For Yossi Lahav, the personable owner of La Carne in Petah-Tikva, this is his first venture into the restaurant business. Perhaps “restaurant” is overstating the case, as La Carne is actually a hamburger joint, situated in the heart of the busy city on a main road, and conveniently next door to the local Chabad branch in case you are in need of a quick “minyan.”
The place is shiny and new, with outdoor tables to sit and eat at, although they clearly do a large trade in takeaway. I counted at least four helmeted motorcyclists waiting for stuff to deliver.
Yossi is proud to tell me that the fresh meat is ground up every morning to make the burgers and the only additives are seasonings. And, indeed, the burgers are exceptionally meaty.
There is no printed menu but the different choices of burger are listed above the counter in neon lights and all have some clever and imaginative names. You can choose a Premium hamburger (NIS 52) which consists of 200 gr. of meat in a bun with tomato, lettuce and pickle, or a “cheeseburger” (NIS 61) another 200 gr. of meat with, of course, vegan cheese. For NIS 69 you can have “Hakatsav” (the butcher) a hamburger wrapped in sliced entrecôte, you can also choose a “Honolulu” (with pineapple) and an “Eiffel” (with mushrooms and crispy onion.)
The service is quick and efficient and two trays of food were speedily delivered to our outdoor table.
I chose the “Eiffel” (NIS 61) which had additions of fried mushrooms and purple onion slices, while my companion had the “Katsav,” the one with the extra meat (NIS 69).
We had to ask for flatware since the buns were piled high with food and impossible to take a bite from. Some disposable plastic cutlery was brought which made it a lot easier to sample the food.
They were, as expected, very tasty and filling and the chips (fries) on the side were very hot and freshly fried.
There were generous quantities of sauces, hand-wipers and napkins to make the eating of these burgers a pleasurable experience.
When we mentioned to Yossi that we wanted to buy another burger to take to our son Zvika who lives in Petah Tikva, he absolutely refused to take money for it.
Somebody commented on social media that this is the best burger in Israel. I don’t know if I can confirm that – but it certainly was an excellent and enjoyable meal.
La CarneGlatt KosherKashrut: Rabbanut Petah Tikva1 Haim Ozer StreetPetah Tikva(03) 549-9174Open: Sunday-Thursday 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.Friday – closed.Saturday night – after Shabbat.
The writer was a guest of the restaurant.