We all know about the affinity between Israelis and Chinese food - an unbreakable bond that has existed for decades now.
But what about Japanese food? Well, if Benjamin and Gabriel Lallouche, two brothers originally from Lyon in France, have their way, we will all be eating kosher Japanese food with the same enthusiasm.
We booked an early supper at Namy, which means “waves” in Japanese, on a recent bright summer day.
Recently opened, Namy is situated in a quiet walkway, and the small restaurant also includes a separate garden where patrons can dine.
We sat in the restaurant itself as Benjamin turned out an endless array of dishes for our consumption from scratch. The only dish already prepared was the miso soup - but more on that later.
A bowl of miso served hot and tasty
The first dish to arrive was a bowl of edamame, served with a lemon quarter and topped with coarse salt. An extra bowl was provided for the residue, once we had consumed the well-cooked beans. We agreed it was a satisfying opening to our meal (NIS 20).
The next dish was a plate of sushi filled with vegetables, and we tried the homemade teriyaki sauce with these. I have to report that it was totally delicious and tons better than the store-bought variety.
A bowl of miso soup provided a hot and tasty interlude before we returned to the more solid offerings emerging from Benjamin’s kitchen.
A plate with two rice cakes topped with raw spiced tuna arrived. The rice cakes were fried and had crispy exteriors with perfect basmati rice inside. The tuna was full of flavor, and the dish proved to be both an aesthetic and a culinary marvel (NIS 43).
The next dish, Roll Frit Tartare, was a mix of avocado and tartare of fresh salmon - another quickly whipped up delicacy (NIS 69).
Finally, in the savory department, we received a plate of pani puri - very crispy shell-like cases filled with more raw fish and avocado. They were so good I couldn’t resist eating two of them.
There are three dessert options at Namy - chocolate mousse, rice pudding, and, sometimes, cremeschnitte. My companion had the chocolate mousse, which he said was perfect.
We drank Thai beer, which was ice-cold and was the perfect accompaniment to the spicy dishes on the table.
We said our goodbyes to Benjamin, who, in a previous life, worked as a handyman and has quickly adapted to Japanese chef.
It was, all in all, an excellent meal; and for Japanese food enthusiasts, this is the place. And for diners who don’t want to leave home, they also do deliveries.
Namy
1 Tel Hai
Netanya
Phone: 058-706-0586
Open: Sun.-Thurs., 11 a.m.- 4 p.m.; 7 p.m.- midnight.
Kashrut: Netanya Rabbinate
The writer was a guest of the restaurant.