An Eye of a Tiger – Tiger Lilly

Authentic Thai. The immediate reaction of such a statement is of contempt. Real authentic Asian flavors are really rare to find west of the South Pacific. In most cases, you would find an adoption of local flavors that remind, in one way or another, the original one. In the past we have written about the only true Thai restaurant in town, Thai House. Now, along with the renaissance of the Asian cuisine that flooded the streets lately (Taizu, Popina, Vong, Ang Sue and others), Tiger Lilly aims to rise as a fierce competitor in this field.

Som Tam (Spicy Green Papaya Salad)

Yum Kong (Thai Shrimp Salad with Mint Leaves and Onions)

As other Thai restaurants around town are really just a mix of noodles and rice dishes, you would be pleasantly surprised immediately as you glance at the menu. Classic Thai salads are really the favorites here. The classic Som Tam (Spicy Green Papaya Salad) is superb (Though Thai House’s is better), the Yum Kong (Thai Shrimp Salad with Mint Leaves and Onions) is spot on with flavors, the Larb Gai (Chopped Chicken Salad with Mint Leaves, Cilantro and Chili) will make you demand some sticky rice to soak what is left of the amazing sauce, but the salad which was our favorite is definitely the spicy Nam Tok Salad. The thin slices of beef along with the spicy Chili and Mint leaves were nothing but perfect.

Beef Massaman Curry

Pad See Ew (Rice Noodles with Chicken, Broccoli and Bok Choy)

After the starters that brought us back to the hot and humid Islands of Thailand, the main dishes mission was a hard one. Even though, they made it as well. Though the salads were the real highlight, the main courses still provided quite good Thai experience. Beef Massaman Curry dish had very good tastes but was a little undersized in our opinion. Pad See Ew (Rice Noodles with Chicken, Broccoli and Bok Choy) was again, very good.

Tapioca

The dessert reminded us our weakness for Tapioca, which along with the Tel Aviv heat, is probably the most refreshing dessert you can find (don’t miss it here). The Banana Loti was just OK, maybe it was the condensed milk that was just missing a little bit to resemble the street Loti. Maybe it was just its high price.

Banana Loti

The check please (4 people)
Som Tam – 32 NIS
Yum Kong – 39 NIS
Larb Gai – 32 NIS
Nam Tok – 43 NIS
Massaman Curry – 64 NIS
Pad See Ew – 58 NIS
Tapioca – 31 NIS
Banana Loti – 35 NIS

All in all – 334 NIS

The Cizer Kobrinsky Scale:

4 Forks

Forks

Contact Details: Tiget Lilly
32 Habarzel St, Ramat HaChayal,  Tel Aviv | 1700707097 | Sun – Sat 12:00 – 00:00 | http://tigerlily.co.il/index.htm

The Cannibal Corner – Butchery De Bariloche

When Samuel, Shahar’s long time friend, saw we are mentioning many of our friends & family here in our blog, he simply couldn’t resist. We have set a meeting to have some good food and biting reviews. After making some thinking on where to go, we decided to catch some quality steaks in the argentine steak house opened this year called Butchery De Bariloche (The Butchery from Bariloche).

Beef tartar

Bariloche is one of the best destinations in Argentina if not the best one. A combination of steaks, chocolate, ice creams & amazing nature combines to a truly memorable place. The Butchery’s setting is trying to imitate that feeling, with photos of Bariloche’s panoramic views, Argentine wines & a welcome piece of Argentine chocolate when you are seated.

Beef Carpaccio

The Butchery, like its other trendy competitors across Tel Aviv, has a cannibal-like way of choosing your courses. You simply go to the butcher’s display, and pick your favorite part of the cattle and it will arrive later to the table on top of a warming grill.

Before going through the grilled section, we started off with some appetizers. Samuel took the Beef Carpaccio, That although suffering from overdose of balsamic vinegar, was very good. The beef itself was fresh & tasty and so is the great parmesan cheese (that he asked to be served aside from kosher reasons). Shahar took the Beef tartar, which was a joy for the eyes, but so-so for the mouth. Although the beef was quite good, the course as whole was quite blend, and missed some sourness & spiciness.

The butcher’s display

After a while (really, a while – the service was trying but somewhat distracted) we got the order from the butcher. A grill containing two skirt steaks (about 200gr each), an Argentinean Rib Steak (there’s Israeli one as well) and two little veal T-Bone steaks. The skirt steaks, that were a little under cooked, even though we asked for Medium-Rare cooking, were quite good. The beef was tender and tasteful.  The Rib Steak was also a good piece of meat, but nothing to write home about (or blog about in this case). The T-Bones were excellent. The grill really flattered them and gave them a smoky taste. I was quite sorry they were so small.

The warming grill

When the restaurant manager saw me photographing, he asked me what it is for. Telling him about this blog, he decided to give us a dessert on the house. Under this proper disclosure, the Jorje’s Banana’s dessert, which is basically burnt sliced bananas with dolce de leche, whipped cream & vanilla ice cream reminded me why I like Argentina that much, even though it is a quite simple dessert.

Concluding the cannibals evening, the dinner in the Butchery was a good one. Yet looking at the prices and comparing it to other steak houses in Tel Aviv in this price range, you would expect more.

The check please (2 people)

Beef Tartar – 34 NIS
Beef Carpaccio – 28 NIS
Entrecôte – Rib Steak (39 NIS per 100gr) – 78 NIS
Veal T-Bone (30 NIS per 100gr) – 45 NIS
2X Skirt Steak (37 NIS per 100gr) – 148 NIS
2X Pepsi -22 NIS

All in all: 355 NIS

The Cizer-Kobrinsky Scale:

3 Forks

Summary:

Food:  Argentine Steak House
Price:  Expensive
Location: Ramat HaHayal

Contact details: Butchery De Bariloche
Address:  4 HaBarzel St., Tel Aviv | Phone: 077-5309700|
Opening Hours:  Daily 12:00-00:00
http://www.butchery.co.il/ (No English menu)