In the past year or two, we started seeing some Wine Bars in Tel-Aviv, trying to mimic the Parisian chic Bar à Vin scene. This is a welcomed direction but sadly didn’t really hit the mark yet. The difference is that Israelis are profoundly different than the Parisian crowd and they demand different needs to match. Also, Israeli wines are not cheap, the domestic wine is usually more expensive than the imported! Moreover, there’s not much range like there is with French wine. In France you can see everything between a 2 Euro bottle of wine to thousands of Euro bottles. Yes, the 2 Euro wine is shit, but it exists and it also means you can find a fairly good wine for 6-8 Euro, or a very good wine for 10-15 Euro. Anyway, it’s not only this. In Tel-Aviv the cost of living is extremely high if you consider the average salary, meaning, we have to pay a lot to live here, almost as much as in Paris, but our average salaries are only half as much. It means that it’s expensive to go out to eat and drink. Surely it effects the bars and restaurants negatively.
Few months ago we went to a place called Wine-Bar in Nachlat Binyamin and payed 59 NIS (12 Euro) for each glass of wine (!). We were also amazed to be witnessing a case that a waitress poured more wine to the glass than the amount she was supposed so she and another waitress tried to pour the difference back to the bottle. In Paris, many times the wine bar is like a wine store, you choose a wine bottle for 10-40 Euro (there’s always more expensive wine of course) and add a corkage fee of about 3 Euro or just order a wine by the glass for about 5-6 Euro a glass. These places always suggest a light menu of Charcuterie, cheese platter or other snacks to share. I didn’t see anything like this in Tel-Aviv yet.
Another wine bar opened in Tel-Aviv, Par Derriere, trying to have Parisian Chic but failed doing so to my opinion because it’s a very big place and the atmosphere is that each party is isolated. Exactly the opposite of the small, packed little wine bars where the border between you and other people is fading. I find the crowding to be charming but Israelis prefer spacious places rather than small neighborhood places.
Still we continue to give it a try and go to new places. After Wine-Bar we decided to look for a wine bar less expensive and found Pino Bar. According to their website, their goal is to bring the Parisian atmosphere to Tel-Aviv without having to be so expensive with delicious wine and simple dishes. Sadly, it was indeed cheap but you get what you pay for. Wine glass costs 26-38 NIS but the waitress recommended two wines that we didn’t like. Also, the food was just blah, made from cheap materials and without imagination.
Hot and mild peppers filled with goat cheese (22 NIS)
Prosciutto roll, filled with goat cheese and rocket leaves (22 NIS)
Sirloin Bruschetta: Toasted bread, horseradish paste, dried tomatoes, roasted sirloin and parmesan curls (23 NIS)
Bruschetta Camembert: Melted Camembert cheese on toast, seasonal fruit jam, arugula and chili twist (22 NIS).
After eating these little dishes we were very much not satisfied and went to eat pizza in Tony Vespa.
Just across the street from Pino Bar you can find Carpaccio Bar, 5 year old little bar all focused on Carpaccio. I like this place because it has a balance between a selection of wine in fair prices and some very tasty dishes to go with. All this in a very small corner which has an intimate vibe. Surprisingly their best attribute is the bread. They make their own bread and I just love it. So fresh and amazingly soft. Other than that, the carpaccio is nice, there’s a good selection of different types and you can choose sirloin or fillet meat. I think they’re a bit stingy with the toppings but it’s still not bad. Other dishes are sometimes brilliant (steak tartar) and sometimes just odd (tataki and preserved sirloin). The service is welcoming and warm and they make you feel at home. Very nice spot to sit, drink wine and nibble on something.
Really good bread with butter, with every carpaccio dish.
Asian carpaccio with rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, radish sprouts and wasabi crunch (36 NIS). The seasoning was nice, I suspect we got walnuts instead of wasabi crunch and there could be more sprouts.
Steak Tartar from beef fillet, tartare sauce, mustard, garlic confit, caramelized onions and red cabbage (58 NIS). This was a very nice dish, not much beef but all condiments were nice additions. I like steak tartar and I liked this one.
