Monday, April 11, 2011

Notes from Tel Aviv: Sandwich at Sabroso

(Ed.: Andrew is currently in Rehovot, Israel, near Tel Aviv, having temporarily relocated there for the purpose of scientific advancement.  As my Middle East Bureau Chief for the next several months, he will hopefully be sharing some of the area's culinary delights.  Here is his first report, which I have taken the liberty of editing slightly.)

It seems the restaurants here are hit-or-miss, but there's a really nice one that is partially outdoors called The Strawberry Tree (in Hebrew, of course).  The only thing is, there are so many stray cats around here that you might meet a new friend while you eat.

Also, it turns out that food photography requires some skill when you have a terrible cell phone camera.  I had a delicious chorizo sandwich at a place called Sabroso for a little over 30 shekels ($8.65), and the restaurant was this great little hole in the wall, but as you can see, the resulting photo does not convey any sense of quality whatsoever.  Granted, this could be because I ate half the sandwich first. 


Service: free beer and orange soda in compensation for no English menu.  Not bad.


The restaurant had flat screens for watching soccer, and to the right of my plate was a goldfish bowl with two fish swimming around. The seating was half bar and half tables, plus a covered street patio. The bar managed to use plywood in an attractive way, which I was a little impressed by, given that plywood typically looks terrible.