Nestled at 15 Rothschild is a wonderful Italian restaurant called Rustico. For a rustic and authentic italian culinary experience. The place sure has an italian feel and a dead giveaway is all the full garlic littered everywhere (should have been a clue!). The menu is also geared for italians and is NOT kosher. There is bacon, ham, cheese and shellfish on the menu. It is a Rabbi's nightmare. There is one thing I noticed, the waitrons had no visible tattoos. I think there is an inverse ratio of tattoos to pork. The more pork products served, the fewer the need to have tattoos, just a theory.
As in my previous posts, I am divided on the whole pork issue, but live and let live. The menu is fantastic, with great variety and the best of all is the service levels. The restaurant provided exceptional service, yes I will say is again, the service was exceptional. On the food front, I had a salad starter, which consisted of lettuce, tomatoes, croutons, mushrooms and a garlic dressing (hmm second clue about the garlic) but it was tasty. The main meal I chose was the red tuna linguine and it did say in the description that it was red tuna, garlic, and the rest. I think in a way it was false advertising, what they should have written was something like this:
"We take a base of raw garlic and place red tuna (marinated in raw garlic), tossed over young lettuce (with a garlic dressing) and accompanied by lunguine. Finally we delicately pour our famous garlic oil over the whole thing."
I am not saying the garlic was excessive, however, if I was living in the Transylvania, I could dispense with the traditional garlic necklace and have a restful nights sleep, without any fear of interruptions. The meal was guaranteed to keep vampires away, come to think of it, it is a guarantee to keep everything away. Starters go for around NIS 15 and main meals are in the region of NIS 40 to NIS 60 (only 1125 Bangladesh Taka).
So in conclusion, Rustico is a slice of Italy, well priced, excellent service and quality. It is not kosher by any Israeli standards, even the reconstruction movement consider it not kosher. The food is good and I would definitely recommend it.
