“Italian Bar QUATORZE” in Sakaisuji Hommachi

Today’s lunch was at “Italian Bar QUATORZE”, an italian restaurant in Sakaisuji Hommachi.
The interesting thing about this place is that they seem to have translated the spanish tradition of enjoying small meals with beer or wine and converted it to italian sensibilites.
Their main selling point is their cheap, yet extremely filling, lunches, including one of two delicious pasta choices that change from day to day.
For my lunch, I decided to go with the “Sicilian,” an eggplant and bacon pasta with tomato sauce.
Going into the shop, I’d heard their portions were generous… but nothing I’d heard prepared me for the real thing!
Sure, the bowl itself was about the average diameter of any bowl, but there had to be a million noodles in there!
Want to know how I could tell?

Because the bowl was so deep!
All it took was one look at the bowl, and I knew… well, I knew I was in for a challenge. （＾＾；

Let’s start with the tomato sauce. Not too sweet, and not too sour, and packed with all the flavors of Italy, it was the kind of high-quality product I’d expect to see from an authentic italian restaurant!
Needless to say, though, the last half of the bowl was proving to be a challenge with all of those noodles…

But thankfully, a generous helping of grated cheese was ready to save the day! （＾＾ Mmm, delicious fresh cheese. You’ve got to love it!

Including a tasty peppered salad, this daily pasta special came up to the low, low price of 600 yen!
What a bargain!!

The restaurant might be tricky to find, but you’d never mistake this chalkboard menu for anyplace else. Well, that or maybe you could follow the huge line spiraling out the door at lunch time! （＾＾

Counter-seating only.
Their dinner offerings looked delicious, affordable, and most importantly, filling—especially the pizza!
I’m definitely going to check out their dinner menu some time!