The Blue Rooster serves food that is a cut above the rest.
By SHAWN RODGERSThe Blue Rooster restaurant(photo credit: PR)
Located in the heart of North Tel Aviv in the G Tzameret boutique mall, The Blue Rooster is a dining destination that serves food a cut above the rest in a setting that is both casual yet upscale with a buzz in the air. It is run by chef Shaul Ben-Aderet, owner and head chef of Kimmel and Kimmel Bagilboahi.Patrons are greeted by a welcoming ambience, modern decor and a spacious dining room.When we were seated at our table, menus were given out, glasses of water were filled, and we started going through the options in an attempt to narrow down our choices.The menu is quite extensive, with a wide array of salads, pastas, fish and meat dishes. Our waiter was friendly and made us feel at ease.He took his time explaining details of dishes and drinks.We began our meal with the mushroom risotto (NIS 59).Accompanied by porcini stock, Parmesan and truffle, the dish was done beautifully and was very tasty.We then shared the grilled goose liver (NIS 88). I usually have a hard time with liver in any form except when it is paired with something sweet. This dish did not disappoint.The iron taste was so subtle, that I found myself mounding the liver on my brioche. This was followed by a fresh pumpkin salad (NIS 48) and an herb salad (NIS 46). Both were delicious – a great combination of vegetables and seasonings. Next up was the skewer of veal sweetbreads and chicken hearts (NIS 62). The sweetbreads were wonderfully crisp on the outside, nice and soft on the inside.Every bite was so good, and the flavors melded well together. But without question, our favorite starter was the fresh corn polenta (NIS 66). Every element was perfectly in balance and wonderfully seasoned. The truffle mushrooms were woodsy and earthy. It melted in our mouths, and we actually had keep ourselves from ordering more.The portions were huge. I was full by this point, but we still had our main courses to go.First up was the beef fillet (NIS 149) accompanied by goose liver, marinated in a raisin chutney sauce.On one hand, I really liked the sauce and wanted to smother the meat with it. On the other, the meat tasted so good that I wanted to savor its individual flavor. The portion was large and came with deliciously creamy mashed spinach.We then tried the chicken shwarma (NIS 96) served on a bed of warm masabaha, shipka and spicy lemon.This was an excellent dish that was savory to the last bite! I can’t say it was the best I have ever had, but I am hard to impress with Middle Eastern food. I enjoyed it and would order it again.For dessert, we chose the frozen creme brulée, which was perfectly crackly and a rich treat. Needless to say, we devoured this as well. At that point, you basically had to roll us out of there.In short, The Blue Rooster is a very pleasant eatery with very good food. It’s a little on the expensive side, but you can expect these prices at a specialty restaurant with guaranteed top-quality ingredients and excellent service.To go with current trends and clients’ dietry requests, Chef Shaul Ben-Aderet recently launched a complete gluten-free and sugar-free menu, together with the Abrahamson Clinic. What a great idea!The writer was a guest of the restaurant.The Blue RoosterNot kosher10 Nissim Aloni, Tel AvivTel: (03) 544-3349
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