The Missing Connection – Montenegro

Update July 2013: The place is closed.

When we heard that the owners of Café Noir and Sebastian have opened a new place – we know it was something we have to try. In the first option I had – I have booked a table of three – for Elad, Adi and I. On a cold Saturday night we set in the front of the new well-designed restaurant.

The camera view

Montenegro, of course, is named after the Eastern European country – Montenegro.  Although I’m not an expert of the South-Eastern European food, I felt that restaurant does not go “all the way”, and does not embrace the South-Eastern European experience.

The Appetizers

We started with two of the appetizers from the menu – Taboulah Salad and Solika’s Eggplant. Solika’s recipe was deep fried eggplant with garlic, lemon and parsley. The Taboulah salad was based on another popular recipe of Burgul, Onion, tomato and parsley. In short – nothing remarkable, two appetizers that you will find in any oriental restaurant (and it doesn’t matter whether it is Arabic or European).

Entrecôte Burger

For the main course Adi took the Entrecôte Burger served on top of Bruschetta with interesting Matbucha sauce (instead of Ketchup) and garlic Aioli with lemon (Instead of Mayonnaise). A very good Burger with original interpretation that managed to avoid the cliché. Nevertheless, the absence of side dish was highly noticed. Elad took Grilled Pork Chops that was served with garlic paste, and found it very tasty, though finished quickly.

Grilled Pork Chops

For myself, I have ordered the Hangar Beef skewer that was served with grilled potatoes. The skewer was good though had too little meat. The good side of the dish was actually the potatoes that were very crispy and escorted the dish perfectly alongside Elad’s garlic paste.

Hangar Beef Skewer

For dessert we had one of the most diverse desserts we had lately – Dulce de Leche Flan. The flan was made up of four parts – the flan itself, whipped cream, fruit jam and biscuit. A very good, sweet and tasty combination that suited our drinks – short espresso and berries tea.

Dulce de Leche Flan

Although we are still looking for the Montenegrin connection, it was very good meal with excellent service and nice atmosphere.

The Gang

The Check Please (3 people)

Taboulah Salad – 14NIS
Solika’s Eggplant – 14NIS
Entrecôte Burger – 67NIS
Grilled Pork Chops – 54NIS
Hangar Beef Skewer – 54NIS
Dulce de Leche Flan – 33NIS
Gewurztraminer Wine (Bottle) – 130NIS
Espresso – 12NIS
Tea – 22NIS

All in all – 400 NIS

Summary:

Food: Eastern European / Balkan
Price: Medium-Expensive
Location: Echad Haam / Heart of Tel Aviv

The Cizer-Kobrinsky Scale:

3.5 Forks

Contact Details: Montenegto

Address:  26 Nachmani st. Tel Aviv | Phone: 03-5663331 |
Sunday – Wednesday 12:00-01:00 | Thursday Friday 12:00-02:00 | Saturday 12:00-01:00 |
http://www.rest.co.il/sites/Default.asp?txtRestID=12341

Business Class – The Social Club

There are very few places in Tel Aviv that are better located than the Social club. During the day, the small plaza between Rothschild and Ahad Ha’am is packed with the Tel Aviv stock exchange employees doing their business just a few stories above and lawyers who fill the law firms around the area. During the night, Rothschild is getting filled with a young, hip crowd. The combination is truly reflected on the restaurant which attracts both the tie-wearing business men and the who’s-and-whose of Tel Aviv’s night.

The Social Club

At first sight you can definitely appreciate the setting of the Social club – a fancy bistro atmosphere, dominated by dramatic black colors. Having a large bar and high tables on the outside, you can almost feel you are high-stake business man in NY city rather than in the hot and humid Tel Aviv.

After given a series of recommendations about the place, we decided to celebrate Inbar’s birthday at the Social Club, right after a (strongly recommended) Segway trip on the beautiful Jaffa port and right before an Efrat Gosh performance in Hertzliya.

Sea Fish Carpaccio

We started off with glasses of wine, to celebrate properly.  The fresh garden salad we took was just as the name suggested. Fresh lettuce, red onions and Parmesan cheese came together as a good salad but nothing special. On the other hand, Sea fish Carpaccio with radish, red peppers, mint and olive oil was very good.

Garden Salad

Next came the main courses; Hanger Steak (from the day specials) was the best we ever had. A prime cut, cooked perfectly on the grill, served with a bone marrow delight and wonderful mashed potatoes truly elated us. Another main course was Seafood Pasta containing Perciatelli pasta, Mussels, Shrimps & Calamari in a white wine, lemon and garlic sauce. Unfortunately, the pasta did not keep the same level and, although not bad at all, it was quite dull.

Hanger Steak

Seafood Pasta

Such a celebration must have a sweet ending, so we also grabbed a New York cream Cheesecake with Raspberries that was wonderful, huge and well suited the place.

New York Cheescake

Summarizing the Social Club, we were quite ambiguous. The Hanger Steak alone worth five stars, but one cannot ignore the other courses which did not meet this level and the expensive prices. We will come back as other courses really do intrigue us, but we will need another special occasion for that.

