by Richard Foss
There is a multilevel irony about the name of a Japanese-Italian fusion restaurant that opened at the beginning of 2025. It’s called Unico Tokyo Pasta, and as you might guess, the first word translates into English as “unique”. The word unique is not itself unique – it’s the same in French, English, and Italian, and comes from the Latin word unicus. The Japanese adopted the modern Italian word unico, and in Japanese pop culture it’s also the name of a cute unicorn that appears in manga comics.
No unicorns are present in the decor at Unico Tokyo Pasta, and the restaurant’s concept is actually not unique. The fusion of Japanese and Italian food is called itameshi, and it has been around for over a century in Japan, which is where Takashi Sada, who owns Unico Tokyo Pasta, tried Italian food at the age of nine. Takashi is best known as the owner of Japonica, and his new restaurant is the first place in the Beach Cities to specialize in the itameshi style. The combination may seem unlikely at first, since many Italian dishes are heavy on dairy products and involve thick tomato and wine sauces, both of which are alien to Japanese cooking. As with so many other things, the Japanese have developed their own take on a foreign tradition.
The restaurant interior is modern, with white brick walls, spartan benches and steel furniture, and graphics from their menu as murals. It’s like an upscale dining hall, with acoustics to match, loud and echoing – over 80 decibels when the place was half-full. The outdoor seating is quieter, despite the noise from PCH a few feet away.
The menu is short and pasta-centric, with only a few starters. The unico salad, a Caesar with panko crumbs instead of croutons, is highly recommended. It’s just lettuce, dressing, and crunchy bread products, but that’s all you need for the classic Caesar, and at three dollars for a starter portion it’s a bargain. That was a modest and successful update on a classic, but the other two items we tried were decidedly odder. There are traditional Italian recipes for cauliflower soup, but none use koji, a Japanese starter culture used in fermenting sake, miso, and soy sauce. Koji has a mildly sweet, slightly funky flavor that paired well with cauliflower, and it was an interesting combination, but I think it would have been better with a thicker, more flavorful broth. I’m glad I tried it, but probably wouldn’t order it again.
The other starter we tried, a “shrimp confit,” was confusing. It was a bowl of warm, garlicky olive oil with mushrooms at the bottom and four medium size shrimp at the top. This was served without bread, pasta, or any other carb to absorb the oil, so I ordered some toasted baguette to go with it. We weren’t impressed with this starter, which would have been better with some herbs to give unity to the other flavors.
All main courses are pasta, and unlike most Italian restaurants, Unico Tokyo Pasta serves only one type, spaghetti. The lack of variety in pasta shapes is made up by the number of preparations, eighteen in all. These range from fairly traditional like the alfredo and Bolognese, to very Japanese like sea urchin with asparagus and mushroom or Bolognese with curry. We tried Italian-inspired Bolognese and pomodoro and Japanese-inspired sea urchin with truffles and a specialty of yuzu pepper with pancetta, cabbage, and chili.
Italian tomato sauces vary by region, thick and herbal in the south, more delicate and fruity in the north, and both Italian-inspired dishes featured fresh tasting, relatively light sauces. The pomodoro had tomato sweetness along with what might have been mirin or other sweet sake, and with a hint of a dash of soy or Worcestershire. It was refreshing, the pasta coated but not drowned, with a sparse grating of parmesan cheese and some fresh herbs adding flavor and color. The Bolognese was a more complex and robust dish, with both wagyu beef and pancetta along with asparagus, onion, and mushrooms. The portion of meat and vegetables was generous, so there was a variety of textures in every bite. The mild wagyu beef added umami and richness more than flavor, and the lightly salty chunks of pancetta stood out in comparison.
The Japanese pastas were really what brought me to Unico, and on the first visit I tried a black truffle and sea urchin cream sauce with microgreens, and lemon. I’ve had a feeling that Unico moderated the sea urchin flavor to please a non-Japanese clientele, but it was still enjoyable. The briny urchin and slightly musky truffle were both aromas as much as flavor centerpieces, and they were counterpointed by the subtle hint of lemon. I wondered whether there might have been a bit of grated lemon peel in the dish, because there was an agreeable hint of that flavor too.
As much as I enjoyed that dish, the pasta with pancetta, garlic, cabbage, and well-calibrated shots of yuzu pepper and red chili was the winner of both visits. The citrusy yuzu with both black and red pepper delivered a nice kick that was enhanced by the salty Italian bacon, a type of flavorful cumulative heat that kept me eating until every bite was gone.
Unico Tokyo Pasta has a short wine and beer list that covers the bases, and I particularly enjoyed an Edna Valley Albarino with the yuzu pepper pasta. They offer hot sake and both cocktails and mocktails, but if you want anything fancier or higher proof you’ll have to wait until after dinner and stop at the cocktail bar next door.
Three desserts are offered, a warm chocolate ganache, crème caramel, and a strawberry cheesecake pudding. We tried the ganache, which was luscious and topped with chocolate pearls, and a crème caramel that had a nice smokiness and was not over-sweet.
Service here is fast, actually too fast for my liking – at both meals our main courses arrived very shortly after the starters had hit the table. If you enjoy a leisurely dinner, I advise you to only order your mains after your apps have arrived.
Until now I have been going to Gardena when I wanted my Japanese pasta fix, but Unico Tokyo Pasta has given me a destination closer to home. I will probably visit most often when the weather is pleasant, so I may sit outside and converse with my dining companions, but I’ll definitely be back.
Unico Tokyo Pasta is at 1310 S. PCH in Redondo. Open daily 11 a.m., close 9 p.m. Su-Th, 10 p.m. Fr-Sa, parking lot in rear or street parking, wheelchair access good. Phone 424-766-1841, menu at unicopasta.com.
