June 2018
5th Avenue Restaurant is on a street perpendicular to the main hotel row. You'll see the restaurant sign across the street from the Dan Hotel or the Herod's Hotel. The restaurant is open from 7pm week days and motzash.
5th Avenue Restaurant combines the restaurant expertise of owner Shlomi Amar and the culinary talents of chef Aviv Moshe. The hospitality business is in Shlomi's blood from the time he finished the army and relocated south to work in the kitchen in an Eilat hotel. One thing lead to another, in time he opened several restaurants of his own, and has been in Eilat since.
Aviv Moshe is 5th Avenue Restaurant's culinary inspiration. One of the leading chefs in Israel. Aviv Moshe is also the culinary guiding light for Valero Restaurant in Jerusalem, also on eLuna. Aviv Moshe's specialty is taking simple foods and raising them several notches, to something unusual. As Shlomi says, "simple food with a delicious twist." You won't be able to put your finger on what makes the food taste so good. Just enjoy it! 
As we entered the restaurant, a smiling waitress greeted us with a shot of a lovely cold pink-colored cocktail. I am not sure what it was, but it was a very nice greeting.
Prepare yourself. In Eilat you are going to do a lot of eating.
Between the hotel breakfast and the many excellent restaurants in Eilat, food is abundant. With this in mind, we planned to start our meal with one shared order of Fish & Chips. A reasonable size platter of fish and chips, nicely presented with the fish wrapped in paper. 5th Avenue has its own interpretation of chips, which is less conventional. 
We were about to dig into our starter, when owner Shlomi insisted that we try the chopped salad, a specialty at 5th Avenue, and the focaccia, of course. So much for one shared starter. The focaccia was served with a platter in 3 sections: a section of olives, an eggplant dip and salsa. Wow the bread. No, they don't make it in house. It is delivered from the best bakery in town.
What I thought would be a mundane salad, was a generous helping of finely chopped vegetables served with techina and a basket of cute little mini-pitot. This was not just any salad. This was a salad with a college diploma. What's in it? Go know. But it was different and delicious. Again, chef Aviv Moshe created simple foods raised to a new level.
I must mention that at 5th Avenue the dishes are served on wooden boards. The meat came on a board with handles made of bent spoons. There is no need for salt and pepper shakers. a small mound of salt and another of pepper are there on the board.
 |
 |
| Fish main course |
Chopped salad starter |
 If you have a long memory, you may recall the kosher restaurant Denise in Eilat. Shlomi, of 5th Avenue is the former owner of the former kosher Denise Restaurant. Figuring that this guy knows fish, I chose the fish as my main course. That was a good call. Out came delicious fish fillets covered in edamame and antipasti vegetables on a plate with a smear of Jerusalem artichoke spread.
My companion, for whom a meal is only a meal if it includes meat, went for the steak. My companion was served a luscious 400 gram steak on the bone with a garlic confit on top. It looked just like the picture shhown here. The steak was done to a perfect medium-well, soft, and not too fatty. It came with a container of brown crispy potatoes. He commented that he had not had a steak this good in years.
With the steak my companion enjoyed a third of a liter of Weihenstephan beer
available only at places that know good beers.
Dessert anyone?
You may have to work at it, but make room for dessert. My companion and I shared one crème brulet. This was really spoiling ourselves after such a large meal, but we couldnt resist something sweet and fun to eat.
5th Avenue Restaurant has special programs some evenings. On Tuesday evening, when we were there, the restaurant offered a Ella Valley wine tasting. For 40 shekels from 9pm you can enjoy a variety of wines from the winery of the day.
Kosher Eilat restaurants work hand in hand with the Rabbanut. The mashgichim are paid by the moetza and not by the restaurants. So there is no conflict of interest. Also, mnay of the kosher restaurants are owned by shomrei mitzvot. So there is more than a financial motivation.
From the Menu: Fish N Chips Starter NIS 48.. Sea Bass NIS 118. Steak on the bone 400 gr NIS 132. Beef Fillet NIS 126. Classic Hamburger NIS 76
|
