It has the diner look, with a long well-stocked bar; it’s comfy without being luxurious; and it serves traditional diner food.
By GLORIA DEUTSCHBistro Bar BP(photo credit: Courtesy)
Opened less than a year ago, Netanya’s Kosher Bistro Bar BP is attracting a faithful clientele of dedicated carnivores who like their meat to be plentiful, well-seasoned, and of course, kosher.Subheaded “diner concept,” the place has many of the qualities one would expect from an American diner. It has the diner look, with a long well-stocked bar; it’s comfy without being luxurious; and it serves traditional diner food – hamburgers, steaks, grilled chicken, but with an Israeli accent. Here there’s an emphasis on fresh salads, with tehina, humus and other local specialties on offer.A huge menu offers a dizzying array of starters and mains, so we just left the choices to our lovely waitress, an aspiring actress. Within the blink of an eye, a platter of fried cauliflower appeared on the table. The vegetable had been blanched, then dipped in crumbs and deep-fried, and was served with sweet chili sauce and garnished with tehina. It’s hard to imagine that being served in an authentic American diner (NIS 29).As we had arrived rather hungry, we demolished the lot, just in time to enjoy another starter, asado on toast – very soft long-cooked smoked beef on bruschetta (grilled bread) with garlic confit and grilled vegetables (NIS 49).Yet another starter, and probably the tastiest, was a dish of skewers of goose with onion jam. Goose is a notoriously fatty meat, but somehow the chef had managed to pick out the meatiest parts of the bird. The accompanying onion jam was a perfect counterpoint to the flavorsome poultry (NIS 49).We were pleased that we were given clean cutlery (flatware) for the second course. This is something you cannot take for granted here.My partner had more asado, claiming you can never have too much of a good thing. We were told it had been slowly smoked for 12 hours, then covered in crumbs and grilled. Judging by the clean plate at the end, it was obviously very good (NIS 119).I opted for chicken not realizing I would receive half a bird, a daunting prospect to say the least (NIS 89). After a few bites of this delicious brown smoked dish, I had it packed up for a future Shabbat meal.The accompanying vegetables included shumar (fennel) braised on the grill – an original choice but only good if you like the anise-flavored veggie. I do, so it was fine. Some of the other grilled vegetables seemed a little tired – floppy carrots and slices of courgettes that had seen better days. But the two fresh salads were excellent – a lettuce and nut salad with a great vinaigrette (NIS 16) and a cole slaw which we were told had 15 types of vegetables in it. After counting several types of cabbage and peppers, we gave up and took their word for it (NIS 17)We drank draft beer (Stella Artois) throughout the meal (NIS 16 a glass), and were told that as the restaurant was on a motorway, we could only have thirds, not halves (NIS 23).Finally we shared a malabi made from a mix of coconut cream and pareve whip that was reasonably authentic. The berry sauce was nicely tart yet sweet (NIS 32).The place is family-friendly, the service is good and, if you can forgive bad puns painted on walls like “Nice to meat you,” this is a great place for a special outing with friends.BP Kosher BistroPaz Gas Station, Route 2, NetanyaSun-Thu: 12 noon-midnightFri: Noon-4:30 p.m.Sat night: 8 p.m.-12:30 a.m.Phone: 053-941-4781The writer was a guest of the restaurant
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