My own regular order when visiting here is for either the 200 or 300 gram hamburger with a small side order of chips and I am delighted anew every time. The thick burgers, made from fresh, high quality beef and cooked medium-rare, are always firm and delicious; the Emmenthal cheese that topped my burger was full of flavor and not at all rubbery; and the bacon that I sometimes request to compliment those is just crisp and salty enough. To make things even better, the burgers are served with tomato slices, crisp lettuce and a thick slice of onion, all of which were as fresh as I could have hoped for. A "small" order of chips is always so generous in size that as delicious, crisp and grease-free as they were, I rarely finish them off. Nor do I ever that my invariable beverage of choice is for an ice-cold Leffe Blond beer on tap. You won't find anything fancy or pretentious here, but you will find a remarkably friendly place, hamburgers that are unbeatable and prices that cannot help but appeal..
Open daily 12:00 - 03:00 or later.

As intermediate courses consider the good Camembert quiche and the mélange of large champignon mushrooms, forest mushrooms and onions served sizzling hot on the black iron skillet in which they had been cooked was no less rewarding, the flavor of the mushrooms being complimented very nicely by a generous sprinkling of salt and what I believe was a mixture of olive oil and butter. The best of the main courses I have sampled were of ossobucco of pork, and of goose liver on toast with a delicious sweet onion confit. For dessert try the crepes with a filling of white chocolate and kiwi fruits. An acceptable wine list, but no one will object if you bring your own fine bottle. Worth a special trip from Tel Aviv or even from Jerusalem. Open Mon - Sat 19:00 - 22:00. Advance reservations are required. Moderate - Expensive.

A very good bet for a first course is the terrine in which eggplant and zucchini are layered with goat's cheese and a thickened pesto-like sauce of green herbs. The terrine is firm, just peppery enough and full of flavor. A small accompanying green salad, topped with slivered almonds and just a tad of mustard vinaigrette to add to the pleasure of the dish. Good bets as main courses include the seafood casserole that is served in the long handled almost red-hot skillet in which it was cooked, and with an abundant amount of a sauce made by heating together sweet red vermouth and lime juice, the dish features ample amounts of shrimps, calamaris and moules, all cooked perfectly and a whole crab. The sauce, which added a nice touch of sweetness to the dish was good enough to finish off with a soup spoon, and the accompanying potatoes, best perhaps described as short, fat chips were quite good. Carnivores will especially appreciate the fillet steak topped by slices of goose liver and for dessert give serious consideration to the cinnamon rich tarte tatin. The wine list could be better but no one will object if you bring your own good bottle. Moderate prices. Open daily 08:00 - 03:00.

Among the many good options as main courses are the mixed platter of shrimps and mussels in a saffron-rich sauce, the grilled-herbed fish that seem to have just come from the water, and the various shrimp and calamari dishes. For dessert try the excellent apple pie and don’t turn down the complementary glass of after-dinner limenocelllo that is offered. A moderate but good wine list and good service add to the pleasures of dining here. Worth a trip. Open Mon – Sat 12:00 – 24:00.

Ever since he opened since he opened his first bakery cum restaurant in Herzliya Pituach, I have sung the praises of Erez Komorovsky's breads and his not at all formal but often excellent cuisine. Call it California cookery or call it California with distinct touches of French, Italian, Greek, Spanish and even Turkish cuisines, or call it simply "funky", but the food here is always great fun to eat, the service is always pleasant and almost always efficient and even the wine list is acceptable. Because the menu changes frequently and so many of the courses are excellent, I can go on and on about dishes that have pleased me here. As openers, try either the focaccia bianca, a thin white baked Italian bread seasoned with olive oil, spices and chives or the pizzatta, a far thicker dough coated generously with a well made sauce based on dried tomatoes, olive oil and herbs, all laid over with paper thin slices of zucchini. Go on to an antipasto platter of roasted sweet peppers, grilled zucchini and labane (yoghurt cheese), and then, if bread is one of your passions to another focaccia but this one with good proscuitto ham and sprigs of rosemary and sage. Among others of the main courses well worth trying are the spring chicken grilled with mustard seeds, Szechuan pepper and dill; the pork fillet grilled with cumin, coriander and pomegranate syrup; the moules in white wine, garlic, wild lemons, ginger and lemon grass; or the beef fillet served with salsa and an intentionally coarse but marvelously rich potato puree. Keep in mind as well that Erez' 300 gram hamburgers, served with country-style bread and a home made chunky ketchup sauce is best categorized as "out of this world". What the heck - even the desserts are good here, my own favorite being a tartlet of filo dough filled with small figs and an Excellent mascarpone cream. Open daily from 08:00 - 01:00 and on Saturdays from 10:30. Evening reservations suggested.

