Sako, Hod Hasharon/Sako
A few weeks ago there was a segment - a few minutes and no more - that made Noam Shaham the soft target of the somewhat cruel, and much repulsive, Israeli network.
For all the "Eaters on the Go" columns
, most people, most likely, did not notice the phenomenon at all, and the rest was done by the load of the really important headlines these days, and the minimal division of attention that quickly moves us from one viral object to another. For those who missed it, Shaham uploaded several videos to Saku's social pages in which she gracefully jumped from the gyoza of the new Japanese eatery to her ramen bowls, from the delivery motorcycle to taste tests on the street. The cynical shower, however, she passed when she demonstrated how to make "really crazy sushi".
We'll spare the details, and just make it clear that I'm boomer enough to admit that I'm not the audience, and that I'm naive enough to believe that she knows that the salmon didn't really swim in Norway this morning, and that it doesn't really matter at all. The rest of our fish and rice experts, however, freaked out. They are, presumably, used to eating their sushi in Kanazawa, Japan, and get chills from the words "spicy mayonnaise".
Shaham, I know without really knowing, recovered easily. "Sako" too. The sushi educators were probably scarred, but moved on, to the next lecture session. Everyone else is invited to remove the slightly stupid shields and come. There may not be "really crazy sushi" here, but everything else works just fine.
the seal. Sako
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There is a bit of messing around and a bit of hesitation, and you can indeed find yourself waiting behind a particularly slow family, but it does save the meeting with the waiters of our country, and also a tip at the end to exactly those waiters, so it's even better
Sako (blooming in Japanese) has located itself in the Meex Sharonim complex in Hod Hasharon, but aims far beyond it. It already declares a "restaurant chain" and a "new brand" but unlike similar and somewhat exhausting talk from the past, its opening steps are established, stabilized and definitely logical. Yes, even on Saturday.
The space is pleasant, designed with a nod to the East but without clichés and nonsense, and offers indoor and outdoor seating options, as well as a partition-free connection to the parent chain of "Lager & Ale" which even allows - if you ask nicely or not, the truth - menu mixes and happy combinations that are not exactly We were designed to go out into the world, or to the table.
The service itself is efficient, and is based on one of the only good things left behind by the corona virus - self-directed, communicative, clear ordering positions that neutralize unnecessary talk. There is a bit of fiddling and a bit of deliberation, and you can indeed find yourself waiting behind a particularly slow family, but it does save the meeting with the waiters of our country, and also a tip at the end to those exact waiters, so it's even better.
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From there, and from here. Sacco/Walla system!, Yaniv Garnot
The menu, if it wasn't clear from all the talk and words at the opening, works on the seam between Japan and Israel, including dishes that are probably much more from here than from there, with "adjustment to the local audience", and with an effective understanding of what this audience actually wants*, and also what it is Do not want.
*
Something with schnitzel and rice
**
Fish and nothing else
Excellent hand. Sacco's gyoza/Walla! system, Yaniv Granot
There are seven starters here - four sashimi options (bass, salmon, red tuna and also a salad based on this cut of fish, NIS 52-69), something known here as "Caribbean nigiri" (fish to choose from over a rice finger, pineapple marmalade and Padron pepper, NIS 39 ), and two gyoza fillings - vegan based on mushrooms and meat based on chopped chicken, root vegetables, ginger and garlic (NIS 48). The last option, an almost automatic order in such situations, the surprise with a jump beyond the basic, good flavors and an excellent hand that managed to bring out both crispy and delicate.
The sushi department expands the offer a lot, but keeps the bar. It has 13 built-in rolls, six vegan options (NIS 39-48, a nice price that we hope is not just an opening price) and also four self-assembly routes (maki and vegan maki, and an inside-out pair with the same characteristics, NIS 28-48).
Among the special rolls, we took the "Caterpillar" (8 units of salmon, cucumber and avocado wrapped in salmon, avocado and toasted sesame, NIS 56) basic but in the best part of the base, "Twisted Salmon" (avocado, cucumber, fennel and chives, wrapped in grilled salmon, caramel miso and peanut chips, NIS 56) trashy and sweet but again, in the most positive meanings of these words, and also "truffle roll" (salmon, avocado and cucumber, wrapped in a basil leaf and with a truffle "dot" on top, NIS 54) more original, and with a successful combination of Ingredients that are not regularly paired with sushi. Only the chain's sushi masters won't find out, God forbid.
Trashy, in a good way. Sacco/Walla system!, Yaniv Garnot
Some of these features are self-explanatory. Others indicate an efficient and functional kitchen. All of them together manage to pick up an excellent, outstanding sandwich
Nine mains complete your entire pyramid of needs when you stand hungry in front of the menu. There is a colorful and enticing chirashi bowl (NIS 65), three ramen (beef stock and slices of brisket, chicken and goose stock with pulled pork or vegan with mushroom and leek stock and tofu in tempura, NIS 65-69) that feel like a meal in itself, and also "Tori Kacho Curry" (NIS 72) which puts chicken schnitzel, sushi rice, yellow carrots, curry sauce, yuzu kosho aioli and green onions in a large bowl and lets you continue from there - happy mixes of delicious sauce, impressive absorbency of the rice and crunchy strips Schnitzel's, as promised.
Four buns close the story - schnitzel, beef cubes, crispy tofu and shredded brisket, 62-65 for the pair. You stand hesitantly at first, remembering well all the casual banns you've eaten in your life, yet going for the schnitzel and the brisket, happily discovering along the way that you were wrong. It's fresh, it's well-constructed, it's spicy and it's dirty. Some of these features are self-explanatory. Others indicate an efficient and functional kitchen. All of them together manage to pick up an excellent, outstanding sandwich.
Happy mixes. Sako's curry/Walla! system, will generate profits
Sako closes the meal with a single sweet option of mochi, but I think it's also the right option in this case, and completes its whole with an energetic set of deliveries, with a friendly approach and special rolls for children and with the big Israeli hit that is huge "party trays".
Adjacent to it, there is a completely normative Shabbat happening, yet still unusual in the landscape, of a commercial complex with open doors, into which enter ordinary people and ordinary families and ordinary couples who just want to get some ordinary sun, sit comfortably for a moment, and eat something. Plain, but delicious.
If all of these are indeed on the way to rooting, it is not only a first step of testing the waters, but a wide leap, a jump even, with a strong right foot.
Sako, Meex Sharonim complex, Harkon 2, Hod Hasharon
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