The succinct menu also includes a tight list of sides, some elevated versions of well-loved local food that you would recognise: Har Jeong Fritter (S$14) with pork belly chunks instead of chicken, Calamari Friti (S$15) with calamansi mayo, and a Japanese-style Charred Napa Cabbage (S$14) drizzled with miso butter, nori and bonito flakes.
They are meant to go with tipples like a Sng Muay Sour (S$12), beer on tap (from S$14 for Sapporo Beer) and sakes that Low, a certified sake sommelier, created together with 358-year-old Japanese sake brewery Yaegaki. “They were created to pair with Singaporean food,” he pointed out.
Take for instance the Yaegaki x Willin Low sake (from S$15), a perkily fruity sake with a tinge of sweetness.
“It’s necessary for spicy food,” explained Low. “The only other place that sells it is my place [Roketto] in Niseko.”
Pastaro’s first paying customer was singer Kit Chan. Low shared: “She’s a friend, and she had always said she wanted to be our first customer. When she came, she told me, ‘It feels like I’m in Tokyo’, and I was like ‘Yes!’”
