In Tel Aviv for a week to visit family, we are staying in the southern Old North district rather than our usual Ramat Aviv location (close to family) due to unavailability on AirBnB. It’s given us a chance to become more familiar with central Tel Aviv. Gordon Beach is about a 20 minute walk, and the beachfront cafe serves a suprsisingly good hummus. For dinner this evening we decided to stay within reasonable walking distance, and settled on Pastel in the Tel Aviv Museum/Opera complex. An expansive glass-walled room overlooks a lush greenscape hidden in the complex. A welcoming terrace and bar fronts the greenery; we opted to sit inside on this warm evening. The high-ceiling room has a large central bar, with tables distributed in a jointed semicircle arount it. Many (most) offer comfortable banquettes. The lighting is subdued and despite the glass and hard surfaces, the acoustics are pleasantly subdued as well - a bit of a welcome surprise in busy Tel Aviv. We started with the bread basket and a “spicy” plate of peppers, roasted garlic, schug, and the like. First courses included a shared crudo plate (grouper cevice, red tuna tartar, salmon and denise sashimi, served with a trio of dipping sauces; a colrabi “pasta” with unfathomably long strands of colrabi in a light lemony dressing, and crabmeat baked in kadaif. All were excellent. For our mains we mainly stuck to “middle” dishes off the menu, pierogi stuffed with grape leaves and calamari stuffed with lamb 'nduja, goose confit the only proper “main”. The portions were generous, so no regrets ordering from the “midcourse” section. The goose and calamari were flavorful, but the pierogi lacked conviction. We shared the “Yogurt” (forzen yogurt with an oat crumble, glazed pears, “aerated” chocolate and za’atar) and the “ancer” (flan with glazed apricots, toasted kadaif, and Mahleb foam). The Dancer was the winner by a mile.
Service was pleasant and reasonably attentive. Our meal was interrupted by air raid sirens, and we decamped to the praking garage for safety (some patrons made the dubious decision to remain seated next to the wall of glass), but we returned after about 15 minutes for dessert.
Not inexpensive, but a reasonable value. The setting, a calm oasis in the heart of Tel Aviv, was particularly pleasant.