Ever since he opened since he opened his first bakery cum restaurant in Herzliya Pituach, I have sung the praises of Erez Komorovsky's breads and his not at all formal but often excellent cuisine. Call it California cookery or call it California with distinct touches of French, Italian, Greek, Spanish and even Turkish cuisines, or call it simply "funky", but the food here is always great fun to eat, the service is always pleasant and almost always efficient and even the wine list is acceptable.

The menu changes here fairly frequently according to Erez' whims but those whims are often an absolute delight. At this writing Erez has returned to his original concept - that of serving dishes of a multitude of varieties with many of those based on the freshly baked breads that have made him a local folk-hero. As opening courses consider the fried cauliflower in a piquant yoghurt and pine nut sauce; another of eggplant in olive oil and yoghurt and a third of fennel that had been treated to a well made lemon vinaigrette sauce. With this will come chunks of one of Erez' hard crusted country style breads, and with that olive oil, balsamic vinegar and coarse salt. The combination is unbeatable. In fact, good enough that one can easily make an entire meal out of these treats. Don't stop here though and go on to the lafa bread wrapped about chicken livers, the livers being marinated with cinnamon and cardamom and then packed into the soft bread together with fruit chutney and watercress; the Italian style closed pastry of lightly sweetened dough filled with spinach, Swiss charde and kashkeval cheese; or the mozzarella pizzetta - a thick pizza like concoction in which a flavorful dough base had been topped generously with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, Portobello mushroom slices and leaves of thyme; a "taftir" of roasted eggplant and chopped lamb wrapped in a pita bread; and a chicken piadina, a sandwich more or less in the style enjoyed in Barcelona in which chunks of Cajun style chicken were placed between toasty hot slices of focaccia bread and spread generously with a garlicky, lightly hot aioli sauce. Portions are not large - they are huge and prices are so reasonable that they are almost unbelievable and to add to your pleasure you will be surrounded by a group of happy people all tucking in to foods they are obviously enjoying. Open daily from 08:00 - 01:00 and on Saturdays from 10:30. One of the best casual restaurants in the country.

Spacious and attractive, with windows overlooking the golf course and gardens, the restaurant is informal but sophisticated and the service is remarkably pleasant and responsive. Worth the drive to Caesaria for a relaxed lunch or dinner. Open daily 08:00 - 22:30. Prices are surprisingly moderate.

Among the most exciting first courses are a peeled avocado that is spread like a fan and filled with a delicate tartare of red tuna. Served with a well made tartare sauce, the dish is perfect. Other tempting first course are one of crab meat that had been first wrapped in Swiss chard and then in filo dough before being deep fried and another of a fillet of sea bass that is rolled around coquilles St. Jacques and served on a carpaccio of kohlrabi. Although the entrecote steaks here are legion, don't hesitate to try the thick tournedos wrapped with bacon - a true carnivore's dream. Also excellent are the veal sweetbreads poached in chicken stock and served with Portobello mushrooms and a just peppery enough oyster sauce. As dessert go on to the light but pineapple and coriander flavored sorbet set on a slice of fresh pineapple. The service is warm and responsive, the wine list is very good and the restaurant is attractive. Daily 12:30 - 23:00. Moderate - Expensive.

Even though no one will ever accuse this fish and seafood restaurant of being fancy or pretentious, it is one of the most beloved eateries in the country and people make special trips from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem simply to dine here. The greeting on entering is genuinely warm, the service is simple but attentive and the dishes are all prepared marvelously. The physical largeness of the restaurant taken together with its rough hewn, dark colored wooden floors and high ceilings with wood beams go far in creating a pleasant atmosphere, all of which is added to by the constant buzz of noise of people enjoying themselves. Every one of the fish and seafood offerings are worthwhile, but consider especially what is called the "spoiling meal", a degustation menu of seven courses including the "savigar", a tube of deep fried dough filled with seafood and vegetables; mussels cooked in wine and onions; two kinds of shrimps (one in butter and garlic sauce and the other served fra diabolo); calamari in a garlicky sauce; fish and seafood soup, and a huge plate of fresh steamed crabs. miss. To add to the charms of the place, there is an excellent wine list. Open daily from noon - midnight or later. Reservations strongly suggested.

Physically beautiful, with a lovely view of the boats bobbing gently on the waters of the marina, this charming restaurant would fit comfortably into the most sophisticated settings of New York, San Francisco or Vancouver. Dine outside or in the cocktail lounge on informal meals (excellent hamburgers, pastrami sandwiches, and more sophisticated light meals based on seafood), or for a full meal try the more formal and equally beautiful dining room that features what Oscar Wilde once called "an appropriate but not at all snobbish level of civilization". Without a note of falseness and respect for his ingredients and cooking times, and with remarkably attentive and friendly service, and with dishes that are executed just right, most definitely a place to visit.

