Tomer Tal (from the left) and Avi Zak, George and John Restaurant and Drisco Hotel, Fifty Best (50 Best) 2023 ceremony (San Pellegrino)
Since it opened, about four years ago, George and John has been one of the most appreciated restaurants in Israel.
Chef Tomer Tal leads an haute cuisine with Middle Eastern roots and modern techniques on the entrance floor of the luxury Drisco hotel, on the Jaffa road.
There aren't many upscale and/or luxury restaurants here and the bar of expectations from any such place is always high.
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were added to the high expectations bag, the choice of the restaurant, last January, to the sixth place in San Pellegrino's "50 Best" list in the Middle East and North Africa.
Six local restaurants made the list.
George and John ranked first among them.
If you trust the Pellegrino ratings, this is the best restaurant in Israel.
is that so?
As those who had not visited it since the summer of almost two years ago, we went to check things out.
Expectations are as high as ever.
George and John (photo: Haim Yosef)
The attempt of mini trumpets to use restaurateurs and restaurants in calling for a reduction in volume and the days of the demonstration is a cynical and ugly exploitation that most restaurateurs oppose.
Restore stability and people will come out again in the volume that was known here until recently
If there's one thing you can't help but notice in recent weeks, it's that the restaurants are less full.
And not just on Mochas or on days of disruption. These are not the demonstrations themselves. This is the horror of the economic implications of what is going to happen here soon.
People are going out less, certainly to expensive restaurants. Most of the restaurateurs are against it. Restore stability and people will go out again in the volume that was known here until recently. Anyway, we came to George and John for a review, and it - it was clear even when we entered and sadly saw a restaurant that was not quite full - would be matter-of-fact, without inquiries And if necessary, also without celeb discounts.
And not so expensive anymore
In the days when the gates of hell open upon us, there is a delicious (and no longer so expensive) city of refuge
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passing and nothing more.
George and John (photo: Haim Yosef)
It's not cheap here, it never was, and the basic investment in food is evident.
In order to get a reasonable and not unreasonable amount, you have to choose wisely
Perusing the menu arouses all the desire glands.
It is divided into three sections - cold starters, hot starters and larger hot dishes which are mostly not really main dishes;
Something that is located halfway between intermediate and main, or enlarged intermediate.
It's not cheap here, it never was, and the basic investment in food is evident.
In order to get a reasonable and not unreasonable amount, you have to choose wisely.
We started with Crystal Shrimp Ceviche (NIS 85) and Boyabez (NIS 80).
The ceviche arrived in a large bowl and turned out to be a really tiny dish, not to mention tiny.
It had a small mound of thinly sliced crystal shrimp, topped with green and red chilies, sour cream, cilantro oil, geranium sauce, and purple clover leaves.
A dish with flying colors, really beautiful and photographed well, but in the palate test it fared less well.
Crystal is a great raw material whose delicacy is enormous.
If you serve it in its raw form, you need to know how to add the right name, which is minimal on the one hand and meaningful on the other.
This dish did not meet any of the goals.
The geranium sauce was unbalanced to say the least.
Instead of hinting at Geranium, humming to him, he screamed at Geranium with a loud megaphone.
Instead of reaching the palate and awakening it to a happy response, he spoke like a dish that is finished just like that, as if (almost) nothing.
No integration, no material synergy, no balance.
The doses of the boyabez were less homeopathic.
It was a standard sized starter with three mussels, three thin pieces of octopus and a tiny piece of locust.
Next to the dish came bruschetta with pickled peppers and orange soup, thick in texture.
The mussels were fine, the octopus softened quite so and the locust was a bit sad.
The bruschetta was reasonable but not exceptional and so was the soup.
It can also be said this way - more than it was the bouillabaisse of an elite restaurant, it was the bouillabaisse of an unpretentious bistro, a pass and nothing more.
We were bummed, but really.
George and John (photo: Daniel Lila and Amit Farber)
The most expensive dish in the meal was also the least good of them all and defining it as disappointing does it a favor.
She was a failure
The ceremony factor in the butt of the first two was high.
Not only did Taman not line up with him, he leveled off from there.
What will await us in the future, the continuation of the unexpectedly unfortunate line or a great recovery?
We ordered lamb ricotta gnocchi (120, here is the section on the informed choice to leave a reasonable account at the end of the meal I wrote about) and locust in butter (175).
The gnocchi dish had black spinach sauce, cream cheese and parmesan, gnocchi and three pieces of crispy parmesan on top.
The potato gnocchi did not create that wonderful airy "cloudy" feeling on the palate, known from gnocchi at their best.
They were reasonable and no more, in fact even a little less.
The sauce and cream belonged to the "okay" genre and that's all, and the impression reminded us of the one we already met in the fish soup - not a problematic dish and almost as bad as the ceviche, but a dish that reminds more of the qualities of a bistro and less of an elite restaurant.
As such, she was disappointing.
Disappointing is kind of a mild understatement when it comes to the buttered locos dish.
The not-large portion, in butter, myrtle and lemon zest, arrived in baking paper inside which it stayed in the oven.
Another plate had celery root pasta in a butter sauce, with bottarga and sourdough breadcrumbs.
Conceptually, this is also a bistro dish with at most "bistronomic" touches in the corners, especially in the celery pasta.
The fish itself was overdone and the dryness was really unfortunate.
The celery-boterga pasta was nice but with a fish so dry it couldn't save it.
The most expensive dish in the meal was also the least good of them all and defining it as disappointing does it a favor.
She was a failure.
What was said and what will we talk about?
We were bummed, but really.
There are enough restaurants in Tel Aviv with food of this level.
Of course that's not why they come to George and John.
We shared a Japanese cheesecake (60) for dessert and for a change it was finally delicious.
A cake restrained in its sweetness, airy, with a good ricotta ice cream, not too sweet either, on top;
Next to orange caramel, Chinese orange jam and candied ginger.
It wasn't an exciting high-end restaurant dessert, absolutely not;
But it was a tasty and good segir for the meal.
Discretion is required.
The account in George and John (Photo: ShutterStock)
There is no way to sum up this meal without saying that we did not eat well at George and John.
Only the dessert stopped in the "good" areas and was the only successful dish in the meal.
Two dishes were somehow "okay" and two were very problematic.
The findings were systematic, therefore, and no signs of excellence were discovered at all.
All that remains is to regretfully state, therefore, that not only is George and John not the best restaurant in Israel and its position in the San Pellegrino ranking is puzzling, but that the food we encountered does not place it in the top ten local, not even the second.
To think of a Michelin star in such food contexts is a hallucination.
Unlike the "Fifty Best", the Michelin guide that is going to land here soon is a project whose arrival was actually bought by the government, that is, with taxpayers' money.
Its release in Israel requires giving stars.
Various speculators conclude from the list of San Pellegrino that George and John will win a star.
I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case, but based on the meal we had there,
Let's put aside the hot air that an international culinary event of this kind generates and get down to the ground of the reality of the local scene.
Something bad is happening to George and John.
It is impossible to ignore the persistent feeling that the kitchen there is inoffensive, slightly neglected, and certainly in the worst condition we have encountered there since the opening of the restaurant.
It is not so pleasant to meet a sacred cow when she is in the pasture.
It's not fun to write such a review either, but it's my job.
If a deep change does not occur in George and John, it will quickly lose its lofty and unique position here, with all the pompous international rankings.
Better one hour before.
George and John, Auerbach 6 (Drisko Hotel), Tel Aviv, 03-7269309
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