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Sharak: A restaurant with a culinary compass that is properly tuned

The dish was fine minus, the fish pasta lacked richness and complexity, and the fish cigar, we preferred it would have been forgotten.

So how come we got out of here so bastardized?

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• Restaurant review

Avi Efrati

Monday, October 11, 2021, 11:48 Updated: Thursday, October 14, 2021, 05:48

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Great dish.

Eggplant tortillas burnt in butter and sage, with asparagus and spinach (Photo: Eitan Waxman)

In the less than two years since its launch, Sharak has undergone several incarnations. It opened at the end of 2019, for chef Dan Shmolovich, who previously successfully led the Savida restaurant in Acre. Shmolovitch managed to pick up a proper sea menu there, but then the plague broke out and with it the first closure. He did not continue in Sharak. He was replaced by chef Robert Kluger, who in the short time between the first and second closures also managed to pick up a proper menu, and then another closure arrived. Sharak was recently launched on the third, hoping the plans would not be cut short on the third, led by Ruslan Osov and the young Maor Zaguri (no, not that one from "Zaguri Empire"), graduates of Yaron Shalev.

As in her previous incarnations, Sharak continues to lean on fish. There are also seafood and it can be assumed that later on, in sync with the weather and the changing seafood yield, there will be more of them. Those who insist also have meat but the main thing, clearly, is the fish. As in the previous two phases, Basharak tries to maintain simplicity and moderate pricing. It is pleasant to browse the menu and meet dishes that are clearly priced higher in parallel restaurants in the city.

The interior space is quite small, somewhat intimate. The outer space is larger and more spacious. It consists of regular tables in the courtyard and high in the part of the restaurant that slides into the street. Now that Tishrei has been gathered and you finally feel a breeze instead of steaming humidity, real fun to sit out there. The menu is small. The vast majority - at least two-thirds - are based on dishes in proportion to first-to-middle. There are only four real main courses, fish-based and one meat (lamb chops).

There were four of us, the larger section on the menu winked at us more, and we went for five of them, alongside bread, and two mains to share.

The set of

(NIS 18) included fresh and good bread of two types, a particularly successful olive oil, likable olives and a slightly bland tomato salsa.

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Impeccable execution, but not as rich as the others.

Spicy sea fish pasta (Photo: Eitan Waxman)

We started with a

(NIS 59) that included the required vegetables (tomato, cucumber, purple onion), thin burgul and plenty of herbs (mint, coriander, parsley, oregano and rigella), chili, almonds and Greek yogurt. It was a clear presentation of the purpose of the basics of cuisine in Sharak that we will also meet later in the meal: seemingly simple dishes, which a clear investment and selection of appropriate raw materials deprive them of everyday banality. The abundance of herbs provided richness, the Greek yogurt gave sourness and depth and the feeling was that behind all this stood a cook with a worthy palate, a love for the rainbow of Mediterranean flavors and a really good hand. Next to the tabula were chunks of pink antias, relatively thick, quite nice, in a generous dose that is not found elsewhere, even in dishes that are priced at 15 shekels more.

(64 shekels) was next in line. It also came in particularly generous portions of fish, with seared figs, yogurt and basil oil, radish and dill. The fish was cool and the kitchen handle dragged to the Mediterranean a little differently than we encountered in the tabbouleh dish, with slightly more subtle flavors. The good hand, which wears out properly and balances well, was present here as well.

Next dish -

(56 shekels), looked especially promising. It had chickpeas, greens (rigella, parsley, chard and celery), fennel, leeks, bone marrow, calamari in plancha and a flavoring kit: olive oil, garlic, green chili, lemon and yogurt. All the flavors came together and were just fine but failed to create the familiar synergy from Masbaha at its best. The calamari themselves were not burnt optimally and came without the required scorching touch, and were not hot enough. Compared to the previous two dishes, which were very good, this one was from the "fine minus" genre. It was not the concept that hurt her but the execution. The same good hand, which wonderfully did in the previous two dishes, was present here less well.

