Ida Cafe

June 2023
Savta Ida (pronounced eeda) is the namesake and the guiding light behind this cafe. "I owe her my life" says owner Shimi. "She taught me so much and made me who I am today."

There is no doubt that savta Ida would be proud of her grandson. Shimi is charming and energetic with a can-do attitude. If he could Package that it would be his best product. As it is, the menu is a selection of uniquely delicious, hand crafted coffee shop fare and specialty cakes.

Shimi brought the lessons that he learned from Savta Ida, his experience in the kitchen and his can-do attitude to this boutique coffee shop in the heart of the Raanana business center. Just like Shimi to open his cafe at 7am, before all the other coffee shops in Raanana. Early morning walkers will enjoy stopping at Ida for a coffee and a fresh pastry. Basic pastries are supplied by Biscotti. But the cakes are supplied by Avontage.

The food preparation in the Ida Cafe kitchen takes place behind a glass counter. Shimi has bins of fresh cut vegetables waiting for your order. A salad takes just minutes to prepare either left to Shimi's creativity or with the vegetables of your choice.

My companion and I stopped in at Cafe Ida, not for the first time, for a light lunch. Mulling over the menu (Hebrew and English) we were tempted by the attractive sandwiches delivered to the various tables. We chose the classic salad and pizza for our lunch. The signature salad is Ida's Brik salad. From the Tunisian kitchen, the Brik salad comes with a stick of crunchy filo dough pastry with a surprise embedded poached egg. Crack open the dough and the slightly runny egg spills out to flavor the vegetables.

Shimi has a keen sense of aesthetics and all the dishes are attractively presented. Our pizza was low on spices and heavy on cheese, as I requested. The thin crusted pizza came to the table sizzling from the oven.

After sharing a salad and a pizza, a dessert was not necessary. But nobody would be able to pass up the yummy cakes in the display case at Cafe Ida. A cold coffee and a cappuccino went well with a shared piece of this delicious cake. Our bill just crossed NIS 150. We added a well deserved tip for this ambitious young man.

Notes:
1. We recommend parking either in the underground pay lot or in parking lots on Tel Hai Street.
2. Ida Cafe faces Bar Ilan Street. The entrance is from the patio.
3. There is indoor and outdoor seating. The restaurant is wheelchair accessible.

From the menu:
Pizza NIS 57
Brik salad NIS 59
cake NIS 24
coffee NIS 12
take away available through 10Bis