Art Meat

Art Meat is one of the new wave restaurants offering the best in quality meat dishes without compromising the kashrut. The restaurant is mehadrin under the hashgacha of Rabbanut Ramat Gan. The meat is under the hashgacha Rav Machphud and the chicken is under the hashgacha of Rav Landa.

Owner Shaul knows his business. He comes from a family of restaurateurs. Chef Yoel Arditi comes to the restaurant from the famous non-kosher Rafael and Rushfield restaurants. He describes the restaurant as a meat restaurant, not gourmet. What this means is that the emphasis is on the quality of the meat, the aging and the cooking, and not on fancy sauces or complicated dishes. The dishes are basic. The foods are presented nicely but simply without too much "handling."

The art of Art Meat begins when the meat enters the restaurant. The meat comes from South America and from local suppliers. It is carefully aged for at least 3 weeks and processed by the restaurant’s expert butchers so that it is absolutely perfect when it gets to your plate.

The appetizers will whet your appetite for the serious business ahead. For starters we enjoyed the vegetarian grilled eggplant and the chicken wings. The chicken wings were crispy and just a touch spicy. We also tried the corned beef starter, paper-thin slices of salt beef on balsamic vinegar with a bit of roquette (arugula) salad. This was a most unique dish, very tasty and nevertheless suitable for people who prefer not to eat Carpaccio. These were served with the house bread, which is coarsely cut dark bread flavored with walnuts. Delicious.

My companion had the fresh Denis fish: two filets baked and grilled to crisp them served with a mound of rice. She was pleased by the flavor (not fishy) and texture. I had the sinte (Sirloin or NY cut) steak, a large piece (300 grams) grilled to a perfect medium as I had requested. This was truly one of the best steaks I have ever had, juicy, soft, not fatty, and perfectly seasoned with coarse salt and coarse ground pepper. Visually it was a picture – dark on the outside with the grill marks that you see on touched-up advertisements. It is a bit pricey at 125 shekels, but an unusual and memorable dining experience.

Other main dishes available are hamburger (especially for the kids), ravioli and pargiot (breast of spring chicken). The downside is that the main dishes do not come with side dishes. These must be ordered separately. Fries are 14 shekels, but they are made in-house and are well worth the price. Desserts are about 32 shekels and are also made in-house. We had the chocolate soufflé with espresso, to top off a lovely and very filling meal.

The restaurant boasts an impressive wine list that they offer at competitive prices. The house wine is the Tishbi Estate. The restaurant also offers some of the favorite boutique wines such as Gush Etzion, etc.