Monday, April 5, 2010

4/2/10-Bentara, New Haven, CT

I had the pleasure of working in the city on a beautiful day in April and one of my crew members wanted to go to Bentara for lunch, which was fine with me since I've been looking forward to trying this place! We arrived about 1130 and not a soul was in the place yet. It is a lovely space with minimalist decorations but with a cool modern-ish feel. If I was coming here for dinner, I would definitely want to look nice but we were just grabbing takeout for lunch, so my uniform was completely acceptable!

Never having been there, I felt somewhat daunted by their menu. Thankfully, a woman who works there was more than happy to point me in a direction of something I would enjoy. I had the Mee Hoon Goreng with chicken and it was fantastically different--such fresh flavors and what a nice portion for lunch! I ordered it at a medium heat level after hearing my coworker say that the heat was worse than thai but I did not find that to be true at all--the medium had a slight kick, but it was nothing to worry about, I would defintely get it "hot" next time. It was filled with noodles, chicken, sprouts, cabbage, carrots and had slices of tofu on top (I ignored those.....it just weirds me out). My coworkers both enjoyed the kerutuck--slices of beef/chicken or vegetables (tofu, chinese egg plants, carrots and slivered roasted red peppers) simmered in a mixture of spices (coriander, fennel seed, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise and chilies) with potatoes and coconut milk reduction--it looked interesting, I wish I had a chance to try it! I did get the opportunity to try the Roti Chanai-griddle fried unleavened ghee (clarified butter) thin bread with curry sauce--it was so good!

I made sure to save half of my dish for Tom to try--now he wants to go there too! I do hope to get back there soon!

www.bentara.com

1 comment:

Andie said...

Bentara sounds delicious! I'm so sad that I haven't tried more of the great restaurants that New Haven has to offer. I've only tried the pizza places!