Dal Moro’s Fresh Pasta To Go is the first Toronto location from the Venetian fresh pasta express takeout chain. Build your own cheap custom Italian meal by choosing a type of pasta, sauce and toppings.

Pasta and sauces are made fresh throughout the day using founder and seventh-generation Venetian Chef Gabriele Dal Moro’s traditional recipes. They're presented in Chinese-delivery-style boxes here.

The takeout space is slim but as much has been made transparent as possible, pasta making taking place right in the front window. There are a few tall tables lined up against the wall, good for instantly scarfing the pasta it’s recommended be eaten within 10 minutes.

Pasta is made every twenty minutes from an eggless (and therefore vegan) secret pasta recipe, using all Italian machinery.

Different dies are attached to the machinery to make the different shapes you can choose from: rigatoni, fettuccine, gnocchi, fusilli, spaghetti or linguine.

Order, get your number, pay, and wait for pasta to be cooked to order in minutes in pasta baskets in front of your eyes.

Basil sauce ($9) goes on our gnocchi, a classic nutty sauce that doesn’t hold back on the basil or garlic. The dumplings are starchy, dense and relatively small, but hold up well provided they're eaten right away.

Nero di Seppia sauce ($11) is so black from squid ink I’d be careful eating this in public or before smiling a lot, but doesn’t stain. I’d consider this a messy guilty pleasure though as the sauce is wonderfully ultra-garlicky.

You can also opt for add-ins like mushrooms, chicken or seafood (the most expensive at $2) or complimentary toppings like parm or chilis. The seafood, a mix of calamari and mussels, is on the smaller side and slightly chewy, but isn’t overpowering and adds a little extra saltiness and flavour.

Pomodoro ($8) is actually totally vegan, meaning this is a 100% vegan takeout dish. The sauce comforts with the simple, sweet flavours of tomato and aromatic basil, and the spaghetti makes a good vehicle for both this and the Nero.

The Ai Formaggi ($9) is a slightly gluey but overall stretchy, creamy mix of gorgonzola, mozzarella, parmesan and pecorino. The chilis we add break up the richness of this thick sauce on a thick fettuccine noodle.

There’s also tiramisu. To drink, Dal Moro’s serves Venetian Masi wine as well as Italian, Canadian and European beer.

Aglio, Olio, Peperoncino is the other vegan option, and there’s also a decent Bolognese and Amatriciana as well as Carbonara and a Bosciaola mushroom cream sauce. The ability to create different combinations here feels like a surefire way to keep express diners coming back.