Arethusa al tavolo - Bantam, Connecticut

Jay S.

Exceptional dining experience!! Our waiter was top tier and the whole waitstaff team is on point. The Food was absolutely delicious and cooked perfectly. Pork belly dumplings/oysters/crab and avocado salad/brussel sprout salad with poached egg/pork tenderloin wrapped with leeks/black crusted beef/apple fritter dessert. You need try give this place a try as you will be very happy you did. Enjoy

Leah W.

Exceptional! Expectations were high and the experience was even better.

Phenomenal food - everything was perfect. Highly professional wait staff. Beautiful, warm setting. Just lovely every moment.

We went to celebrate a special occasion, and would go again for another special occasion!

Amanda T.

Arethusa al tavolo is a fantastic restaurant that lives up to the hype generated by an episode of The Dish on CBS Saturday morning news. I first learned of this farm to table restaurant from that CBS news feature a year ago and immediately added a stop to my planned holiday travels to the northeast this year. The location is a nice small town in Connecticut with a rich history. The restaurant is welcoming from the moment you enter. Our server April, was awesome. My husband and I had a reservation, which is highly recommended and can be booked up to 90 days in advance. We booked at that 90 day out mark and are glad we did, since the restaurant was certainly full that evening. We started with cocktails....old fashioned and Mighty Manhattan. Both were delicous and definitely packed a punch. We ordered the flat bread and tartare starters, which were excellent. The complimentary pretzel bread and butter were great too. For our entrée we selected the steak and pork loin. They were both cooked to perfection and the combination of flavors was heavenly. At that point we found ourselves too stuffed to partake in dessert, unfortunately. However, servers came by our table twice offering samples from the chef on the house; a kind of squash and cauliflower soup in a shot glass and tiny apple muffins. We enjoyed both and appreciated the opportunity to sample other items from the menu. I also tried the figrone cocktail...delightful, to round out the evening. They also have a robust wine list and offer several different beers as well as mocktails; so most people should be able to find a beverage of their liking. The service was fantastic and we would definitely come back, should we be traveling in the region again. Thank you!

Anton R.

Unique dining experience meets farm to table at its best! I mean what can I say this was on my list for 3 years and I finally made it. The entire experience did not disappoint. Ambiance, service staff, food presentation, cocktails and wine selection were all A++!!

Chris C.

I have been to Arethusa at least 4 or 5 times and the food is exceptional quality in terms of execution / flavors / imagination and service.

However, and I hate to say this they have been bitten by the shrinkflation bug of late. Here are a couple of photos of their cheese plates which we always get as an app from then and now.

Ironically you can see the same reduction in quantity but it came with a higher price tag which is unfortunate but to be expected with this last administration’s inflation woes.

With that said I hope they get back to being a bit more generous. I mean 5 grapes is a bit ridiculous on a $27 appetizer that is meant for sharing.

The skimpy cheese plate is evident when compared to the others.

The other food we had was good though we did feel a bit of a reduction as well on the strip loin which I will share photos of too.

Hopefully they improve but for the next night out I will opt to try something fresh and new before I return to Bantam.

Michael ?. S.

Safe to say this represents the best of Connecticut's farm to table scene- truly inspired dishes, such as the Pekin duck with red beet gnocchi, house cranberry, Kumquats and duck jus- exemplifying mastery of local ingredients tempered by global vision for flavor. A surprise intermezzo of celeriac and red beet foam cleaned the palette for dinner, both delicious and effective, and that summarized the night; unexpected, exquisite, and honed to precision (hot damn, thats some nice plating). We drove 45 min to dinner and will 100% do it again, the very definition of a Michelin experience. Alas, CT has no Michelin starred restaurants... yet

Nick B.

What an incredible experience! Very nice atmosphere, exceptional service, and exceptional food that is better than some of the Michelin star restaurants I have been to.

My group started off with some drinks including the Mighty Manhattan and the rum punch, after which we were served a complimentary amuse-bouche of a cold cucumber melon soup, followed by the appetizers (yellow tail tartare, oysters, zucchini flowers and pork belly dumplings). All of these were exceptionally delicious and beautifully presented. For our mains we got the duck three ways, the king salmon and the pork tenderloin. Again, all of these were amazing. If I had to nitpick, it would have been nice to have a crostini or something similar to spread the pâté and the rillette on top of with regards to the duck, but again, splitting hairs.

To finish, the beignets and the flourless chocolate cake for dessert were also both again out of this world, with the chocolate cake easily being the best I have ever had, flourless or not.

Definitely one of the best dinners I have had in a years and certainly the best I have had in Connecticut.

O L.

Ate here as part of a large group as only patrons.
Good bar and wines.
Professional service.
Not everyone was served at the same time, this is acceptable with real cooking.
Creative cooking with well balanced flavors, nice mise en place and generous portions.
4 stars for atmosphere, the acoustics are difficult, it was too loud.