After landing in Israel, we dropped off our luggage at the rental apartment and ventured out to Neve Tzedek in search of dinner. There are plenty of choices in the area so we knew that finding something delicious would be easy. Little did we know that it was going to be a restaurant so terrific, we would book another visit right after finishing our meal.
We walked into Popina restaurant, looked at the menu and decided to give it a shot. There are two rooms at the restaurant; the main room with the open kitchen and another room in the back with an outdoors feel but fully enclosed.
Since we didn't have a reservation and they were fully booked in the main room, we were seated in the second room. It really didn't matter since there were people there and the food was the same. We were also really tired after the 10 hour flight from New York.
We honestly just wanted a nice meal before unpacking and going to sleep.
The menu is comprised of many smaller dishes and a few larger entrees, the latter have a little tree next to them.
The bread was delicious with a nice crust and the butter was perfectly soft, hard butter that rips the bread is a minus in my book, may this be my worst problem.
The salad arrived first and the delicious dressing with the fresh greens were a hint that this was going to be a great dinner.
The salmon sashimi with blood orange vinaigrette, chives, creme fraiche and crispy quinoa, which followed sealed the deal for us. This was such a delicate and flavor packed dish, the salmon was fresh and tender and the vinaigrette was a perfect accompaniment.
We were eager for other courses to arrive and they did not disappoint. Next were the shrimp burgers which came on a slate and were served on a steamed bun with Yuzu aioli, crispy lettuce and pickled red onion. This was wonderful! The texture and flavor of the shrimp patty were superb.
Next was the smoked lamb pizza which consisted of basil dough, cashew butter, demi-glaze and radish. This was very good but not an absolute knockout. I think that we were so blown away by the first couple of dishes, we expected something amazing. Had we started with the pizza, it would have been much more remarkable.
We were completely full but since the food was so wonderful I was eager to see what the dessert would be like.
I ordered the Souffle a la minute which arrived in a quite sizable mug with a tiny pitcher of chocolate caramel ganache and a scoop of salted caramel ice cream. Upon bringing it to the table, the waitress put the scoop of ice cream on top of the souffle and poured the ganache over it.
This dessert was sheer perfection. The souffle was so perfectly done, not dry and not too moist. The flavors of the ganache and the ice cream complemented the chocolate souffle beautifully. I decided that this was the dessert to beat during this trip.
We were also surprised with a gift dessert of beautifully plated pieces of truffles, with cubes of pound cake and meringue.
What I also loved was that when we got our tea, the sugar came in this beautiful and old fashioned sugar dish. This was such a lovely touch, a detail which makes one feel at home and which shows the great attention to detail by the people running this restaurant.
I cannot say enough about Popina and regret that it is so far from where we live. A great reason to spend more time in Israel, I guess.
The photos are not the best quality since the lighting in the back room was a bit dark. The food looked much more appetizing than my photographs.
Popina
3 Ahad Ha'Am
Tel Aviv
Joanna
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