Bene!: Perhaps the night menu is more Be-ne

Area:  about 400m east of Kamejima station (Higashiyama Line)  亀島駅
Restaurant:  Bene!  ベーネ
Map and Info:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230113/23051342/

Hours:  Lunch 11:30am-1:30pm,  Dinner  5-12pm (LO 11:30pm)


This restaurant's lunch ends early, so I came on a day off when in the area .  It had been rather newly opened and the colorful exterior had caught my eye as I was walking past one day.

There were three lunches to choose from; a business lunch (¥850) which included 4 small dishes with rice, a fresh pasta lunch (¥880) or an Italian curry lunch (¥880).  All came with a soup, salad and drink.  The business lunch was enticing because I do like variety but today's dishes included Asian flavors only such as fried tebasaki (chicken wings), mapo tofu, etc.  This is an Italian restaurant so I wanted to try their Italian fare.  The curry was only 'Italian' in that cheese is baked on top and there are tomatoes in it.  

The salad had a Japanese dressing but what was different here was that it was topped with couscous, something I find rare in Japan.  Couscous is nice in a salad because it soaks up the dressing and becomes moist enough to stick to the veggies, providing a flavour burst. There were a good variety of vegetables (cucumber, red and yellow peppers, tomatoes) in this salad. The soup was filled with lots of fresh peas, carrots and corn, the bits of beef gave this consommé a nice flavour.  I think it was a Japanese dashi base, but this way I suppose it goes well with both the Asian flavours of the business lunch and the Italian in the pasta.   The pasta I chose was a peperoncino, with a bit of Japanese kick (shirasu, tiny whole fish).  The fresh pasta reminded me more of ramen noodles, a bit softer but still retaining some chewiness in the end.  The simple olive oil sauce was seasoned only by the salt of the shirasu and some hot peppers.   

The music playing was modern American pop music, giving the place a bar type atmosphere.