Ricco: Housemade pasta a plus, but needs a bit more

Area:  about 200m northwest of Kokusai Centre station 国際センター駅, 5 min from Unimall's Exit 10 or 12
Restaurant:  Ricco  リッコ
Map and Info:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23049715/

Hours:  Lunch 11:30am-2:30pm (Weekdays only, Lo 2pm), Dinner 5:30-12pm (LO 11pm)



The lunch menu consists of 2 pasta lunches to choose from.  The first was a mountain veggie peperoncini, the second was a shrimp and shiso tomato sauce.  Both included Japanese ingredients such as shiso and fuki.  They were both ¥815 and included a salad and baguette.  The salad was simple, lettuce dressed with a light Italian dressing.  The baguette was came warmed, toasted and unbuttered.  It however needed no butter,  and tasted just like the baguettes at home.

The spaghetti was thick and had a nice chewy bite to it.  When I asked the waiter afterwards, he indeed confirmed my hunch that it was housemade pasta.  I chose the peperoncini, so it had a simple garlic and olive oil sauce, seasoned only with salt, pepper and a bit of fresh parsley.  The fuki, with a stringy texture like celery, was an interesting addition to this pasta.  It has a flavor that is difficult to explain, but is probably one that needs an acquired taste, so I'm not so sure it goes well in this dish.  There was only one tiny slice of pepper, so there was not so much heat.  I'm not sure, but I thought peperoncini meant it should have more chile peppers in it.

The clean white walls, wooden tables, and greenery in this restaurant gave it a kind of garden feel.  The Westlife and Rihanna playing made it seem very casual.