Dried sardine pasta restaurant Tasupasta opens in Kagoshima – Unique toppings available

Yoshiaki and Naoko Kuroki welcoming customers

One month has passed since the spaghetti restaurant Tasupasta opened in Usuki, Kagoshima City.

Yoshiaki and Naoko Kuroki run the restaurant. Naoko, the wife, says, “It’s a kind of restaurant where even a single person can casually come in and enjoy spaghetti.” Since the pasta is first cooked to a certain extent and then finished after the order is received, the waiting time is minimal. To make it easy for people to remember it, the name of the restaurant, Tasupasta (タスパスタ), is the same forwards and backwards. The restaurant has a floor space of 20 square meters, and the counter seats six people.

The signature dish is Niboshi Pasta (850 yen) made with dried sardines. Yoshiaki, the husband, prepares the dashi stock from 6 a.m. He uses chicken and beef as the base and adds dried sardines sourced from Kyushu and flying fish from Nagasaki. While frying the cooked pasta with the broth sauce, Yoshiaki grinds the dried fish, which he says he roasts until the smell is gone, in a blender and sprinkles it over the pasta to finish the dish. The toppings include Zeppole (Neapolitan fritters with Seaweed), Parma ham, salsiccia, and seasonal vegetables.

The restaurant also offers Special Pasta (1,000 yen) whose ingredients change every two to three weeks. Examples so far include Spaghetti Amatriciana and Pork Ginger Pasta. During the year, Rich Meat Sauce is available.

The pasta used in each dish is 2.1mm thick. “We are very particular about the thickness of the pasta to make it chewy in a short time,” says Yoshiaki. “In Kagoshima, the number of ramen restaurants serving seafood soup is increasing, but there are still very few pasta restaurants. I think eating it first is the easiest way to understand it. We hope many people will come and try it.”

Opening hours: 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Closed on Tuesdays.