Bontá Italian Restaurant & Bar

This restaurant has gone through several incarnations, Bonta being the latest. As its predecessors succumbed after relatively short periods of time, we hope this one will be successful enough to last. And from our experience there, it should. The restaurant is well set up with a smart, bright dining area, a mezzanine bar and lovely high ceilings. The service was very good—the waiters knew the menu and made nice recommendations—and the food was pretty delicious. We loved our starter of mussels in a tomato and garlic sauce which was enough for two, and mopped up the sauce with the soft-on-the-inside and crusty-on-the-outside walnut bread roll. This was the kind of excellent bread that you can’t stop yourself from eating even though you know it will fill you up too much. And perhaps it did because we struggled with our pastas—a creamy foie gras ravioli and rabbit gnocchi—which were fine but not wow. We’ll definitely come here again, and try other items on their long and interesting menu. And judging by the good crowd that was there when we went, others will too.