Cascina Spinasse

Quick recap:

- Food: Good
- Portion size: Average
- Service: Table Service
- Environment: Classy italian restaurant
- $: High
- Perks: N/A

Overall?
Classy restaurant. For pasta, you have to be into angel hair and a lot of butter. Expensive.

More details:
We went there for dinner. For whatever reason people rave about that place and we were pretty excited to try it out. Being italian, I had high hopes. Well, the flavors are there, it is indeed savory, but the pasta was overcooked in my opinion and so fatty... it was also pretty pricy: Tajarin con burron e salva were $30, and the small portion (read half portion) of al ragu was $18. I personally would not go back.

Spinasse is a casual and cozy Italian restaurant that has a unique and simple take on pasta. Their noodles are so thin (in a good way) and it just MELTS in your mouth! The sauce is also creamy but not overly creamy, and I love that their food is not over salted. Don't forget about their other non-pasta dishes too - we ordered the fish and I think it was actually one of my favorite dishes of the night. The service is very good. This is a spot I would definitely return to every time I visit Seattle.

The fact that this is Seattle's most celebrated Italian restaurant just shows how bad this region really is at producing Italian food. It took me an hour and a half to get four slices of tomatoes sprinkled with salt and a ball of greasy pasta that tasted like beef fat. Yes, I know it's supposed to be so much more special than that, but this was my end result . Like most places in Seattle these days, the service staff is slow and aloof. The chef and foh manager seemed clueless to or really used to the extra long timing of everything. Other tables around me seemed like they couldn't wait to get the hell out of the place just like I did. One couple next to me asked the bartender for a to-go box then sat for about 6-8 minutes as she continued to make a few drinks before making sure they were tended to.( how hard is an aperol spritzer to make?). Not worth the calories, time or prices. I doubt I would go back.

We came here for dinner last night through a recommendation from a friend.

The Italian dishes they offered are not that of the traditional dishes such as spaghetti and meatballs or lasagna. They offer a 1/2 portion or full portion on their items. We opted for the half portion along with an appetizer and it was more than enough. The two pasta dishes we ordered were delicious and rich.

Definitely worth a visit

went last august for our anniversary. it was hard to get a reservation and they seemed rushed on the phone. flavors were interesting, my husband and I split a pasta and got our own appetizers and desserts; he got the meat plate and loved it, I do not like cured meats and didn't like whatever I got; the pasta was good, I was surprised; the dessert was good I think we got the panna cotta.
our waiter was very friendly and brought us an extra dessert for our anniversary; the restaurant felt very fancy inside and the seats were comfortable however it was a little cold and I had to keep my sweater on for the meal.

Went here for date night and it lived up to my expectations. The egg yolk pasta was so good. We'll come back and get the full order next time. I really like that you can get half orders so we sampled a variety of their fresh pastas.

Spinasse! Maybe 3.5 stars? Hmmm, I was very excited for this one, but can't justify the pricing. Gorgeous restaurant with a beautiful bar and lighting. The server was incredibly accommodating, and we got a delightful appetizer on the house consisting of prosciutto in sauce and anchovies on bread. Sadly, that was one of the food highlights of the night.

We ordered the tasting menu, which consisted of all the appetizers, pasta, and entrees family style. It was a lot of food, which is why I would place the rating closer to a 3.5. Overall, there was nothing I was blown away by. The aged prosciutto with cherries in the primos was excellent, as prosciutto is. Other than that.... Everything was decent. I'll highlight the best and worst.

The crespelle had good, homey flavor combinations. Texture was nice, the bell peppers allowed more freshness to set through all the egg.

The tajarin con burro e salvia was rich and nice to take about one bite of, then just was too much. There was something nice about experiencing the texture of the dainty noodles, but the flavor was overwhelmingly flat and heavy, making it hard to down much more of it. Maybe could do with some more pepper, something, to make it less of a dense, buttery gooey blob. The sage flavor should've cut through more as well.

The tajarin al ragu was better, as it was less heavy. Still great textures, this was probably my favorite pasta dish of the night, but it didn't blow me away like other pastas I've had in Seattle. Still, it was well made and probably the only thing out of the pastas and entrees I'd order again. The other pastas were a bit forgettable for me. I was really looking forward to the risotto al pesto, but it was just decent.

The entrees all disappointed me. The pork belly looked so appetizing, but it was nothing special, the braise was a bit too salty and not the best flavor combinations. The steak and salmon were standard, steak maybe very average. Definitely the craftsmanship on these flavors were nowhere near deserving of the price point.

Cocktails were meh. I got the paper plane, which was alright, on the refreshing side. My partner got the Capella Romano, which tasted like how a middle school girl's glittery dessert scented hand sanitizer smells. Not my favorite.

Overall, the tasting menu was a good way to try everything on the menu, and the quantities were more than enough for two. I can't say I was impressed, especially for the price point, most dishes were good, just not great. I was hoping to be wowed, but it tasted much like what I would except from a decent, mid-priced Italian place. I'll stick to my go-tos that I know blow me away.

I'll start off to say the service and ambiance was fantastic - very cozy and romantic. There was an opening to see into the kitchen and you also get to see the pasta chef at work making fresh pasta. Our waiter was a gem.

Coming from East coast Italian, and the expectations that this is supposed one of seattles best restaurants, we were very underwhelmed. Presentation and timing of food was again great, but flavors were on the bland side and just did not do anything to wow me for the price and hype.

GET THE BUTTER SAGE PASTA!!!! You won't regret it!!
We got 3 half size pasta/ risottos and the appetizer sampler. The portions are small but they were enough to make two people pretty full as the pastas are heavy/ dense. Appetizer sampler was perfect way to try out 4 of the appetizers in smaller portions and the hand cut pasta was everything!! Cant wait to come back to try other items on their menu and also eat the butter sage pasta again

We loved the ambiance. We were there around 8:20pm i think. We ordered tajarin al ragu, cavatelli, crespelle, and tajarin con burro. The food took awhile to get served but that was offset by their variations of bread they served such as your usual bread and breadsticks Which I believe are all baked at the restaurant. Parking situation is pretty bad since it's just street parking which gets pretty hard to find out parking sometimes.
Overall it's a great experience and delicious meal.