If you have been reading my posts lately, you’ll realize I’ve been having too much of a good time in Tel Aviv. This is one city whose residents immerse themselves in a totally hedonistic lifestyle. Great food, parties till the wee hours of the morning, hanging out on the beach . . . It’s not a surprise therefore to find an excellent cafe in the trendy Neve Tzedek area called Cafe Mia, serving decadent pastries and chocolates in addition to good coffee, salads and sandwiches. Open for breakfast, this is a wonderful place to hang out.

Cafe Mia is a cozy cafe on two levels with white walls, next to a chocolate shop called Dolce Mia. On a cold winter evening I had espresso coffee with milk and melted Belgian chocolate, a sort of a mocha coffee only far better than those horrid artificially sweetened “cafe mocha” drinks that one finds in the US. The pastries are divine!

Cafe Mia
55 Shabazi Street
Tel Aviv
Tel: +972 3 516 8793

If you want to dine in the Neve Tzedek neighborhood, there are two popular restaurants that serve good Mediterranean cuisine: Dallal and Nana Bar.

(1) Dallal

Located next to the Suzanne Dallal center, Dallal is very popular and you have to reserve if you want to dine after 9pm.

• Vibe: Mediterranean “outdoor” feel meets European brasserie chic; lots of trendy young couples but the place still has a relaxed informal atmosphere.

• Pros: excellent fresh fish, good pasta, good wine list, intimate, comfortable seating.

• Cons: need to reserve in advance, can get loud if the place is packed

Dallal
10 Shabazi Street
Tel Aviv
+972 3 510 9292

(2) Nana Bar

Part bar, part restaurant with a DJ in the later hours, Nana Bar is a good place for dinner with friends. Relaxed and atmospheric at the same time because of the outdoor patio, it is the perfect place for a spring or summer evening out.

• Vibe: relaxed, fun, informal outdoor seating; feels like summer all the time

• Pros: delicious fresh unpretentious Mediterranean food, reasonable prices

• Cons: bar area gets very crowded later in the night

Nana Bar
1 Ahad Haam Street
Tel Aviv
+972 3 516 1915

There’s only really one place to stay in Tel Aviv if you don’t want the concrete tower-block chain hotel experience: Nina Suites, a boutique hotel in heart of trendy Neve Tzedek, a neighborhood filled with cafes, restaurants, artisanal jewelry shops and clothing stores.

Nina Suites has rooms and studio apartments for longer stays. The decor is chic and modern, but not over the top. It is cozy, warm and inviting. Across the street is the Nina Cafe, which serves delicious breakfasts and lunches. It is THE hangout in this neighborhood in the afternoons, especially on the weekend (which is Israel is Friday and Saturday).

It’s a mystery to me why there aren’t more boutique hotels like Nina Suites in Tel Aviv. In other cities such as Amsterdam and Barcelona, boutique hotels with an emphasis on design and personal attention have been springing up like mushrooms. Indeed, Nina Suites is very much in demand among foreign visitors so you have to reserve well in advance. It is minutes from the beach and a short walk from Jaffa (the old city).

Nina Cafe Suites
29 Shabazi Street
Tel Aviv
+972 52 508 41 41
www.ninacafehotel.com

Neighborhood hangouts

If you are staying in Neve Tzedek, the best places for coffee and light lunches are Nina Cafe across the street from the hotel, Mia Cafe (decadent chocolates and pastries) and Tazza d’Oro. For dinner, don’t miss Nana Bar and Dallal. There’s also a sushi place just down the street from the Nina Suites.

There’s no reason why anyone should have to spend a lot of money eating great Italian food in Amsterdam and put up with snobby personnel or overdesigned “trendy” spaces.

Quattro Gatti, a tiny Italian restaurant in my neighborhood (the Negen Straatjes or Nine Streets), is absolutely the best in town. Prices are reasonable and the food is divine. Because it’s small, reservations are difficult to come by. The chef, who is also the owner, does not believe in expanding the place because he says he will lose control over quality.

Johannes van Dam, food critic of Het Parool (the Amsterdam newspaper), gave Quattro Gatti a 10- (click here to read review in Dutch). And everyone here knows it’s nearly impossible to get a 10 from him. Ever since van Dam reviewed Quattro Gatti, getting a table has been difficult for the neighborhood regulars who, for several months, had this place all to themselves, a real well-kept secret.

• Vibe: relaxed, trattoria feel

• Pros: best Italian food in Amsterdam, mostly northern Italian dishes but sometimes Sicilian since the chef is from Sicily, reasonable prices, outstanding home-made pasta, luscious desserts, good service

• Cons: small space, chairs are a tad uncomfortable, limited wine list

Quattro Gatti
Hartenstraat 3
Amsterdam
+31 20 421 4585

After several days of eating my way through the city (Herbert Samuel, Orna and Ella), I realized that I may actually be gaining weight. That (and the craziness of local drivers) is one of the hazards of visiting this city. It’s a pity that most people do not associate Tel Aviv with good food because I have not had a bad meal here.

The other night I went to a restaurant called Orca, which is well known and has been on the “favorites” list of many people for years. The signature dish — ravioli filled with an egg yolk, crab meat and goat cheese — was truly memorable. The fish was very fresh and delicious. I did not make it to dessert, unfortunately, because I was stuffed. And it’s just as well because when I saw the desserts, they were immense and utterly decadent.

• Vibe: large, airy, stylish interior, tables far apart from each other so you can have private conversations, comfortable chairs; slightly older, more conservative crowd than at Herbert Samuel.

• Pros: excellent seafood and fresh pasta, good service, civilized dining experience (i.e. noise levels are low so you can enjoy real dinner conversations unlike in a lot of restaurants in San Francisco and Amsterdam).

• Cons: a bit expensive for Tel Aviv, but in line with what you’d pay in Amsterdam and Paris for the quality of the food.

Orca
57 Nachalat Binyamin
Tel Aviv
Tel: +972 3 566 5505