Elm City Eats: Bentara
76 Orange
Street
You can definitely walk here from the Law School,
but I have a rule that when it’s below 40 degrees I drive. So we drove.
www.bentara.com
Malaysian cuisine
-Popia (Spring rolls)
-Beef Nasi Goreng (fried rice)
-Mee Hoon Goreng (fried rice noodles)
-Other stuff that I can’t remember
I have already determined that my review of this place is
sure to be disputed – whichever way it goes.
I have now eaten here three times, in groups of three, six, and eight
and nearly every time, half of the group has loved loved loved the food, and
half of the group has vociferously detested it.
I am somewhere in the middle.
I like the ambiance.
The tables are spaced well apart, the place is tastefully
decorated. It’s modern Malaysian-centric
with natural colors and nice wooden tables.
At dinner time it feels very cozy and intimate. But loud.
There is no sound-proofing. At
dinner time in particular, you might have to shout at your companions to carry
a conversation.
The first time I went was for dinner and I found both the
experience and the food charming. Perhaps
it was the glass of wine with dinner that made it such an enjoyable experience
and, coincidentally, explains why I don’t remember what we ordered. But, I remember liking the food and thinking
I’d definitely go there again. The
second and third times were for lunch with large groups. Lunch is a great time to come with a group of
people because the place is practically empty, the service quick, and you can
be in and out with a gourmet meal in an hour.
The spring rolls are unanimously great. They’re vegetarian and come with hot sauce,
and you can appreciate the difference between Bentara’s spring rolls versus the
egg rolls you’d get at Panda Express.
They’re light and not too oily (despite being deep fried).
The first time I went there for lunch, I ordered Mee Hoon
Goreng. Mental note for any of you who
plan on going to Bentara – order your food MILD! This is one of those places where you can
specify the hotness of your food, or so you think. Mild still has a little kick, and medium
practically blew the mouth off of one of my friends. While the meal tasted good, it made me feel
queasy afterward and I was subsequently hesitant to go there again. Others in my group ordered the Two Soy either
with tofu or with chicken. The Two Soy
looked delicious – sweet and salty soy sauces with slivered onions, green beans
and green peppers. But again, this got
mixed reviews and was overly salty for some of us. Others get this all the time and swear by it!
The second time I went there for lunch I ordered Beef Nasi
Goreng thinking, hey, it’s fried rice! You
can’t go wrong with rice! In the end, it tasted good (enough) but I think I’ve
decided that maybe I just don’t have a palate for Malaysian food … I love most of the other Asian cuisines –
Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and even “Asian Fusion” on occasion, but Bentara has a
very distinctive taste and you’ve got to really want that taste in your mouth
for the rest of the day.
One of the best attributes of Bentara is that it is super
vegetarian and vegan friendly. Nearly
every dish can be ordered with tofu or completely sans any form of protein or meat. I am personally a big fan of red meat, hence
all the beef dishes above, but at least this aspect of their menu seems to suit
everyone. The desserts were likewise a
hit – Molten Chocolate Torte and Bentara’s Banana Split. Both got wolfed down in a second and looked
delicious, complete with the whipped cream and ice cream on top. But … is a Molten Chocolate Torte part of Malaysian
cuisine? Just wondering. At least the Banana Split was stuffed into
spring rolls.
I realize that at this point, the review may not
evenly relay both the good and the bad of Bentara. While my personal opinion is pretty much “eh
…it’s okay”, I do know people who rave about the place and even like to have
their birthday lunches there. I have
heard Bentara referred to as “one of the best restaurants in New Haven.”
So there. Check it out for
yourself.