To be sincere, I stacked the deck towards Otoro. After I known as about writing a restaurant evaluation, I advised proprietor Otoro Dylan Sliwinski that I had simply come again from Japan (a reality I appear to work into each dialog I’ve) the place I ate some amazing sushi. I stated I might be in Tel Aviv for a gathering on a Sunday, when it’s often not potential to get recent fish.
“No drawback,” he answered. “We’ve got a personal fish provider on Sundays.”
So I discovered myself at Otoro, a small restaurant in Ramat Gan named for the fattiest and most flavorful a part of bluefin tuna. Diners sit on the 18 seats across the counter and eat freshly made handrolls as quickly because the chef makes them. That method the nori seaweed stays crispy. The rolls are small – three or 4 bites every – so that you want a number of to make a meal.
The most effective (kosher) Japanese meals in Israel
That is the perfect Japanese food I’ve had in Israel though I’ve not tried the non-kosher Japanese eating places right here. The fish and the opposite merchandise have been all top-of-the-line, and the mixture was scrumptious. Sliwinski specifically imports his rice and nori from China, and all sauces are made in-house. The fish was very high-quality, maybe the perfect I’ve had in Israel.
We began with a salmon tartare (NIS 64), consisting of a giant portion of recent chopped salmon on high of rice with a barely spicy mayonnaise. It was a wonderful begin.
We then tried the salad (NIS 68), which had chopped recent salmon, tuna, and yellowtail on high of a heap of cucumber “noodles.” It was served with small nori seaweed rectangles, and also you assemble your personal mini hand-roll. This may be a wonderful dish for anybody making an attempt to chop again on carbohydrates and we loved each chew.
Then there was crispy rice (NIS 68) – squares of rice which have been fried, topped with fish and different toppings. I would like a thesaurus to seek out synonyms for “wonderful” and “scrumptious.”
We moved on to the precise hand-rolls – I had the salmon (NIS 36) whereas my husband had the “crab” (NIS 33) which Sliwinski warned us was a bit spicy. The nori was crispy, and the textures went collectively fantastically.
For dessert there was mochi. We left feeling full however not stuffed and glad that we had discovered Otoro. Sliwinski says that at night time he closes the curtains and places candles on the sushi bar to make the ambiance extra romantic.
Sliwinski additionally has an important private story. He dropped out of college at 15 and commenced cooking in Israeli eating places. At 18, he went to cooking college in Paris the place he was employed by celeb chef Assaf Granit to work in his restaurant Shabour, which received a Michelin star.
He got here again to Israel, volunteered for the military the place he served as a fight soldier, and step by step grew to become extra spiritual. He determined he didn’t need to work in non-kosher eating places anymore however wished the excessive requirements he had grown accustomed to at Shabour.
He additionally married his French Jewish sous chef, they usually have two younger boys, aged 5 months, and a yr and a half. I joked that he involves the restaurant to get a bit relaxation.
He plans to open a number of different branches of Otoro in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, which will likely be run as franchises.
- Otoro
- 1 Hachilazon St., Ramat Gan
- Hours: Sunday, midday to 4 p.m.
- Monday-Thursday, midday to 4 p.m.; 6-11 p.m.
- Cellphone: 053-847-0033
- Kashrut: Rabbanut Ramat Gan
The author was a visitor of the restaurant.