piece of cartilage. That, combined with the watery marinara, makes this appetizer an easy skip. photo credit: Sylvio Martins Ravioli Sadly, there wasn’t much spinach in our spinach and ricotta ravioli, but the pasta had a nice al dente bite and we enjoyed it with Carasau’s cherry tomato sauce. It’s tart, just garlicky enough, and has all the texture we wish the marinara had. Malloredus Like the ravioli, these tightly folded shells exit the pasta water at just the right moment. But after pairing it with Carasau’s beef bolognese (an additional $2.50), we were disappointed to find no beef. If there was, it was such a minuscule amount we’d need a magnifying glass to see it." - Sylvio Martins