Cool restaurant, but what's going on?
Last night I went to a restaurant I scoped out my first night here - even at 10 and 11pm, it was lively and full of people. Plaza Asturias on Avenida de Mayo.
I have to say though, great atmosphere, but this is probably the first time I've ever eaten in a restaurant where I have NO idea what was going on with the service!
I came in, and there was already bread on my table. Then my waitress brought a plate of sardines and an olive by. Then came by with a bottle of aperetivo... I declined. (Is this part of the service? Optional??)
Then I ordered one of the daily specials, Milanese a la suiza con batatas fritas. I had just learned in my Spanish class today that we needed to try Milanese here (breaded beef, or chicken or veal). And we also learned "batatas" (sweet potato) as a vocab word too. So after a while, the waitress came by with a huge Milanese on a metal plate, cut it in half with fork and spoon, and served me half of it!
Then when I wanted the rest, I reached for the fork and spoon but she came over and served me the rest!
I declined dessert and coffee (she seemed really shocked), and just asked for the check. It was 11pm but see how crowded the restaurant still was!
When she brought the check, the waitress also brought two bottles, one brown and one yellow. So I knew that this aperetivo wouldn't be extra, so I accepted the yellow one (limoncello) in a tiny tiny glass. What an interesting experience in dining!
P.S. After writing this post, I googled "Plaza Asturia" - it's in Frommer's! Funny, since I really haven't followed any guidebooks yet for food recommendations!
