The View: Dinner in Netanya with... a view - review

There are some people who feel they have not had a proper dining out experience unless they have eaten meat as opposed to dairy. It’s possible that the owners of The Yekev, a long-established dairy eatery overlooking the sea in Netanya had that in mind when they decided to open The View, a new restaurant with a very wide selection of meat dishes of all kinds.

The View, like its sister restaurant, looks out at the stunning view – blue sky, waving palms, deep blue Mediterranean – and is certainly appropriately named.

But views, however important, are secondary to the food, so we went along to try it out and see if it lived up to the established reputation of its partner and forerunner.

Review The View: How did it do? 

We decided to start our evening with a selection from the imaginative menu of drinks that included specially created cocktails as well as classics.

I chose something with a tequila base, topped with strawberry syrup and lemon and my companion something with a vodka base. As is often the case, they both looked like miniature garden arrangements when they finally arrived, topped with bouquets of leaves and berries. The alcohol content was minimalistic, but they did look nice (NIS 49).

Time to order. For starters, I picked tuna tataki (NIS 68) and my dining partner went for the chorizo sausage with sauerkraut. My dish was very aesthetic, slices of almost raw tuna dipped in black and white sesame seeds. It was served on a mini wooden table, with coarse salt, wasabi and ponzu sauce  – a condiment of soy with added citrus elements – I savored every mouthful.

My companion’s dish was a very long, thin and spicy sausage served with sauerkraut, tiny pickles and hot chili peppers. It was definitely not a dish for the faint-hearted, but delicious as long as you have a bottle of ice-cold water within easy reach (NIS 64).

For the main course, I chose the burgers which were served on toasted bread with mayonnaise. They were thin and crispy and the side dish of fried onions was especially good, as were the small roast potato chunks (NIS 84). My companion picked lamb spare ribs with Masala sauce (NIS 150). When his dish arrived it contained a huge amount of meat but he seemed undeterred and managed to consume it all, plus the baked potato and other roasted vegetables on the side.

Our very helpful waiter reeled off a menu of desserts – the usual parve suspects – but neither of us could eat another crumb. We drank refreshing mint tea that we hoped might help us digest our massive meal.

For diners who enjoy beautiful scenery along with excellent food, The View is the place for you.

The View6 Gad Machnes StreetNetanyaTel: (09) 7404477Open: Sun.-Thu 12 till late; Fri. 12-5 p.m.; Sat. closedKashrut: Netanya Rabbinate

The writer was a guest of the restaurant.