We continued to

(NIS 62): Five relatively large dumplings, stuffed with ricotta, mozzarella and kashkabal, combined with burnt eggplant, in a butter and sage sauce, with asparagus and spinach. It was a great dish. The dough excelled, the cheese filling sounded right, the touch of eggplant added flavor and also a scorching and smoking dimension. The butter sauce came from European cuisine, with a twist of sage and a touch of greens.

To

(64 shekels) was supposed to be the last at this point of the meal. We saw that she was not coming and turned to the waitress who promised to find out and come back soon. Promised and disappeared without again. We called another waitress who promised to find out, and she too disappeared without a second thought. A third waitress, who is the one who originally took the order from us, arrived, but not with the cigar but already with the two mains. We had already given up but then, a few minutes later, the cigar portion arrived, without any explanation. It did not terribly suit us the cigar along with the mains and we remarked on it to the waitress, who apologized, and did not gasp. In such a situation one can, for example, ask if we are interested in a dish. It can be announced that it is not required. Too bad we did not ask to give it up. It was the least good dish at the meal. It had two deep-fried cigars, which were carried to strong and spicy oriental flavors, with chopped locus, tomato, coriander, garlic and shatta pepper and tzatziki and arisa saucers that were also in strong flavors. It was fine performing, with no bugs at all, but was built to be really sharp and hit its balance.

Fish cigar, too bad they did not forget it (Photo: Eitan Waxman)

We continued with two mains to share:

(NIS 123) and

(NIS 96).

The fish fillet dish, in a paranoia butter sauce, green olives, sage, spinach and asparagus, tomato and purple onion, was excellent.

All aniseed alcohol - from French paranoia and Greek ouzo to Arab arak and Turkish raki - gives a great aroma alongside an unusual softness, when cooked and the alcoholic component in it evaporates.

Butter, unlike olive oil, directed the flavor base to the south of France.

All the goodies that were included in the sauce were Mediterranean and with the fish - again: a large portion, fresh and very high quality - combined with a particularly successful dish.

The fish pasta was a kind of correspondence with Harima and also with ragout, only on a sea base. The sauce was based on ground cherry tomatoes, with parsley, garlic, chili, olive tapenade and also anchovies, to deepen the flavors. The fish - locus and tuna - sat under the pasta and looked like they had been chopped and then sautéed. The spice was not too spicy. It felt much less aggressive than what we encountered in the cigar dose for example. The execution was impeccable, the pasta was cooked al dente just right and the fish arrived in just the right condition, but this dish seems to lack a degree of richness and complexity of flavors that was present in almost all the dishes we have eaten so far. She was far less successful than her predecessor from the break above.

We shared a

(NIS 36) for dessert, the base of which was fine, and the lemon cream on top was especially airy and successful, and we closed an account with NIS 578 before drinking and service. It is hard to imagine where, even outside of Tel Aviv, such a mass of food can be obtained, in a real sunken restaurant, as opposed to a diner, at such pricing.

Zaguri's work with the young Osov in Sharak seems to be starting well and correctly. We have cumulatively sampled quite a few dishes from the menu. Not all of them were complete and worthy. The cigar and fish pasta, for example, should clearly be sent for a conceptual improvement assignment. The calamari stew, on the other hand, took longer to make. Still, there were enough good dishes in the meal, very good and also excellent.

Sharak in late summer-early fall 2021 incarnation looks like a restaurant with a culinary compass that is set correctly. True, meaning local, Mediterranean and even Middle Eastern at times; Unpretentious, generous, invested in the raw materials and often also well executed. The beginning is still noticeable and it can be assumed that in three months we will see the stabilization of the parts of the menu that are less well maintained. However, even now a meal there is a fun affair for seafood lovers. No one tries to aim high and the food is conducted, consciously and deliberately, on the ground of reality. This is a nice and refreshing approach that if continued will allow Sharak to be one of the most sympathetic restaurants in the area.

(Photo: Walla !, Walla!)

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