The restaurant is only open until September 17, so hurry and make a reservation if you’d like to try it. The waiters all wore masks and the tables are spaced far apart.
Co-owner Tzahi Ovadia said he and Kimche had long thought of opening a kosher restaurant and this was a good time to try. The menu is as close as possible to the non-kosher Popina with a few changes.
For example, the shrimp in the fish bao-buns is replaced here with a sea bass fillet in tempura, served with a black yuzu-wasabi aioli (NIS 84).
“I think it’s even better than the non-kosher one,” Ovadia admitted.
We also tried one of my favorite dishes of steak tartare (NIS 84) with grilled mushrooms, asparagus and truffle demi-glace. Need I say more?
For a real taste sensation, try the tartare gin and tonic (seriously, what could be bad about it?) which is cubes of a white fish, cucumber, shallots, tobiko-wasabi (tobiko are the tiny orange fish eggs served on sushi but here they’re green), and cubes of jellied gin and tonic (NIS 78).
There is also a taster’s menu for 315 shekels per person.