Last time we’ve been to Messa wasn’t long before this, and I felt a miss. This time fixed this feeling for me, it was a better visit altogether. First of all, we sat on a table and not on the bar in the middle, also, I felt like the crew was better this time.
We started out with some cocktails and this time I tried the Raspberry mojito: white rum, raspberry vodka, lemon juice, cranberry juice, soda water, fresh black raspberry and mint (44 ILS). I liked the combination so much that I used this idea in my own events. Next we had an amuse bouche dish – a small shot of tomatoes soup with eggplant cream. Light and refreshing. The focaccia was replaced with a lafa this meal and although it was very tasty, I think 26 ILS is too much for this. Slowly we begun receiving the first courses, and that’s another plus to the meal – the rhythm was much better than last time and we didn’t get all the dishes at once.
Veal sweetbreads served with sweet potato tortellini, cauliflower and lemon cream and pearl onions (52 ILS) was a wonderful sweetbreads dish that immediately after getting it we regretted not taking the large size dish of this (72 ILS). I love sweetbreads but only when made well and this dish was well executed. Purple calamari with lemon cream, relish and foie gras (42 ILS) was another great first course. Although it was sitting on a bed of thin slices of beet root, same as too many dishes that day, the calamari was delicious and so was the relish. Why did we take the small portion again? Veal “baklava” with delicate coconut cream, tahini and cinnamon (46 ILS) was my least favorite starter dish, although it was a good dish, here I felt the overly sweetened heavy courses that bugged me the last time here. I’m not against some sweet starts but if it’s not subtle it makes me nausea.
For the main courses we had Fish kebab, eggplant cream, yogurt, pickled lemon and pine nuts (126 ILS). Pretty dish, beautiful condiments but after all it’s not an explosion of flavors in the mouth. A bit disappointment. The other one was Caramelized salmon served with coconut foam, gnocchi, wild mushrooms and zucchini (136 ILS). This was a really fun dish and I was positively surprised about it. It came, again, on a bed of thin slices of beetroot (why??), with big chunks of fragrant mushrooms and the gnocchi that Messa never fail to throw in so many dishes. The salmon itself was well seasoned. The last main course was Beef fillet in a chestnut & balsamic stock \ peppercorns stock (148 ILS). This dish was good but I wish I wouldn’t have chosen it because it was too straightforward for my liking. Although it was all well made and tasty, I was board with it halfway through.
For desserts we ordered the Coconut cappuccino with baked cheese, lemon cream and pineapple sorbet (48 ILS). Except that I think it’s an overpriced dessert, It was very tasty and refreshing. Everything melted nicely together but wasn’t too mixed. Then we had again the Chocolate delight (45 ILS), this time I enjoyed it a lot more. I think the reason is that last meal here, all the dishes were so heavy on the cream sauce (porcini foam heart burn) that in the end I couldn’t enjoy another heavy dish. This time the dishes were better balanced and so this dessert could fit better to the end. We also received a complimentary Trio of sorbet, casis, mango and coconut. It was a refreshing ending that wasn’t too overpowering.
All in all I think my opinion of Messa changed a bit. I now believe it’s a place that one can either love or be disappointed of according to the staff currently working (as the chef isn’t constantly in the kitchen), and how one chooses his dishes. This is something the waiter, in my opinion, should be able to give advice as to whether the dishes don’t work well together or it’s too heavy. Either way it’s far from perfect. For example, it bother me when using the same elements so many times throughout the menu which I wouldn’t expect from a high level restaurant Messa wishes to be. Value for money: I think it’s good if you look at the first courses, especially the bigger portion options, and not so good if you look at the desserts and some of the main courses, like the fish kebabs.
