The list of the 50 best restaurants in the Middle East has just been published, and from the day of the announcement, I started to scheduled places in the Israeli restaurants that entered the list. I started with the 14th place, the Basta restaurant (OCD, the restaurant that came in 3rd place, will probably only be available in 5 years, we will wait).
The restaurant is located in the Carmel market, close to all the highest quality culinary products. That way, they manage to bring every day to our plate all the fresh products in the market, and accordingly the menu changes from day to day.
Friday afternoon, daddy and I arrive at the restaurant, sit down in a good place in the middle (preferably a good place on the side), and start exploring the menu. The menu is divided into categories (I liked) of sea, greens, meat, small dishes and sweet dishes, and from each category there are a beautiful selection of dishes. So we told the waiter all the dishes we are interested in from the menu and off we went.
First, we got some breads with butter. It was delicious and boosted my appetite. #yammmmm
We officially started the meal with a few small dishes. First came cauliflower, tomatoes and tahini (32 NIS). A simple and tasty dish as expected. Cauliflower slightly burnt at the edges, topped with tahini and slightly spicy tomatoes. I was not too surprised because it's really hard to go wrong with cauliflower, but it was delicious. #yammmmm
Pickled Greater Amberjack (40 NIS), with olive oil, hot pepper and purple onion. The fish had a deep and special taste and felt just like a snack that is hard to stop eating. #yammmmm
Hot peppers (12 NIS), not really hot, cute, an addition that there is not too much to expand on in my opinion. #yammmmm
Fried zucchini flower (40 NIS), stuffed with cheese, come with crushed tomatoes. Another dish that is hard to go wrong with. Fried food is usually delicious, and fried food stuffed with cheese is very delicious. So yes it was delicious. It is important to enjoy the tomatoes on the plate, they are a perfect addition to every bite of the zucchini. #yammmmm
Pickled sirloin (32 NIS) that comes with a delicious aioli dip. You get thin strips of sirloin, which as said, was pickled. When eaten alone they are cute, when using aioli they are great, so do not give up lightly touching the dip. #yammmmm
From here we continued to some entrees. Hyssop and pomelo salad (59 NIS) with almonds. The almonds intensified the salad significantly, the pomelo gave the freshness of the dish, and the hyssop leaves were the special and slightly salty taste that crackled superbly in the mouth by combining all the ingredients together. Special and delicious. #yammmmm
May May (89 NIS), a sashimi of alectis alexandrinus, placed on seaweed, wasabi spread and a kind of sweet sauce. Comes like an open sushi roll, from which every bite is made right by hand, like all the best foods in the world. A stunning dish, which made me realize that from today I will start eating only alectis alexandrinus. Turns out it was a yam fish, and its pairing with the ingredients in the dish was perfect and delicious. The fish of course was very fresh, and the dish contained very few ingredients, and it was supposed to be on the table for a moment and then disappear without too much noise. But I officially crown it the best dish in the restaurant. Feel free to join the ceremony. #yammmmm
Greater Amberjack and avocado tartare (98 NIS), with tomatoes, radishes, green onions, lemon, black pepper and olive oil. A very Mediterranean dish, with a precise combination of flavors. In general I very much connect to the combination of avocado and tomato even in a regular morning salad, with a light seasoning of olive oil and lemon. So adding the greater amberjack to all this goodness made sense and was delicious. The softness of the avocado, the freshness of the fish and the sourness of the lemon and tomato were a stunning Mediterranean bite. #yammmmm
Shi drum and steak (NIS 159), a dish of shi drum fish steak, which is placed on broccoli and beans. The greens were delicious and we quite enjoyed them. In contrast, the fish came with slightly burnt flavors, maybe flavor of the pan. Not clear. #yammmmm
Artichoke ravioli (98 NIS), with tomato butter sauce and parmesan. The filling was a little sour and very soft, and as a well-known artichoke lover it was a stamp for me to finish the meal. #yammmmm
It's a #yammmmm