Room Service, Tel Aviv

Room Service, Dizengoff 245, Tel Aviv

Room Service is a chic Tel Aviv Restaurant situated in the Old North at the corner of Dizengoff and Nordeau that dubs itself as a place for “mingling, coffee and dinner.” Since opening in the Summer of 2013, Room Service has been consistently busy. And rightfully so. The Tel Aviv restaurant offers a fun and hip atmosphere, with a varied menu to satisfy the palate. Room Service is under the same ownership as Tailor Made (99 Allenby) so you can expect a young adult crowd and a lively vibe. The mood is energetic and inviting, and even the artsy Moroccan style dishes and glassware enhance the dining experience. The “Room” in Room Service is an ideal place to come and relax with friends, and a good option for a (first) date; the bartenders are friendly and offer a bevy of fun but simple cocktails large and small. The “Service” can use some attention.

Like Room Service? Check out: Popina, Mitbach Lilah, Wineberg, or Tapeo. 

Beautiful dishes for an equally beautiful and killer dish.

Having dined here for Breakfast/Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, and Drinks (for the sake of the review) I can say Room Service offers a varied menu that caters to many tastes, and overall it was a satisfying culinary experience

The Red Tuna and Artichoke Bruschetta(s) at Room Service were excellent and highly recommended. The Stozzapreti “Priest Strangler” pasta, aside from having a killer name, is an outstanding dish with kalamata olives and a lovely lemon confit that brings the dish together nicely.

For dessert, the Chocolate Nemesis packs an dense chocolate taste, but for chocolate lovers I would implore you to get the Chocolate “Surprise.”  A round sphere of chocolate perfection with all sorts of “deliciousness” hidden and revealed in the most wonderful of ways.

Just wait until they pour the chocolate on the ball.

You will have to get one to see what the Surprise is!

Room Service puts itself up for some scrutiny with its name. The main concern with Room Service Restaurant is the “Service” part.  It lacks consistency and attention. While many would say that “this is Israel…” implying that one should expect the occasional poor service.  I interject only by stating the place is called Room SERVICE.  Other restaurants (for example Cafe Noir, and the R&M group restaurants) excel at service. If your namesake is that of specialize attention delivering food to a guest, you should aspire to that very well.

Room Service is a welcome addition to Little Tel Aviv in the North, and while still fairly new and has room to grow it has definitely made a delicious impact with Tel Aviv diners.

Dishes at Room Service, Tel Aviv

• Breakfast
• --Americano 12NIS
• --Breakfast Frittata 45NIS
• --Cafe Hafuch (Large) 3NIS (incl w above)
• --Israeli Breakfast 56NIS
• --Lemonana 0NIS (incl w above)
• --Chicken Sandwich 44NIS
• Lunch
• --Pea Soup 28NIS
• --Red Tuna Bruschetta 42NIS
• Dinner
• --Stozzapreti 47NIS
• --Quinoa Salad 49NIS
• --Sangria 36NIS
• --Caribbean Cruise 42NIS
• Late Night
• --Artichoke Bruschetta 43NIS
• --Artichoke Pasta 57NIS
• --Shakshuka Sandwich 39NIS
• --Double Rose Marie 82NIS
• --Le FeFonito 43NIS
• Dessert
• --Hello to the Queen 48NIS
• --Chocolate Surprise 38NIS
• --Chocolate Nemesis 37NIS

Room Service Restaurant Rating

Room Service Tel Aviv 3.75

Room Service Restaurant

Having never had real “room service” I revelled at the opportunity to dine at Room Service. Going on five different occasions I managed to get a sense of all that Room Service has to offer.

Israeli Breakfast with all the fixin’s. Perfect!

Room for Food

For Breakfast/Brunch: The chicken sandwich was hearty and offered a lovely side salad of fresh cherry tomatoes. The Israeli Breakfast came with a nice selection of accompaniments – cheeses, olives, salmon and jam. The Breakfast Frittata is served warm and fresh.

For Lunch: The split pea soup was warm, blended well and full flavoured without being overly salty. The Red Tuna Bruschetta is an amazing starter with aioli peppers, tomatoes, onions and kalamata olives.

For Dinner: The Stozzapreti “Priest Strangler” pasta is outstanding with cherry tomatoes, green beans, black olives, red onion, parmesan cheese and a lemon confit. (Sadly, the English menu renamed the pasta “Cavatelli” may the “Priest Strangler” rest in pieces). The Quinoa Salad is a wonderfully healthy choice, cooked perfectly and full flavoured with almonds and cranberries mixed in.

Late Night: With a large group of friends we ordered several cocktails, an appetizer, a couple of meals and a few desserts.  The Artichoke Bruschetta was a worthy indulgence to start the meal, and the Shakshuka Sandwich is uniquely set inside half a loaf of fresh bread. The Artichoke pasta dish ordered was very similar to the Stozzapreti, but with larger sheet pasta. It was not as tasty as the “Priest Strangler” and was sadly plated.

Artichoke Bruschetta (L), Pasta with Artichoke (R)

The cocktails were a mixed batch.  Some boozy and large like the Rose Marie, offering many straws for the group to share.  Others like the Le FeFonito had all the right ingredients of gin, ginger and cucumber but was not muddled together to blend the flavours.  During a dinner date, warm sangria tantalized the tastebuds of my beautiful guest, giving her a metaphorical alcoholic blanket for her insides (does that make sense?).  The Caribbean Cruise was a perfect punch of sweet rum, coconut and banana.

Are you on Drugs?

Room Service has several desserts.  The clear winner in the dessert category is the Chocolate “Surprise.”  Their signature dessert, Hello to the Queen, apparently is a guest favourite. We were told it was something served in India and many Israelis request it. It is a small amount of caramelized bananas with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, almonds, crushed biscuits, chocolate drizzle, and topped with an obscene amount of whipped cream.

Seriously?

It was something a five-year old would enjoy (no offense), and probably made himself (no offense). This dessert is something you find at a Chuckie Cheese in run down parts of Cleveland (no offense… well maybe a little.)

(I’m told many Israelis go to India to do a lot of drugs so that could explain this dessert’s popularity.  It could also explain its name: They are hallucinating and seem to mistake a heap of whipped cream as the pail Queen Mother.)

Blarg: We ordered the Chocolate Nemesis, a dense slice of rich chocolate cake, to attack our minds and our mouths, and clear ourselves of the offending Queen.

Service

Our only main issue with Room Service was the inconsistent service.  It can be hit or miss depending on the time and day, where you sit and who you get.

NomNom: And for a restaurant named Room SERVICE, that’s a problem.

First Date Jitters

One example during a date: We were seated without menus, and they forgot our table altogether for 15 minutes, until I had to walk over and kindly get their attention. Even afterwards, there were occasions where she seemed too busy to check in, until we joked with her that we were ready to order, and then later pay the bill. (Other instances include servers preoccupied with their phones, and some being unintentionally cold and unfriendly.)

For the most part it never ruined the dining experience, but when you are on a date — it is something to be wary of. Especially since it is a really great place for a date.

Restaurants are aplenty in Tel Aviv.  With a high quality menu, what ultimately makes or break a place is the service. Having friendly (and good looking) staff is only part of the formula.  Making sure they are attentive, focused and aware of their surroundings is what differentiates the restaurants that have people come back time and time again. If you don’t believe me, just ask the Queen.  (And when you do, tell her I say Hello.)