Among the dishes I have most enjoyed here are a cylinder in which slices of sweetbreads are interspersed with crisply toasted slices of brioche and a selection of gently grilled vegetables all served with a light Bechamel sauce; an exquisite risotto (more Italian than French) with asparagus; and the succulent entrecote steak with or without South American chimichurri sauce (oil, lemon juice, garlic, chopped red peppers, salt, pepper and paprika). Even the desserts here are good and while no one will claim that what is served up here is "great" cuisine, chef Yankele Shai is doing many things as they should be done, producing dishes that are very well prepared, creative and great fun to eat. The wine list is good but take a bit of care, for some of the wines listed are priced outrageously. No problem though, for there are good wines at reasonable prices as well. Formal dining area open daily from 19:00 - 24:00; bar and terrace dining and cafe areas from 09:00 - 01:00.

As main courses, you won't go at all wrong with the lamb ossobucco, the goose gizzards in a rich brown sauce, the mutton stew with shallots, the goose livers with a lightly bitter orange sauce, and the confit avaz which is so crisp and full of flavor that it will enchant. Even the desserts are good - the chocolate mousse perhaps the most dense and rich I have tasted in years and the apple strudel so soft and rich that it can only be defined as sinful. Open Monday - Saturday 12:00 - 16:00 and 19:00 - 23:00. Because the place is small be sure to make advance reservations.

One unbeatable lunch option, at NIS 69 starts off with simultaneously rich and gentle miso soup and a delightful salad of seaweed and thinly sliced cucumbers in a lightly lemony, just piquant enough sauce. Go on to a platter that includes sixteen bite sized maki sushi (my own options are for the salmon, tuna with green onion, salmon skin, and crab meat sushis), two larger sushi (go for the tempura chicken and fresh tuna) that are packed into a swirl of rice together with seaweed; and eight slices of perfectly fresh and marvelously refreshing sashimi (my favorites are the salmon and the squid). Or, if you prefer, after soup and salad go on to yaki soba noodles tossed together with just crisp enough vegetables and an ample amount of sliced duck. Good food and an appealing and sometimes bustling atmosphere come together in ways that may lack prestige but offer truly fun dining. Definitely a place to visit when dining Japanese style without bankruptcy beckons. Reasonable - Moderate. Daily 12:00 - 24:00.

As a main course consider the Salli Nikko in which a thick beef fillet is set on a pancake made from sweet potatoes. The beef was good enough to have been eaten tartare style, that is to say raw, but it was cooked medium rare as requested and the flavors and textures of the beef and the crisp sweet potato pancake came together beautifully. To add to the pleasures of the offering, the teriyaki sauce, enriched with red wines and with shitake mushrooms that accompanied the dish was perfection. A place in which the relaxed atmosphere and excellent food come together beautifully. Open daily 12:00 - 24:00.

Restaurants featuring hibachis, small Japanese charcoal grills set in the table at which one cooks one's own meals are no strangers to Tokyo, Osaka, New York of San Francisco. Finally, after a nearly half century-lag, such a place has appeared in Herzliya Pituach and for good and fun dining, definitely a place worth visiting. Dark, lacquered wood tables, each with a copper-rimmed charcoal burning hibachi set in the center, just the right and not-at-all kitschy touches of rice paper screens and a small but comfortable bar at which one can dine all provide intimate and comfortable hints of Japan. Happily, to remove what might be a sense of phoniness, a high black ceiling with exposed air conditioning ducts and polished wood floors give this charming restaurant a post-modern sense of where we really are. Most of the tables are set at the usual height but some, in what might be seen as an attempt to replicate "true Japanese dining", are set in private rooms suitable for four, six or eight diners and are raised only about 20 centimeters above the floor. Fortunately, these low tables have a recess for the legs, this avoiding the terrible leg cramps that most Westerners feel after about twenty minutes of squatting on cushions, their legs folded under them.

Beef is the specialty here as it is in many hibachi restaurants in Japan, so after starting with kimchi (appetizers) of Chinese cabbage and Swiss chard leaves in a piquant marinade and a place of salad greens in a sweet sauce go on to thin slices of prime ribs and beef tongue. Don't hesitate as well to consider the shrimps and the plump coquilles St. Jacques. Finish your meal Japanese style, with one of the soups that are offered (the ox-tail soup is excellent, plenty of meat falling off the bone and underplayed but delicious vegetables in a lightly miso-flavored stock). If you want wine with your meal stay with a spicy white such as the Alsace Gewurtztraminer that is offered or, if you want to do it the truly Japanese way, stay with simple but good and icy-cold Kirin beers. Open Monday - Saturday 19:00- 24:00 and on Mon, Tues, Weds and Sat from 12:30 - 15:00.