Luciana, Mevaseret Zion

October 2025
I could barely control my excitement at the prospect of a visit to a Luciana restaurant, this time in Mevaseret Zion. Luciana has gone from one lonely restaurant in the German Colony to a chain of restaurants in Jerusalem and its environs through to Modiin. No cookie cutter these. Each Luciana restaurant is unique and each has its own attraction.

In addition to the signature Luciana attractions, the Mevaseret Zion restaurant has the all-important location. The restaurant is situated comfortably between Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv, Gush Dan area. If you want to meet up with folks from the other side of the country, this is the spot. If you are making a party and her folks are Yerushalmim, yours from Petach Tikva and your friends from Tel Aviv, Mevaseret is your answer.

Luciana Mevaseret Zion is in the new modern beautifully designed Country Park complex. This is a gorgeous open-air mall with automatic doors, buttons and tech gadgets. There is plenty of free parking in the well-lit and spacious underground parking lot. Elevator up, just one flight. From the parking lot to your table in the restaurant there are no steps.

Luciana in Mevaseret is designed to accommodate parties and large groups that can number up to 200 guests. The modern indoor area faces the semi-open kitchen. sectioned off by live greenery. The sunny covered patio beyond, was the space of choice for most of the diners at our visit. In addition, there is an outdoor area where children can play safely.

Yum! Where to start?
It is too hard to choose. Let's just order everything.
The temptation is great, but at this visit we decided to try dishes from four categories on the menu: one antipasti, one fish dish, one pasta dish and one dessert to share. We filled our table with extra plates so that we could share all the dishes. The four courses that we chose made for a filling tasting meal.

How many times have we said that the starters are the best dishes on the menu? In fact, more than once we thought to make the entire meal of starters. Not so at Luciana. We started with the antipasti but we enjoyed all the dishes that followed, equally.

After deliberating about which antipasti to choose, we passed on the all-favorite arancini, and we agreed on the Burrata Siciliana appetizer. This is a favorite of mine, not found on every Italian menu. The burrata is a ball of cheese reminiscent of mozzarella, but richer, and filled with cream. The burrata sits on a platter of fresh cut salad, that is heavy on the tomatoes. When you pierce the ball, the cream inside becomes a spread for the vegetables. The dish was served with a warm and crusty focaccia, for a delicious dairy dish.

The kitchen was running very efficiently and before we finished our appetizer the Musar (Red Drum) filet was delivered to our table. The fish dish was a beautifully presented platter with two perfectly prepared filets. For a twist, the fish was served on a bed of mushrooms, peas and several mushroom tortellinis, shaped like florets. These were flavored with a lovely sauce and topped with grated Parmesan cheese. After eating one filet and my share of the vegetable sauce, I reluctantly passed the plate with the second filet, to my waiting companion. We cannot recommend this dish highly enough. The quality of the fish, the mix of vegetables and pasta florets, the beautiful presentation, is a culinary experience.

A festive dish begs a glass of wine. We were pleased to see that the Gewurztraminer, our favorite, usually available only by the bottle, can be ordered by the glass for a reasonable NIS 42. Gewurztraminer is a sweet white wine that complemented the fish and dairy dishes.

Before we knew it, out came the pasta dish. Pappardelle wide noodle pasta is a favorite, so when choosing from the pasta menu, that was our first choice. Pieces of sweet potato were tossed in the pasta that was topped with grated Parmesan cheese. I have to confess that even after sharing the burrata and the fish, I could not do justice to the pasta dish. I did taste enough of the dish to appreciate the flavors.

Luciana cakes and desserts are legendary. They are displayed in a glass case, like gems, at the entrance to the restaurant. That is how you know that this meal is going to end well. Luciana has its own dedicated patissery producing cakes and desserts for all the restaurants in the chain. You don't want to miss these desserts available only at Luciana restaurants.

Since I know that i will enjoy any and all of the desserts, I entrusted my companion with the task of choosing just one for the two of us to share. He chose the classic Creme Brulee, an oh-so-sweet and creamy dessert in a buttery crust. This was a single-portion dessert, but after the Luciana meal, it was enough to share. Half of the dessert with a hot cup of Americano coffee, made for a fully satisfying meal.

Another success for Luciana. Keep 'em coming!

From the menu Arancini Antipasti NIS 62 Burrata Siciliana Antipasti NIS 76 Salads NIS 78 Pappardelle Sweet potato NIS 78 Drum Fish Fillet NIS 150 Wine by the glass NIS 42 cocktails NIS 58 Dessert NIS 48. Luciana offers a business menu served from 12:00 noon - 4:30pm.