Monday, June 10, 2024

Bengali Brightning

The food scene in my corner of Portugal has brightened. Mr. and Mrs. Soma ("soma" is Sanskrit for "nectar of the gods", and, yeah, it's their real name) from Calcutta have been operating a tiny cafe for a few months, occasionally turnng out an Indian dish or two plus some of the best no-shortcuts masala chai I've ever had. Finally, they opened a full-fledged restaurant: Leitaria Montalvão (Rua Frenando Santos 15 in Setúbal).

This was previously a pork store, hence "Leitaria", a name they desperately need to change in light of the incipient flood of (Muslim) Bangladeshis into this town.

They only offer a couple dishes per day, but that doesn't disqualify them as a full-fledged restaurant in a conservative town where "Plate of the Day" remains a sacrosanct tradition. They're being perfectly Portuguese in their approach, even while serving plates full of pure motherly Bengali soul food.

Mrs. Soma, who's getting better all the time, grinds her spices fresh by hand, for a totally handmade approach that's unusual even in established Bengali/Bangaldeshi enclaves. One of my signature NYC finds was the great Spicy Mina, and that was always her big distinction.

Mrs. Soma is not yet Spicy Mina (who is?), but she'd be worth a trip even in NYC, and this ain't New York. Rather, it's a place where other Indian places feel compelled to serve pizza, sushi, kebabs, and other ethnic standards demanded of non-Portuguese restaurateurs, and where food's cooked by a dude who never set foot in his mother's kitchen back home. So this is not just the best Indian in town; it might be the best in the country.

The masala chai is still perfect. Mrs. Soma's just starting to make breads, but I just had a roti that was breathtaking, straight from the tandoor. Soups and desserts are particularly good. At first, she over-portioned, now portions are a bit skimpy, but I'm sure she'll get it right. And she takes requests.

One negative: there's a long 15-20 minute wait, because everything is handmade from scratch. And they're very much still getting the hang of the whole "running a restaurant" thing. I'm not sure how it scales, but I'm certainly not complaining....

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