Café Brenner in Ra’anana is yet another project of the enterprising Tizaki brothers, Liran and Lior, who own several very good kosher restaurants in the city.
It is housed in a historic building dating from the 1940s. This particular incarnation of the place dates from 2010 when it became a dairy restaurant with an emphasis on Italian cuisine.
The restaurant is quite cozy and welcoming despite its large size, thanks to an abundance of fresh green plants positioned around the place.
Service is swift and professional. As we sat down, menus arrived, and when we asked for the English version, it arrived within seconds.
What's on the menu at Café Brenner?
My dining companion and I often share a starter, but there were so many tempting offerings on the menu that we decided to each have our own.
My choice was Brenner Caprese (NIS 58), with Maggi and cherry tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, chili, basil, and olives. My companion chose Eggplant Carpaccio – slices of cooked aubergine (eggplant) with tehina sprinkled with roasted almonds.
I adore all kinds of tomatoes, and combined with the chunks of savory cheese, this was a perfect starter, with an especially good balsamic dressing. My companion’s dish was equally good. It was served warm with toasted whole-grain bread on the side. One could taste the unmistakable scorched, smoky flavor of the vegetable (NIS 58).
Our waiter, Ariel, was very attentive, spoke perfect English, and cleared away the hors d’oeuvre plates, bringing fresh cutlery for the main course.
While there were many pasta and pizza choices, we both preferred fish. I chose the miso salmon with a salad of julienned root vegetables (NIS 118).
I thought the seared salmon was slightly underdone, which is preferable to overdone – but too much of it was in its pink, raw state. The Asian dressing helped the dish along. As for the massive salad, in which I could identify carrots, zucchini, bean sprouts, and red cabbage, among others, it was far too much and lacked a dressing of its own.
My companion fared better with his dish of two fillets of sea bass served with gnocchi and spinach. Perfectly cooked, dripping with butter, it was a delicacy that I eyed with envy and was allowed to taste (NIS 128).
Then, it was time for dessert. This is a course we rarely share, as he is a chocolate lover, and I’m a lemon lover. However, if a menu offers crème brûlée I forgo the lemon, as this is my absolute favorite dessert.
It was magnificent – two large rectangles of a crispy, sweet base topped with the divine custard and berries on the side (NIS 48).
My companion, conservative to a fault, had cheesecake yet again, this one sugar-free but served with lashings of Chantilly (NIS 48). For good measure, we were also required to taste the tiramisu, which was also very good – a kind of Italian sweet comfort food (NIS 48).
The liquid accompaniment to this splendid dairy meal was a glass of Yarden Chardonnay, ice cold and very refreshing (NIS 44), and a Moretti beer for my companion.
After this incredible meal, there was nothing left to do but thank our hosts and stagger out to the car for the drive home.
- Café Brenner Bistro Garden
- 6 Brenner Street, Ra’anana
- Phone: (09) 974-5316
- Sunday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m.; Friday, 7 a.m.-3 p.m.; Saturday night, 1 hour after Shabbat until midnight
- Kashrut: Ra’anana Rabbinate
The writer was a guest of the restaurant.