Me and my kosher team set out on one more mission, to check out what's going on at Chef Hillel Tavakuli's Darya restaurant. A kosher restaurant at the Hilton Hotel in Tel Aviv, located on the lower floor of the hotel, enjoying a warm space and a wall exposed to the exciting sea view. I also liked that the restaurant is completely accessible, a significant value in my opinion.
Recommendation, call the restaurant, ask for a place by the window, arrive around 18:00 and enjoy a stunning sunset vibes.
We sat down unfortunately in a place far from the sea view, we got the menus along with a detailed explanation of what was going on in it and everything that was built on the Silk Road basis so there are combined flavors of different cultures that end up blending great into one meal.
We chose to order mostly from the small plates area on the menu. Dishes the size of a first course and even a bit more. To them we also added one dish from the area of large plates and set off.
The Bread (NIS 28) arrived first, with sesame and hyssop, "non-talkie", tomato salsa and green arisa and black tahini with eggplant. The bread itself was perfect, with the hyssop flavor that was stunning in the mouth. The "non-talkie" that came next to it was less likable to us, and did not add much interest. The salsa for me was a dream at every dip, and the tahini was stunning for Racheli and Dana. #yammmmm
Rice Leaf Ravioli (76 NIS), sea fish tartare, curry vinaigrette, green cucumber, radish, Grand Smith apple, caramelized cashews and tobiko. It always intrigues me how else I can be surprised with a dish of tartare, and here it happened in Darya. The dish arrives, beautiful, with fresh flavors of the apple, along with the crunch of the cashews, the soft of the rice leaf and the tobiko that provides the special texture in the mouth. Of course the spoon rule is mandatory in this dish, and it is important that all the ingredients will be on the spoon in each bite along with the curry flavors at the bottom so that you get an amazing bite. #yammmmm
A Long-Cooked Beef Sambusak (78 NIS), with brown onions, dried mint, plum and Sichuan chutney, crispy vegetables, coriander, black lemon and shiitake salsa. There is no better taste than a crispy dough wrapped in fun saltiness with a filling of tender meat and a sauce that is accurately matched to it. Split the sambusak to half, dip each bite in the sauce on the plate and put in your mouth when it is warm and pleasant. #yammmmm
From here came a session of dishes that there is no other way to eat except by hand. A clear conclusion after we have finished everything - the restaurant must replace the wipes supplier. Opening a wipe has been one of the most challenging things I have been doing lately. In the meantime, until that happens, bring wipes from home.
So we started with a dish of Fricassee Polenta (85 NIS), grilled pickled tongue, hyssop aioli, blush onion and herbs. I never imagined that this would be how it would get to the table, a serious surprise. The dish comes in the appearance of a small pizza, with a smoky-flavored tongue, that came in thin slices, on soft, salty bread that attaches to the tongue slices perfectly with the help of the special aioli scattered between them. Cutting all this goodness into triangles, pizza style I have already said, sharing without fear with all the diners, and it's wow. #yammmmm
Lamb Kebab Wrapped in Pita Sage (121 NIS), with roasted eggplant vinaigrette, almond milk, chili oil and pepper. A beautiful and intriguing dish of skewer placed on a plate topped with delicious kebab rolls wrapped in a thin, soft carb along with a variety of sauces that cover it all in Indian flavors I love. How fun. #yammmmm
"Kashmiri grill" (116 NIS), a piece of meat in a marinated gram masala kashmiri, Indian naan, tomato salad, hot pepper, coriander chutney and mint. A dish that comes to the table with an impressive smoke of the serving form. You get a few small skewers of chunks of meat, along with delicious saucers of chutney and tomato salad and some delicious naan leaves. Take the naan, spread it generously from the chutney for a fun and special Indian flavor, top with the tomato salad for the affair and spicy and a few chunks of meat on top of everything and take a big bite out of all this stimulating thing. After the bite we realizes that the seasoning of the meat was a little strong, and some of the pieces of meat were less chewy. So basically I enjoyed more of all the toppings of the dish and less of the meat itself. #yammmmm
We arrived to the dessert part, and the waitress said there was a special dessert, so we ordered it with the last strength. Faluda (58 NIS), dessert of almond milk soup and Zohar water, rice noodles, rosetta sorbet and rose water, grandin syrup and berries, candied roses and pistachio nougat. There is no doubt that only from reading all the ingredients you understand that there is something special here, but perhaps too special and one that fits a very specific taste. I mean, I'm not sure how much everyone can relate to the taste of a kind of tapioca that the dish has. I think it comes mostly from the combination of the rice noodles with the almond milk soup. Nice. #yammmmm
It's a #yammmmm