Delikazan or to give it its full title, Delikazan-Foodyard, is an offshoot of the long-established Kazan restaurant in Ra’anana. As its name implies, it’s a delicatessen but it’s also a very upscale restaurant with an enticing menu.
On a recent visit, we were given a brief tour of the site, which includes a very attractive shop selling food and accessories, and a private room that can accommodate parties of up to 35 people.
We were then able to sit down in the comfortable and spacious restaurant and choose our meal.
The starter of 19 salads sounded good and it was – every vegetable known to man seemed to have been commandeered into this very aesthetic first course.
Too numerous to elaborate on all of them, I will just mention the ones I particularly liked: tiny cubes of fried sweet potato, green pepper in vinaigrette, about five varieties of the incredibly versatile eggplant, salsa, cubed beetroot and spicy Moroccan carrot salad.
Our waitress brought us a frena (loaf) topped with coarse salt and roasted garlic to eat with the salads. Baked on the premises, it was a perfect accompaniment. (NIS 32 if a main course added, NIS 55 just for the salads.)
We also got to taste the house chopped liver, consisting of a perfect round of liver with a small mountain of crispy fried onion. A cross between your grandmother’s chopped liver and a sophisticated pate, it was very good – although the fried onions were way too salty. To paraphrase Omar Khayyam, “What, did the hand then of the salter shake?”
For a main course my companion chose the beef fillet. (NIS 218). He said it was the best steak he had ever eaten. Cooked to medium-well, he said he could cut through it like butter (pardon the non-kosher association.) A Portobello mushroom was the only accompaniment to this perfect specimen.
I chose a hamburger (NIS 79) which came with all the usual trappings – bun, purple onion, lettuce and tomato. It was very meaty and too much to finish. The side dish of majadra was cold and I ignored it.
The dessert menu was recited by our lovely waitress Shana. I decided to have the sorbet and there were three flavors, all nicely tart and refreshing (NIS 38).
My companion chose a Pavlova (NIS 58) expecting a perfect meringue topped with berries. It turned out to be broken chunks of meringue, lashings of pseudo-cream and fruit. It should have been called Eton Mess, a classic British dessert as it really was a mess.
Two mint teas (NIS 12) ended this largely enjoyable and thought-provoking meal.
Delikazan,Rehov Hashuk 6,Ra’anana.(09) 749-4944Sun-Wed. – 11 a.m.-11 p.m.Thurs. – 11 a.m - midnight.Friday closed. (Shop is open).Saturday night – an hour after Shabbat till 12.Kashrut – Ra’anana Rabbinate.Wheelchair accessible.The writer was a guest of the restaurant.