Turkiz Restaurant: Tel Aviv, Israel

Date:  24 aout 2011
Location:  Herz Roznblum Str. 6  Migdeley Ne'eman
Tel Aviv, Israel
Tel:  972 03 6996306
http://www.turkiz-rest.co.il/main-E.php

My first meal in Tel Aviv.  Turkiz (which means "turquoise" I learned yesterday) Restaurant, on the water.  What a surprise!  This is a beautiful, casual, and very relaxing restaurant with a view of the Mediterranean Sea.  The food is fresh, and light and healthy, with little interesting twists of creativity added to typically simple, traditional Mediterranean dishes - lots of grilled vegetables and seafood.  As a foreigner, I did not think this restaurant was easy to find, even with GPS (which you will not be able to locate the coordinates directly... spare you the details, just trust me on this - it is just how things work in Israel).  Luckily I had a human GPS on my mobile's other end who knew landmarks well and led me precisely. This restaurant stays open all day and doesn't close for siesta.  So for a girl like me who was running three hours late (with crappy GPS), no worrying about doors closing.

We sat inside (yippee, aircon!) in the corner with a perfect view out into the sea, sun just starting to set around 430pm.  Naturally, we started with a three flight wine tasting.  I chose Israeli wines since, when in Rome do as Romans do!  A very nice welcome into this country, as anyone who knows me well, knows that wine tasting makes me very happy!  I want to say we had a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Gewurztraminer.  Forgive me for not remembering just this once, since I had been traveling for the past 20+ hours.  These wines were ok, however not mind blowing by my French palate standards.  That's alright, plenty of time to explore the region's wines next few months, and I am keeping an open mind.  The Mediterranean Sea sparkled in front of us, blue sky and balmy weather (okay it was actually really hot outside).

One of the great benefits of being a newbie in a foreign country, in addition to letting someone else choose the restaurant - is letting them order the food.  No project management needed from me here, except just navigating and showing up.  :-)

I stepped outside to take in the Mediterranean Sea view, and returned to a beautiful medley of the following dishes for me to try on my first of many beautiful meals to be had in Israel.  Welcome to Israel.  Bon appetit ! Or - בון אפטי!

View of the Mediterranean Sea from outside dining patio.  Beautiful!

My first time having shrimp falafel with smoked tahini and tomato cilantro salad.  Most Israelis I have met so far are unaware of this dish... so it is a special creation from Turkiz Restaurant it seems!  So cute, they look like they are swimming.  :)))))))

Simple grilled asparagus with grilled tomato (tasted sun dried, so sweet!), yogurt, and pine nuts.

Grilled eggplant with light goat milk feta cheese on top...  I love eggplant!

Ceviche, saltwater fish, celery, lemon slices, mint leaves, red onion, olive oil and lemon.

 Waiting for dessert... and of course, ordered a sweet dessert wine.  :-)

Traditional dessert:  something kind of nougat with pistachio ice cream......  and some sliced cherries.  Yum!

Not so traditional dessert but just to try :)  ... chocolate cake with crispy crust!  Very good!