Where to Eat in Tel Aviv

It’s rare that I go to a place and enjoy nearly every restaurant I eat in. But so it was with Tel Aviv. Everywhere was interesting and broke all the preconceptions I had. Pork in Tel Aviv? No problem. Shellfish? What kind, and how much? In fact, that’s about all I ate. Pork. And shellfish. With the daily falafel thrown in for good measure. Here are my recommendations:

Wine Bar Yoezer, Jaffa. Down a little alley across from the clock tower in Tel Aviv, you’ll find Wine Bar Yoezer. It’s not cheap by any means, but it’s dark and candlelit and the menu is deeply interesting, in my very humble opinion. During my first visit, I had the PORK and duck rillettes; the dish was so rich, it could have fed me for days on end. I also had the polenta with poached egg and truffles. When I think about the best things I’ve had so far in 2010, this dish will score near the top. On a second visit, my colleagues and I shared a competent selection of charcuterie (with PORK), and I had a small dish of 40 yolk noodles with more TRUFFLES. Another best dish of 2010. WIne Bar Yoezer is by no means a new place, but it’s an interesting place to say the least.

Manta Ray, on the beach close to Jaffa. A guidebook stalwart. So kill me. But I’m so glad we went. We had a table at the window, and there were the waves, crashing right outside. Gorgeous at night, although I’m not a fan of stray cats. You’re offered a selection of mezze from a large platter. I liked the calamari and while the ceviche wasn’t bad, it was a little too salmon-oriented for me. For our main, we split a seafood sharing platter, full of fresh CRABS. Along with CLAMS. And MUSSELS. But really…the best part? The sweet potatoes that has soaked up the delicious and peppery tomato-based sauce that coated everything.

Lilyiot. No idea where it was except that it was close to the Japanese embassy because we parked in their parking spot illegally. The restaurant is similar to Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen in that the staff are primarily made up of at-risk kids. Silverbrow wrote a review a while back, and I pretty much agree with all of his comments. The meal started out with a great selection of mezze. For our mains, I even liked the chicken livers. (Silverbrow didn’t.) But the rest of our meal was boring. The steak was suspect. And it was served with white rice. White rice! This was a kosher restaurant. Nothing was truly bad, but the bright spots were few.

Benny the Fisherman: This was the surprise of the week. Yes, we went to the Port of Tel Aviv, which is apparently very touristy. I had written down a couple of recommendations, but we didn’t make a booking anywhere and just relied on the first two people who got there to find a place. They chose the busiest place and they may have even jumped the queue. You pay a fixed price which escapes me at the moment, and for that price, you get 12 mezze. Yes, 12. The best of which was the spicy tomato Turkish Salad. After your mezze, there’s fish. You name the fish, you can have it. I have no idea what I ordered but it was GREAT. It was a filet of a white fish. Maybe sea bream. Buzzy atmosphere and lots and lots of wine. Great fun.

So there you go…those are my Tel Aviv restaurant recommendations. Yes, they have restaurants in Tel Aviv. (I haven’t even mentioned the many awesome falafel stops, mainly because the signs were all in Hebrew so I have no idea where I was eating.)  I don’t want to go into the politics really because as anyone who knows me will tell you…I hate talking politics…but yes I felt safe and normal at all times so if you need a beach vacation, maybe you should consider Tel Aviv. From what I understand, Israel has just hired the PR firm behind Live Strong and Obama’s online presence, so I expect you’ll be hearing more about Israel in the coming months! I’d go back. For sure.