De la Fonte Restaurant- Patio de Comida — Restaurant in Puerto Iguazú

Initial signs for the De la Fonte restaurant, which is within a small hotel, were positive. A welcoming calm environment after the clamour of other places in the town. Widely spaced tables, nice table settings, interesting art around the two dining rooms. After ordering we were presented a series of three dramatically arranged appetisers. A piece of marinated dried melon on a stick tasting similar to dried fig. Next, unexceptional ‘homemade’ bread crackers and breadsticks that came only with an uninterestingly earthy beetroot dip that lacked the oil and piquancy to replace oil and vinegar. A dry and bland chickpea biscuit presented standing in its own clay holder was pointless. Our starter of fish balls arrived in insipidly un-crunchy batter floating in a starch based watery white sauce decorated with fruit. The flavours worked ok together but it was uninspiring. We both had mains of tenderloin beef. One with a crunchy coating which was more successful than the one with Malbec sauce, but the outcome was the same, we both found eating them a chore with the meat fibrous and lacking flavour and the overly fancy designer cutlery making it hard to eat. The julienne veg made a nice presentation though. We skipped dessert but received sweets of tasteless glacé fruit , low cocoa content truffle and an ok almond macaroon. Overtly designer plates, a dramatic show of pouring the wine into a decanter, over large wine glasses just reaffirmed to me that showy presentation was the focus of this restaurant and not the quality and flavours of the food. A shared starter, two mains, water and one bottle of average young Malbec came to $ARS1800 making it both a very expensive as well as...

Awful and very expensive food in an extremely pretentious place. I can't believe what this place has made of Italian food. Hell, it's a disgrace to all Chefs in general. The presentation was very pretentious but without substance. Everything we had, starting from the "chefs appetizer" tasted horribly. One of the pasta dishes with mushrooms was inedible, I could have done a much better job at home and I'm not a great cook. The other pasta dish was so salty and not impressive at all, what you would get from a sauce you buy in a supermarket. They try to impress you with the presentation, but it's just a distraction from the horrible food they serve. Waiter was also terrible, rushed me to finish the appetizer as he said they have my entree ready. Then moved my appetizer plate on the side so fast it knocked off my bread on the ground. He was very obnoxious the entire time. At another table they had some plates come over with a glass cover on top, with smoke trapped underneath. Then they release that smoke at the table in front of the customer. Problem is, that smoke was flavored cigar smoke. Yes, cigar! I wonder if they have someone blow the smoke on the food before they cover it and take it to the table... that's certainly what it seemed like. Would not...

Food-wise this is one of the best restaurants I have tried spending over a year in Argentina. The chef has reinvented italian and international dishes using local ingredients and flavours. The result is brilliant. This to me is michelin star material and certainly up to the level of more famous Argentine chefs names such as Tegui. Do not come here if you are looking for traditional Italian food but if you like good or innovative cuisine be prepared for an amazing experience. Also recommended if you are tired of tourist traps. As an Italian who normally avoids Italian restaurants abroad I was reticent to try it. However, I am glad we came as here I had much better fish and food than all the other restaurants I tried in Iguazu area. The service was very good and attentive. Some of the food takes a bit of time to prepare and the kitchen has limited staff, so don't come if you are in a rush. We were treated with several complimentary and delicious food surprises, which was very pleasant and to me more than compensates the...