Last update - 00:00 10/05/2007
Dining Out / A carnivore's paradise
By Daniel Rogov
The last time I visited N.G. was about three and a half years ago, shortly after the restaurant opened. More a bar than a restaurant, with a hyper-casual atmosphere and small menu, the place was quite pleasant. The physical setting remains very much the same, with an attractive array of tables spread across several small rooms, a bar, vintage wallpaper, mirrors, light fixtures and soft music - but the menu has been far expanded.
The first of the appetizers we sampled was a liver pate, made unusual by the use of veal liver, instead of the smooth goose or chicken liver one usually finds. Dark brown in color, with a lightly coarse texture and plenty of black pepper, the pate was topped with a mixture of crushed walnuts and grated truffles. With simple but tasty bread spread generously with butter, the pate was a treat and the just sweet enough eggplant confiture accompanying the dish added its own pleasure.
We went on to taste a dish listed on the menu as carpaccio flowers - thin slices of beef fillet rolled around finely chopped baby greens and grated Parmesan cheese. Served on a flat plate lined with balsamic vinegar and a creamy lemon sauce, the carpaccio rolls, full of fresh, rich flavor, were best eaten with the fingers, much as one would sushi, and then dipped into the sauce.
The menu here is tailored primarily for carnivores. For our main course, we opted for the 1.2 kilogram porterhouse steak. Thick, aged well and with just enough fat left intact to add to the flavor of the fine beef, the steak was prepared medium-rare as requested and was an unmitigated delight, at its best with nothing more than a bit of fresh pepper sprinkled over it. The accompanying potato puree, topped with fried pumpkin shavings, was good as well, and so was another side dish of Swiss chard and Chinese beans sauteed in garlic and olive oil.
Despite the huge quantity of food we had just consumed, we closed the meal with espressos and two desserts. The first was a splendid pie with vanilla pastry cream topped with sliced strawberries, and the second was a platter of petits fours: several rich, dark chocolate concoctions, cream-filled cookies, and a few jelly-marmalade candies.
Chef Ido Arbeit, unpretentious and exercising control over his cooking times, is doing a good job with his dishes. The service is responsive, the wine list good and even the wine glasses are of a high quality. Our bill came to NIS 460, to which a bottle of the sparking Brut Cava of the Spanish winery Cristallino added NIS 120. Not inexpensive, but if you choose to pass up on the huge steaks, you can end up with a more reasonable bill of NIS 350 for two. A port of call well worth visiting.
N.G.: Ahad Ha'am Street 6, Neve Tzedek, Tel Aviv. Open daily 6 P.M.-1 A.M. and on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays for lunch. Tel: (03) 516-7888.
By any other name
Ten months ago, I visited and wrote positively about Pastorious, a quite pleasant and unpretentious bar-restaurant that featured jazz and blues music.
For some reason, the place did not make it and the owners redecorated somewhat, changed the name to Hatrakline (literally, the lounge) and changed the concept to that of a bistro. The greeting on entering remains warm, the decor as attractive as it was and the main change in design seems to be the addition of brasserie-style light fixtures that hang from the ceiling. The menu, although with many old favorites intact, has been expanded somewhat. The major change, however, is reflected in the wine list, which has been expanded and now features a good selection of Israeli and European wines.
While I was perusing the menu, a waitress presented me with two samples of wines the restaurant was featuring by the glass that evening. To my surprise, she even knew the blends of grapes in each wine and described both in excellent detail. I was also pleased to note that the wine glasses in use were of high quality and that the prices of the wines were quite reasonable.
I opened my meal by sampling two appetizers. The first was chopped chicken liver with plenty of fat and salt and pepper. Smoother than the chopped liver of the Jewish cuisine, and topped with bits of crisply fried onions and served with small pieces of toast, the dish was tempting and went nicely with the glass of the 2005 Take II of Sea Horse winery that I ordered. I continued with a merguez sausage that was firm, spicy and full of flavor and served grilled on a skewer. As on my earlier visit, the sausage was accompanied by chimichurri sauce, but I preferred to eat my sausages with Dijon mustard, and my request was gladly accepted.
As a first course, I opted for a very generous portion of chicken wings, the wings were just soft enough, and the honey, chili and garlic sauce, in which they had been tossed, was quite literally "finger-licking good."
I chose the 250-gram house hamburger for my main course, which was set on toasted bread that was spread with a well-made sauce of beef stock and cream; the burger itself was topped lightly with a truffle spread.
I have to admit that this was one of the few burgers I have eaten with a fork and knife, but it was well worth the effort. The french fries that accompanied the burger were fine.
For dessert, I settled on a sweet palatschinken, a Hungarian-style crepe filled with well-made and just sweet enough banana cream. Served alongside the crepe was a good homemade vanilla- and brandy-flavored ice cream.
My food bill, including an espresso, came to NIS 180, a very reasonable bill considering that such a meal could easily satisfy two. Glasses of the wine I had chosen added NIS 39 each. The good service, simple but enjoyable food and opportunity to accompany the dishes with good wines at a reasonable price makes this place well worth visiting.
Hatrakline: Nahalat Binyamin Street 41, Tel Aviv. Open daily 7-11:30 P.M. Tel: (03) 566-0013.