June 2008
Were you a “Friend of Sergio”? A believer in “B’Sograim”? Have you been longing, ever since, for a distinctive dairy menu in a Yerushalmi garden setting? If so, you’ll pallor for Polly. If not, you’re just gonna love it.

Polly is the new restaurant on the grounds of “Little House in Baka”, located in a Jerusalem heritage house on Yehuda Street, between Derech Bet Lechem and Derech Hebron. A perfect setting for a romantic dinner for two to a large event, Polly offers indoor seating on sofas in vaulted stone rooms, rich in history, cozy and relaxing. But its real draw is its lush garden, with better-than-outdoor seating on a glass-enclosed deck that can be opened, heated or air-conditioned, depending on the weather.

The large deck area also includes a full bar, which is probably why Polly calls itself a bar/restaurant. But make no mistake, Polly is not a pub. The entire experience is very grown-up, with quality wines and alcohol, quiet background music and my favorite kind of menu – one page, bilingual - and still hard to choose from, since everything on it looks interesting.  View the Restaurant Menu (English)

From its home-made focaccia (with six types of toppings), five starters, four salads, five pastas (plus six sauces), three types of fish and added daily specials, each dish is unique. Chef Eli Keshet - a graduate of Sergio’s kitchen as well as the former Bella Luna near Tsur Hadassah - calls it Italian “fusion”, which really means Italian with his own, local twist. Red tuna steak is seared in homemade teriyaki, labane is added to focaccia with pesto and sundried tomatos, mushrooms are stuffed with nuts, spices and parmesan cheese and home-made fettuccini in butter is tossed with fresh, local herbs.

Of course there are also the classics, like lasagna, cannelloni and salmon carpaccio. But, beware, portions are large. I could fill up on one of their starters alone, and that would be tragic, since the soon-to-be-six Italian desserts are literally the show-stoppers. We shared the tartufo with vanilla ice cream and espresso, which was quite simply the best I’ve ever tasted. And that includes Italy.

The restaurant is only open to the public for dinner, since breakfast belongs to the hotel’s lucky guests and several days a week to private events. From a separate room for 20 to the whole restaurant for 120, Polly’s owners and chef have years of experience in hosting successful events and can provide a wide variety of menus and displays to suit every festivity.  

What a difference one block can make! Just off the Emek Refaim-Derech Bet Lechem axis, Polly combines exclusive ambiance and emphasis on quality with very reasonable prices. Starters are 25-35 nis, salads average 35 nis, pastas 54 nis, fish 80 nis and desserts 35 nis. And that’s before the Eluna discount. So hurry over during its start-up phase, before the neighborhood stretches another 100 meters or owner/manager Motti Almo rethinks his approach. You will be back.