It’s always a pleasure to revisit Bella and Charlie, the kosher meat restaurant situated in Moshav Tnuvot, not too far from Kfar Yona.
The place has such a laidback vibe that one feels relaxed the minute a waitress shows you to your seat, inside or on the covered patio. The menu is still only in Hebrew, but there are plenty of helpful staff members to interpret.
Since the restaurant is renowned not just for good food but for the cocktail menu, we ordered a margarita for me and a whiskey sour for my companion.
The margarita was as authentic as any I have had before, and I actually enjoyed the salt encrusted glass rim, although if asked I usually decline it. My partner seemed very happy with his drink, which scored the double purpose of providing both an alcoholic lift and treating what appeared to be a nasty cold (nothing worse, thank heavens).
Good and plentiful food
We gave our orders and were somewhat surprised to receive one of the main courses before the starters.
“The rule is that we bring out whatever is ready first.”
Waitress
“The rule is that we bring out whatever is ready first,” explained our lovely waitress.
And, sure enough, the sticky chicken wings in chili sauce, one of our favorite dishes anywhere, followed hard upon.
The wings, that part of the chicken of which the bird, when alive, had least reason to be proud, to paraphrase Dickens, turn into a delicious dish when doused in a sweet sticky sauce and baked (NIS 42).
While my surgeon husband can get the meat off a wing with a knife and fork, and leave nary a morsel behind, I do not possess those skills and had to use my fingers. Luckily, there was also an ample supply of wipers.
Accompanying the wings was a root salad, composed of julienned carrot, kohlrabi, celery and red onion, which counteracted well with the spicy and very sweet sauce.
As a main I ordered Chicken Pastilla, not quite knowing what to expect. The dish consisted of two rolled-up “cigar” pancakes, fried and filled with chicken cubes flavored with tehina and silan. It was truly delicious (NIS 42).
My companion chose the chicken salad, strips of fried chicken breast in a fairly standard salad with an unobtrusive dressing and crispy croutons (NIS 52).
Feeling very full by this time, we agreed to try one dessert, and our waitress brought a chocolate mousse and vanilla ice cream. Although very good, it was far too much to finish and a little too sweet for our taste.
Bella and Charlie (origin of name a closely guarded secret) is a large restaurant, with a covered patio, where we sat. It had been a warm night, and we enjoyed being almost outside in nature, sitting on high stools at wooden tables and listening to quiet music in the back ground.
For a relaxed evening with good and plentiful food, this is definitely the place.
Bella and Charlie9 Alumim StreetMoshav TnuvotTel. 077-668-7695Open: Sunday-Thursday, 5:30 p.m. to late; Saturday, after Shabbat to late.Kashrut: Lev Hasharon Rabbinate.
The writer was a guest of the restauraunt.