Bengal

[Fretta]

Arenales 837 — just off the San Martin park area near the corner of Esmerelda. This is an Indian / Italian place and last night was a night of dining in style. We did the "Italian" multicourse she-bang and it was top-notch. Mind you, I'm awfully picky about my Italian (I live in Perugia part of the year) and this was amazing. There was a caprese salad with prosciutto, small bruschetta with I think a salmon mousse, a calamari kabob with assorted other things, a small piece of lasagna (about the size of 3 large raviolis) and a small rack of lamb course. There were also two dessert plates. The amount of food was egregious, but they were amazing. I also liked the wine and the dessert wines. They kept throwing food at us and wanting us to try various things. Of course, I let them know I lived in Italy and spoke Italian, so I think they were trying extra hard to impress me—which they did. The price was extremely steep by Argentine standards (total bill was about 370 pesos) but in Italy a similar meal would have been probably between 150-200 euro (600-800 pesos) or possibly more. Heck, at my favorite "modest" restaurant in Milan I usually pay maybe 120 euro, though half of that usually goes for a reasonably good bottle of Barbera. The price skyrockets when I choose a barolo.

I advise not eating anything all day before going.