The check please (2 people)

Gewurztraminer by the glass – 35 NIS
Melbec Alamos by the glass – 35 NIS
Fresh Salad – 44 NIS
Sea Fish Carpaccio – 64 NIS
Toscan Seafood Pasta – 88 NIS
Hanger Steak – 120 NIS
Large Mineral Water – 24 NIS
NY Raspberry Cheesecake – 36 NIS
Espresso – 9 NIS

All in all: 455 NIS

Summary:

Food: New York Bistro
Price: Expensive
Location: Rotchield / Ahad Ha’am

 The Cizer-Kobrinsky Scale: 

4 Forks

Contact details: The Social Club

Address:  45 Rothschild, Tel Aviv | Phone: 03-5601114 |
Opening Hours:  Monday-Sunday 12:00 – 01:00
http://www.rest.co.il/sites/default.asp?txtRestID=10779&txtNavID=3&txtItemID=552917

Morning at the Bistro – Café Noir

Tel Aviv Breakfast scene is one tough scene. Every restaurant wants to have its own breakfast, making sure it earns its shekels throughout the day. Unfortunately it causes many of them to offer a dull breakfast (Omelet-Salad- Spreads) at a high price. We urge you to have breakfast at a restaurant you got a good review on. An example of such a review is right below – at Café Noir.

Café noir is a long-established Tel Aviv Bistro; very well located at the heart of the white city with the vibrant Rotshield Street just a few steps away. Having been there a few times in the past, we recommend Café Noir generally because of its good food (the well known milk-fed Veal Schnitzel is a must) and romantic atmosphere, but this time we decided to check their breakfast.

Scrambled Eggs with Bacon, Cheese & Salami

Café Noir breakfast menu is divided to three –Sandwiches, Set Breakfasts and Pastries. Both of us took set breakfasts. Shahar ordered the Noir’s Breakfast – scrambled eggs (you can ask any type of eggs) with Bacon, two types of cheese, Salami Milano, vegetable salad, roasted peppers, bread, jam and butter. The eggs were fine and the Salami was excellent, but it was the bread that was rated best as it was hot, crispy and delicious.

Egg Cocot

Inbar ordered the Egg Cocot Breakfast – two eggs with Truffles oil and crispy bacon, served inside a ceramic bowl, alongside with roasted peppers, Cream cheese, vegetables salad and again – bread, jam and butter. The dish expresses the uniqueness of Café Noir with its breakfasts and delivers exceptionally. The Truffles oil specifically makes the dish a true morning favorite.

The check please (2 people)

Noir’s Breakfast (with Bacon) – 58 NIS
Eggs Cocot Breakfast – 58 NIS

All in all: 116 NIS

The Cizer-Kobrinsky Scale: 

4 Forks

Summary:

Food:  Bistro
Price:  Expensive
Location: Ahad Ha’am

Contact details: Café Noir
Address:  43 Ahad Ha’am St, Tel Aviv | 03-5663018|
Opening Hours:  Sun-Wed 08:00-01:00 Thu-Frid 08:00-02:00 Sat 09:00-01:00 |
http://cafnoir.rest-e.co.il/

A Taste of Spain – Tapas 1 Haam

Everyone wants to have a vacation from time to time. When, from many reasons, you can’t take one, you compromise to get just the vacation feeling. Getting out to a restaurant that brings another country’s atmosphere will get you somewhere close to that feeling. Tapas 1 (Ahad) Haam is exactly one of those places.

The setting

This Jonathan Rushfeld place, nearby his formerly reviewed “Yavne Montifiore”, was opened about a year and a half ago with a major emphasis on the restaurant atmosphere. The beautiful setting include colorful Spanish-style tiles, a classic display of hanging sausages, a wide open kitchen and restaurant goods set on the high tables, where we sat.

Tomato Salad & Shrimps and Calamari

After a bad experience we had in Tapas Ahad Haam around its opening, which included seating in the very end of the place and suffering from a pushy waitress, we decided to have a corrective experience. This time the waitress was very nice and our experience was much better.

Beef Tartar

We were glad to see that the place investment in its atmosphere did not subtract with the food quality. We shared five dishes between us. A Beef Tartar that was far better than the one we reviewed on the Butchery post (while Inbar thought the tartar at the Yavne Montifiore was better). It included quality beef, great sourness and a tasty smoked peppers sauce. The toasts that were served alongside were delicious as well. A dish of grilled Baladi Eggplant with eggplant paste was very good, though not Spanish at all (but rather an Israeli mainstream one).

Baladi Eggplant

A dish of Artichoke hearts on the plancha with goat cheese and oregano was wonderful, fresh and ended too quickly, and so was the Tomato Salad which included few types of cherry tomatoes, hard cheese and a great addition of Za’atar leaves.
Sevillian Shrimps and Calmari, taken from the restaurant specials, was the last dish of the night. The seafood itself was simply amazing. It had a very natural fresh taste and even a too oily sauce didn’t hurt the flavor.

Two glasses of Cava escorted the great experience abroad. Well, at Tapas 1 Haam.

The Check Please (2 people):
2 X Cava – 58 NIS
Baladi Eggplant – 22 NIS
Artichoke Hearts – 31 NIS
Beef Tartar – 28 NIS
Shrimps and Calamari – 44 NIS
Tomato Salad – 34 NIS

All in all: 217 NIS

The Cizer-Kobrinsky Scale:

4.5 Forks

Summary:

Food:  Tapas
Price:  Medium-Expensive
Location: Echad Haam / Allenby

Contact details: Tapas 1 (Ahad) Haam
Address:  27 Echad Haam, Tel Aviv | Phone: 03-5666966
Opening Hours:  Sunday-Thursday 18:00-01:00 | Friday-Saturday 12:30-01:00
http://www.rest.co.il/sites/Default.asp?txtRestID=10748 (No English)