Delicatessen, Tel Aviv

Delicatessen, 79/81 Yehuda HaLevi Street

For a complete dining experience look no further than Delicatessen Restaurant. It seems tucked away amongst the crisscrossing of streets or HaRakevet and Yehuda HaLevi, far past Rothchild’s eclectic restaurant offerings, almost hidden, but not totally unaccessible.  It is definitely worth the short journey.   Delicatessen, Tel Aviv is the latest offering from seasoned restaurant collective R2M – owners of Brasserie, Hotel Montefoire and Rothchild 12.

Fresh Bread, Delicatessen, Tel Aviv

As you approach the store front, you will be reminded of Chelsea Market in New York City, Kensington Market in Toronto and Borough Market in London — all jammed in on the main floor.  They have artisan meats, cheeses, wine, olives, pasta, flowers, and fresh fruits & vegetables all for sale in a colour cornucopia of edible delight.

As you go up the stairs, you enter a small Ikea-like market that sells glasses and other small household/kitchen items.  Once you reach the top, you are greeted by the oasis of white table tops, filled with the hustle and bustle of busy servers delivering fresh bread baskets to the tables.  The roof top also serves as the restaurants garden, providing it with some lemons and fresh herbs. Try not to help yourself to some fresh herbs, as tempting as it may be.  They can usually tell, when someone leaves the place smelling a bit too much like basil. (That means bring tupperware, it hides the scent better.) (I was told by legal that I have to say that tupperware is not allowed either. Just enjoy the fresh herbs on site.)

My friends and I arrive at Delicatessen Restaurant for lunch, where they have a 79NIS special that includes an appetizer and a main dish. The have a wide array of dishes from Asian inspired salad, the American hamburger, Roast Beef, and a Salmon Filet.  The appetizers were delicate and a perfect way to start the meal.  The chopped liver was warm and the onions were sweet. I found my Roast Beef “Sinta” to be too chewy, and cooled down quickly. While several people enjoyed the Salmon with Bulgar.  Each table had fresh bread and butter to share while the main courses made their way over, which is freshly baked on site. We ended the afternoon with some very simple cheesecake and mille feuille, both of which were incredibly rich, and the fruit tart which is nice to look at… because it is a fruit tart.

The experience of dining at Delicatessen is what makes it so much more than just the good food.  It is the kind of restaurant you want to go with friends to enjoy each others company.  It is the perfect place to enjoy a Birthday Brunch, or to celebrate a special occasion.

Dishes at Delicatessen
Salmon Filet 79NIS x 3
  Noisy Vegetable 0NIS included
  Antipasti 0NIS included
  Asian Lettuce Salad w Ginger Carrot Dressing 0NIS included
Roast Beef "Sinta" 79NIS
  Chopped Liver 0NIS included
Salad Nicoise 54NIS
Soda Pop 12NIS x3
Iced Americano 10NIS
Mille Feuille 28NIS
Fruit Tart 20NIS
Cheesecake 19NIS
Bread Basket (Lunch Appetizer) 20NIS

Total 539NIS

Delicatessen Restaurant Rating

Worlds Collide at a Tel Aviv Restaurant

Above – breadbasket at Delicatessen, Tel Aviv. Below – a canele from Dominique Ansel Bakery, New York City.

Delicatessen is one of those places I had been told  to check out by multiple people.  So many different people, that when I finally decided to go, I happened to wrangle several from different circle of friends and bring them all together.

There is an exciting energy about the place, because the market on the ground floor sets already sets the tone.   As friends make their way to the large table we had reserved, they are immediately excited by the dishes that are zipping past us at break-neck speeds. Delicatessen, Tel Aviv is a high volume restaurant and if it wasn’t for the reservation I don’t think we would have got a table for our large group.

It’s Business/Lunch Special

Most restaurants in Tel Aviv have what’s called a business lunch special.  Delicatessen offers for 79NIS a main course with an appetizer.  It’s not a bad deal, you save a bit here and there, but it makes trying things on their menu fairly easy.

Food for thought

The dishes at Delicatessen restaurant are fresh and colourful, but at appetizers really aren’t enough to satisfy you, as my friend Lolita found out by having only a small Asian Lettuce Salad with Ginger-Carrot Vinaigrette.

Many of my friends ordered the Salmon filet with a side of bulgar, which they found tender and rich in flavour. The menu describes the dish as “salmon with delicious things all around” or a “side of delicious things” which is true for the most part, and sounds a lot nicer than “BULGUR”

Bulgur sounds vulgar. Like an enemy race of Giants in Lord of the Rings “Beware the Bulgur!”

Or a vindictive king in Game of Thrones “Lord Bulgur, spare th’ peasants from certain death, it was only a loaf of bread!” (This is obviously followed by a gratuitous nude scene, or something with dragons.)

I ordered the chopped liver as an appetizer which was splendid to whet the appetite.  My main dish of the Roast Beef “Sinta” came highly recommended by the waitress, but I found it fell short of being spectacular. The meat was too chewy and because of its cut and thinness, cooled very quickly.

My friend Andrea ordered the Salad Nicoise, which looks like the classic French tuna salad with a Mediterranean twist.  It’s a generous and well put together salad of tuna, market fresh vegetables, roasted peppers with black olives, topped with a perfectly done hard boiled egg.

Looks colourful and tasty, but definitely an appetizer.

Sweet Delicatessen, Tel Aviv

Dessert is probably my favourite part of the meal.  Having a large group again proves advantageous again, since you can get a few for the table, instead of getting weird looks from the restaurant when you order three desserts for yourself.

Part of my commitment to this website in providing honest reviews and great photos, is that I often ask what is the best dessert, and also, which dessert looks the nicest?

You got purty sweet stuff?

I order the Fruit Tart, which once again my waitress assures me is the prettiest, most beautiful dessert they have.  Which she wasn’t lying.  Sadly, it’s just a regular fruit tart.  Nice fruit, just sweet enough but it’s nothing more than a pretty face.

The Mille Feuille on the hand is worth a thousand words (you see what I did there?).  I have a love affair with the Mille (which can both be sad — mental note: sign up for online dating) I worked at a restaurant that specialized in having a very authentic mille feuille.  This meant that with my lunch time meal discount I managed to consume a lot of mille feuille.  I probably had a thousand pieces(see what I did there?).  Delicatessen’s mille feuille is certainly a treat — creamy, crispy and sweet.

Dessertology 101 – Simple is better. Even if it is a thousand layers.

The Cheesecake as well is a simple, creamy perfect way to end the meal.  The cheesecake is one of the few desserts I find that the simpler it is the better it is.  This is fundamental in dessert-ology, because I find many desserts don’t excite the way they should. For example the fruit tart.  Cheesecake always delights, if not complicated.

Cheesecake is a like a good woman – what you see is what you get.  No drama, no hidden agenda and if she asks you if she looks fat in that graham cracker crust you say no.

Delicate Endings at Delicatessen Restaurant Tel Aviv

Grab a group of friends, or plan a surprise birthday party at Delicatessen.  It’s a fun place and offers an incredible dining experience.  If you do happen to go for a special occasion and forget a gift, you can always pick something wonderful and unique in the market below.