Preserved Sirlion, beetroot leaves, cherry tomatoes confiture, cornichons and mustard (42 NIS). That was a weird combination. I admit we were warned it’s not for everyone but I just don’t get the matching of cornichons and confiture. For me it doesn’t work. The Sirloin itself was well made and it seemed pity for it to be served that way.
Soup of the day: tomatoes (25 NIS) was brought to us from the neighbors “Ha’achim” restaurant with the same owners. It was warm and nice with some spinach and bread inside.
Tataki beef fillet marinated in white miso, with green beans and papaya salad (59 NIS). The meat itself was unique and tasty but the salad inside was too salty and didn’t go well with everything else. A bit bizarre.
Carpaccio Salad: green salad, pomegranate vinaigrette, sirloin carpaccio with parmesan and pumpkin seeds (43 NIS). A better version of the carpaccio, I really like having a green salad on top. It was a bit over-dressed but overall a very nice dish, together with the bread, at reasonable price. We had that with a glass of Italian Rioja wine.
Carpaccio salad
8, Ibn Gabirol st. Tel-Aviv
03-609-8118
To balance that Carpaccio we headed to a Ceviche bar called Pavella in King Gorge st. It’s a small, cute place focusing on cocktails and Ceviche. Everything is made in front of you on the bar and served immediately The products are fresh and of good quality. Ceviche is originally from the Central and South Americans especially Peru and Ecuador. Pieces of raw fish are cut roughly and left marinated in lemon and lime juice with onion and chili and served accompanied with mais, sweet potato, toasted corn or avocado. The fish is partially cooked by the acidity of the citrus. Pavella has taken the original ceviche and turned it into Ceviche-Sashimi because they leave no marinating time and thus, the fish is almost completely raw, like sashimi, but with all the delicious dressings of the ceviche. Moreover, they created some very interesting combinations of fruit and vegetables to go with each of their dishes. Perfect match of the modern world.
We were positively impressed with a variety of ceviches at very reasonable prices (25 – 35 NIS).
Tasting two types of Dancing Camel beer: Stout and Pale Ale. They were both really nice and we went for the Pale Ale (26 NIS).
Barramundi ceviche, pomelo, red onion, chilli, tarragon, sage, sprouts, pumpkin and radish (34 NIS) . Well seasoned, very tasty, fresh and fun dish.
Ecuadorian ceviche, sea bas, tomato salsa, garlic, cilantro and popcorn (32 NIS). This was delicious, a bit spicy, the popcorn gave it a crunch. The plat looks messy but it’s a messy pleasure.
The making of the next dish over the bar
Mullet cubes, green apple, chili, garlic, ginger and coriander in a cone (34 NIS). we loved thit dish as well. It was beautiful and light with fruits and herbs. The knife skills are definitely showing here. A must dish.
The dessert was our least favorite part of the meal. The chef suggested “Hit Creme Schnitt” and we went for it. What came was something weird like shortbread layered with yogurt cream, a fresh strawberry and raspberry whipped cream (42 NIS). We didn’t think this is a Creme Schnitt if there’s no puff pastry but the chef insisted it is. It was okay minus. We were very surprised to see the price when the bill came, as it was the most expensive dish and just overpriced for a dessert in a generally inexpensive bar.
Then we received two little balls of truffles with a twist of lemon zest and a nice finish of the meal.
The bill was very reasonable for what we got even when including the dessert. We’ll definitely come back!
We were also impressed by the beautiful plates they served the dishes and asked about them. Apparently it’s bought from a non-profit organization that let people with disabilities make them. Extra points!
79, King Gorge st. Tel-Aviv
03-544-9807
Is Pino related to Pino Pizza?
As for Carpaccio Bar, it’s a bit one dimensional, it could be better, but still, it’s a good place to visit every now and then. Even though there’s never a seat, and the gherkins suck, it still is a great place if you want a fabulous cured meat.