There are few culinary styles less pretentious yet more rewarding than those of the Balkans, where favorite dishes include spicy sausages, garlic-rich beef patties, preserved fruits, and marinated roast peppers. A Balkan favorite worth trying is pui Romanese, a chicken stew made with white beans. Be careful, however, not to order pui de Balta unless you want to dine on "chicken of the swamp" - frogs. You will dine well at any of the following restaurants, all of which are ultimately simple in style and at which two can dine well for under NIS 200 including a bottle of wine.

Yankele: HaMaginim 26, Haifa: This home-like place been serving excellent Romanian dishes for at least 40 years. Forget the chips but after starting with excellent eggplant salads, pickled tomatoes and cucumbers, and ikra go on to steaks cooked on the grill, chicken stew and the thumb shaped, garlic-rich beef patties known as mititai. For dessert try the candied fruits. Open daily 11:00 - 18:00. Tel: 04 8676188.

Ma'ayan ha Biera, Natanson 4, Haifa: Despite a decor and a kitchen that are most charitably described as primitive, this long-established restaurant serves up food that is often exquisite. The ikra is smooth and creamy, the chopped chicken liver is so full of goose fat that it makes you sigh for joy, and the eggplant salad, made special by the addition of garlic and tumeric is excellent. My own favorite meat dishes here are the excellent pastrami and the beef ribs and, if available on the day of my visit, the rabbit or grilled suckling pig. Open Sunday - Friday, 08:00 - 17:00. Tel: 04 8623913.

Pini's Restaurant: Rehov Yaffo 31, Jerusalem (in the alley): For 18 years, Pini has been serving up some of the simplest but best meals in Jerusalem. Start off by ordering a variety of salads, being sure to include at least the cold cauliflower with amba sauce, the hot grilled baby eggplants, the lightly pickled radishes , and the chopped cabbage mixed with a nicely seasoned tomato sauce. Continue with. lamb chops, steaks, kebabs and sausages cooked on the grill and keep in mind that a house specialty is of skewers of various internal organs of beef (lungs, diaphragm, liver, etc), all of which are juicy, have not a trace of fat on them and have just the right flavor imparted by the charcoals. Open daily 12:00 - 24:00. Tel: 02 6259570..

Mifgash ha Balkan, Sderot Yerushalayim 43, Jaffa: For more than 45 years, this simple but delightful eatery has served up Balkan cookery par excellence. The meat soup, which is based on a light tomato and beef stock, has lots of good meat in it and is flavored generously with pepper, paprika and parsley,. Afterwards, if you still have room for it, consider the moussaka, the classic dish of the Balkans, this one made with light crusts of grilled cheese sitting comfortably on layers of well seasoned ground beef and eggplant and then continue with Bulgarian kebabs. With a glass of hot mint tea, sample a few baked dates and one or two of the stuffed prunes. Open Monday - Thursday and Saturday from 11:00 - 21:00 and on Friday until about 17:00. Tel: 03 6830719.

© Daniel Rogov