Chen (which means “charm” in Hebrew), the proprietor of Same Same, really lives up to his name. When we arrived to sample the food at this authentic Asian restaurant in Ra’anana, he sat with us and explained why the place suddenly became kosher after 17 years.
“My wife and I had a baby and all of a sudden I realized that if I worked on Friday night and Shabbat I would hardly ever see our child and spend quality time with him,” he says. Both Chen and his wife are of Moroccan parentage and grew up in large warm families.
The decision to go kosher upset his regular customers some of whom organized demonstrations and put up Facebook posts urging people not to patronize the restaurant any longer. But Same Same is invariably busy with a huge takeaway business, as well as people who come and sit inside or outside the small restaurant who are clearly enthusiastic about the food and the ambience.
It’s even fun to get out of your comfortable seat and watch the Japanese chefs employed by Chen producing endless rolls of sushi, a popular dish as one might expect. “I don’t possess a freezer,” says Chen. “Everything is freshly made on the spot.”
Extensive menu
The menu is extensive, so we were quite happy to let Chen pick the food we were to sample. The sushi that arrived first had a pinkish hue and were miniature works of art, filled with fresh salmon and avocado, topped with a garnish of chopped spring onions and crunchy sticks. We ate them with chopsticks, an art I have finally mastered after realizing that one simply cannot eat sushi with a knife and fork. Sushi etiquette demands that you put the whole edifice in your mouth but I can’t quite accomplish that as yet.
Two main dishes then arrived at our table, together with a bowl of rice. The first dish was tempura chicken – chunks of chicken breast that had been dipped in a batter and deep fried with added cashew nuts and veggie pieces.
The second main course was a beef dish with very tender pieces of sliced sinta beef in a Szechuan sauce with mushrooms, broccoli, and chopped scallions. Both these dishes were very good and over-generous. A bowl of rice on the side was topped with nigella seeds and spring onions.
We drank Sprite zeros again (like last week) as there is no alcohol to be had at Same Same. But with such good food, who needs booze? The price for main dishes ranges between NIS 45 and NIS 55 so it’s an inexpensive but very enjoyable night out.
Same Same,
Ahuza St., 267,
Ra’anana.
053-611-4867
Hours: Sun to Thu, noon-11.30 p.m.;
Friday: 11.30 a.m.-4 p.m.
Kashrut: Ra’anana Rabbinate.
Wheelchair accessible.
The writer was a guest of the restaurant.