Pastan is a pop up located at 169 Gloucester Road, Bristol (opposite the Flyer). When I heard about it I had to visit immediately! I saw online some enticing pictures of pasta dishes, which I was really excited about as usually if I get pasta when I’m out, it’s the simplest dish - more often than not, pasta in a tomato sauce. So I tend to avoid choosing them - although I absolutely love pasta! It’s just it often can be uninspiring and boring when eating it out.. until now…
We arrived at Pastan and sat outside, which had a lovely natural, woodland vibe. The inside of the cafe is also really nice, as I walked through to get to the garden, it had a warm and welcoming feel.
The staff were really attentive and casual in a good way. I felt relaxed and at home. When it came to ordering it was a hard choice. So many amazing sounding pasta dishes to choose from - I’m sure there were about 10 in total! We chose the ‘Comfort You’ and the ‘Red Velvet’ and weren’t disappointed with our choices.
‘Comfort You’ is a take on Mac n cheese - I was a little sceptical as I really struggle to find vegan mac n cheese that’s close to or as good as the real thing. With this, I was pleasantly surprised. It was so delicious in every way, from the creamy sauce to the crumbly breadcrumb and grated plant-based cashew parmesan topping. I also added ‘THIS isn’t bacon’ to it, which although pricey, did bring an extra boost of flavour to it.
‘Red Velvet’ was equally as amazing - I couldn’t say which was better really. This dish was beetroot gnocchi in a 'cheese' sauce with vegetables and 'bacon', topped with cashew parmesan. I haven’t had gnocchi in years so it was really exciting to have. The flavour was on point - the rich sauce to dip the gnocchi balls in was beautiful, with the perfectly cooked tender stem broccoli and courgetti to give a fresh element to the dish made it a treat for the tastebuds. I would say I’d get this again next time - but there are so many other choices on the menu that I want to try first (all of them)!
There seemed to be a lot of people who weren’t vegan, eating there - all of whom were really enjoying their food. How do I know this? Well, with the garden being quite small, we overheard some bigger groups mentioning it, and someone from another table also came over and said to us that it's amazing that it's all plant-based. This is definitely somewhere you could take non-vegan friends and family and I can almost guarantee they’d enjoy it and be surprised at it all being plant-based. The portions were super generous - it was so filling that we had to take some home with us - very much enjoyed it a second time round at home! I sadly wasn’t able to fit any of their doughnuts in - but I will 100% be heading back to try those soon.
All in all, this is definitely somewhere everyone should try - being all plant-based and all delicious, you can’t go wrong!
Couldn’t recommend it more