Following is a list of recommended restaurants that should happily dispel the myth that dining out on French cuisine has to be expensive. Depending on what you order, the bill for two at each of the following places, including a bottle of good but reasonably priced wine will come to between NIS 250 - 400 (about $US 60 - 90) per couple.

Carmella HaTavor 46 (corner of Rambam), Tel Aviv. (03) 5161417. Sun - Fri 12:30 - 23:00. Excellent French-Mediterranean cuisine in a charming setting. Roasted pear with blue cheese, grilled eggplant with feta, coriander and parsley salad with cashew nuts, seviche of shrimps, baby calamaris perfumed with thyme and citrus as first courses. Go on to potato gnocchi with porcini mushroom sauce, bass fillets in oregano-tomato sauce; mussels in garlic and wine; lamb skewers grilled on charcoals. Do not miss the desserts.

Raphael 87 Hayarkon, Tel Aviv. (03) 5226464. Open daily 12:30 - 15:00 and 19:00 - 23:00. The new star on the local culinary scene and already one of the best restaurants in the country. Among other superb offerings, the porcini mushroom risotto, the ricotta and pecorino cheese raviolis, calamari with a warm salad of Jerusalem artichokes, leg of lamb with lentils, and for dessert ricotta cake with raisin-rum ice cream.

Pastis 73 Rothschild, Tel Aviv. (03) 5250773. Daily 11:00 - 23:30. Upswing bistro dining. Mussels Provencale, bouillabaisse, fillet of fish with pesto and herbs, shrimps, calamari and mussels in herbed butter sauce; vanilla-ginger ice cream.

Golf Bistro and Bar At the Caesarea Golf Club. (04) 6260272. Daily 08:00 - 22:30. Attractive view and a comfortable not too pretentious setting. Seafood bisque, tortellinis with crabmeat; shrimps wrapped in goose breast; spinach and mushroom lasagna, entrecote on a bed of steamed onions.

Pri Megadim Rehov Rothschild 3, Mazkerit Batia. (08) 934- 9946. Mon - Sat 12:00 - 16:00 and 19:00 - 23:00. Fine rustic dining. Goose liver pate, deep fried spinach and cheese balls and then lamb osso bucco, gizzards in brown sauce, mutton stew with shallots.

Bat Ha'eycar (The Farmer's Daughter) 21 Harishonim, Metulla. (04) 6997177. Daily 10:00 - 24:00. French-Mediterranean offerings in a 19th century farm building. Mushrooms with honeyed soya sauce, grilled eggplant with cream sauce, chicken with grilled peppers, grilled smoked meats.

Hippopotame 12 Yirmiahu, Tel Aviv. (03) 5466348. Daily 12:00 - 00:30. A casual Tel Aviv institution, with true bistro cooking. Among best bets are the shrimps and calamari in Bechamel sauce, escargots Bourguignon, goose liver escalope and entrecote in pepper sauce.

Kimmel 6 HaShachar, Tel Aviv. (03) 5105204. Daily 12:00 - 24:00. Appealing ambiance and distinctly Mediterranean flavors. Liver pate with Calvados, cheese and vegetable platter, beef tongue in Provencale sauce, chocolate cake with Grand Marnier.

Claudine 2 Mohliver, Yehud. (03) 6320692. Sun - Fri 12:00 - 14:30 and 19:00 - 23:00; Sat 12:00 - 15:30. French classicism with hints of culinary modernism. Goose liver with onion jam, Burgundy style snails, steak Rossini, and excellent side dishes.

© Daniel Rogov