Derby Bar (Herzylia Marina) 11/2011

Tourists and locals were out in force on this cool sunny late November afternoon. Shopping, sitting, strolling drinking and eating. There wass a continual queue at the string of harbour side restaurants but we had to wait only a few moments for our reserved table to be available. Chen, (Charm), our gorgeous waitress with the most astonishing almost transparent blue eyes produced a tray and unloaded dish after dish of salads and dips. They included tabouli, deep fried cauliflower, pickled coleslaw, beets, tahina or sesame paste, crumbed deep fried egg plant, creamed white caviar with onions, cucumber and tomato salad, a pink lightly pickled herring and a hot eggplant dip with two sorts of bread. This is all included in the cost of the main courses which mostly range from about NIS85 to NIS105 (A$22 to $30). It was all as fresh as you could ever want, the flavours and textures were quite distinct providing a plentiful and varied entree. Mains offered pasta and meat dishes as well as a variety of fillets or whole fish. We both selected oven roasted sea bream which came, covered in a scattering of roast garlic on a bed of sauteed onion and a lime with a separate dish of roast potatoes. We might have had it baked or deep fried. It was superbly simple and simply superb. It was easy to avoid the bones and there was plenty of fine white delicate flesh. Thinking about it again makes my mouth water! Most of the desserts were about A$10 and looked very appealing. We settled on sharing a cream malabi with rose water. This is a sweet almond milk pudding which had a nuanced balance of flavour despite it's sweetness, which we loved. have included Claudia Roden's recipe. Pudding, Almond (Malabi) Source: Claudia Roden's "Middle Eastern Cooking"
Serves: 6 5 cups milk
75 gr.(2-1/2 oz.) sugar
A pinch of salt
2 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. ground rice (just grind some rice at your blender)
75 gr.(2-1/2 oz.) blanched ground almonds
1 tsp. almonds essence
Garnish with (one or more from the list):
Mint leaves
Rosewater syrup
Ground coconut
Ground almonds
Ground peanuts

Bring milk to a slow boil with sugar and salt.

Stir cornstarch and ground rice with 4 tablespoons water to a smooth mixture. Stir mixture into milk while stirring to prevent clumps. Continue to cook while stirring until it thickens. Then, remove pot to the lowest flame, and go on cooking for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in ground almonds and cook 15 minutes more. Stir in almond essence and remove from heat. Pour into a serving bowl or personal bowls.

Serve chilled.

Syrup, Rosewater Source: Sherry Anski: Food of Israel
Serves: varies

2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 drops rose water extract

Pour water and sugar into a saucepan and heat until sugar dissolves. When it boils, lower the heat and cook for another 20 minutes.

Toward the end of cooking, add the food coloring, allow to cool, add lemon juice and rose water extract and mix. To serve, turn each jellied malabi out on a plate and pour a generous serving of red syrup over it. Sprinkle nuts over it and serve.

We particularly enjoyed a bottle of local Merlot Single (A$22), whatever that means.

This unpretentious restaurant serves excellent food at a very reasonable price. They have some inside dining space as well as a large outdoor area. We recommend it.

Score:14.5/20