Bleecker Bakery, Raanana

May 2025
Bleecker Bakery restaurant is a small island of tranquility in the busy Renanim mall. Take a step away from the hubbub of this hoppin' mall and enjoy good food in a quiet space. Bleecker Bakery is the only dairy restaurant in this mall with both indoor and outdoor patio seating and the only full restaurant with a mehadrin hashgacha.

We have stopped at Bleecker Bakery for a snack and a shared order of toasties and shakes. Other times we have had more substantial meals. No judgment here. The service was just as good when our bill was 100 shekels as when it was several times that.

Bleecker Bakery offers a classic dairy menu with a nod toward the Italian/Mediterranean kitchen. In every category Bleecker offers a dish with Italian influences plus a full section of Italian dishes, including pizza and pasta. Vegan diners will find many options, marked clearly on the menu.

If you came to Bleecker for lunch or dinner, don't skip over the breakfast menu. The Bleecker breakfast is served all day. So if you please, you can have breakfast for dinner. Bleecker Bakery has one of the most complete breakfast menus that we have seen anywhere, from a selection of light "small breakfasts" to 7 full breakfast options including the popular Italian breakfast with polenta, other egg-based breakfasts and the vegan Golan breakfast, with a vegetable omelet, herbs and Israeli salad. The breakfast included an excellent cup of coffee.

This would not be an Israeli restaurant without a Shakshuka breakfast. Bleecker offers the classic Israeli shakshuka, Italian and 3-cheese shakshuka. Enjoy your breakfast indoors or on the sunny patio.

The menu continues with a choice of starters, salads, sandwiches, pizzas, pastas, and main courses.

I usually head straight for the pasta or salad section of the menu. But Bleecker offers excellent main dishes. The salmon fillet, prepared in the tabun oven, is served with cooked vegetables and a side salad, at the bargain price of 99 shekels. There is also a good selection of pasta dishes. Folks who like pepper will enjoy the Cacio e Pepe, a new addition to the Bleecker menu. The classic spaghetti dishes with olive oil or tomato sauce are tried-and-true. Spaghetti with salmon and vegetables in white sauce is an attractive option as well, that we will surely try on another visit.

We chose Bleecker Bakery to host our family of 5 adults for brunch. Since we didn't all arrive at the restaurant together, we ordered one dish from the starter menu for the table, to greet each diner as they arrive. My companion had his eye on the breakfast with eggs on toast with a lot of vegetables, served with an Israeli salad. I chose the popular Italian breakfast with eggs on a bed of polenta, served with focaccia and a side salad. The breakfast includes an excellent cup of coffee.

eLuna knows desserts and this is where Bleecker Bakery shines. If it is cake and coffee that you want, you have come to the right place. There are no less than 8 delicious sounding cakes each with a you-can't-pass-this-up description. There is an art to writing a menu and Bleecker Bakery's got it. Some of the descriptions are so enticing you can practically taste the food before it comes to the table. Lemon Meringue Pie becomes "almond pie crust, lemon curd and meringue." Cookies and Cream Cheesecake is described as "baked cheesecake topped with a vanilla Oreo Chantilly cream." Who could pass that up?

If you have to pass up the dessert you can purchase Bleecker Bakery cakes from the refrigerator compartment behind the register. You are going to have to do battle with your Yetzer Hara to avoid bringing home a sweet souvenir.

The restaurant summer menu offers a page of decadent shakes. We have tried a few Bleecker shakes and without a doubt the winner is the triple chocolate, with 3 different flavors of ice cream topped with a generous swirl of whipped cream. The Restaurant calls these summer treats. But we expect to return to Bleecker Bakery for shakes all winter long.

From the Menu
Israeli breakfast NIS 82/152
Classic Shakshuka NIS 65
Arancini Starter NIS 52
Bleeker Salad NIS 71
Pizzas Margarita NIS 62
Spaghetti NIS 60
Shakes NIS 33
Cakes NIS 45

Getting there: Bleecker Bakery is on the ground floor of the mall to the left of the supermarket. There is free parking in the underground lot. Use the entrance to the parking lot from Hayetzira St. Park in rows 4 or 5 and escalator up one flight.

Events: Bleecker is a perfect venue for small and large events. These can be business meetings, family get togethers and smachot. There is free parking in the underground lot, plenty of seating (indoor and outdoors) and an endless menu (Hebrew and English) of full meals and light dishes.

Party trays: The restaurant will prepare trays of mini-sandwiches and wraps for your get-togethers and events. Save some energy and order a tray, even for small get togethers.