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Awash with sea views during
the day and upholstered luxury in the evening, Lobbystro restaurant raises
hotel lobby food to new heights. This many-faceted restaurant drapes itself
across the main foyer of the Daniel Hotel, offering Continental, Thai and
Japanese cuisine, and a sumptuous Friday buffet.
As we were seated in plush chairs and at widely spaced
tables, live piano music wafted over us. Tonight we had come to feast at
the Lobbystro Restaurant and Sushi Bar. As business deals were clinched and rendezvous completed
around us, we gave ourselves over to the elegance of both setting and food.
All this luxury, we figured, was going to hit us in the pocket book. But we were pleasantly surprised. Dining at Lobbystro is not more expensive than most dairy restaurants, but the experience is over the top. At Lobbystro your shekel buys you the most delicious food combined with the 5-star elegance of the hotel overlooking the Mediterranean sea. What could be better?
The Lobbystro menu offers a wonderful selection of dairy dishes ranging from light salads and sandwiches to a full fish dinner. The Lobbystro breakfast, served till 2:00pm, includes the simple coffee and croissants to a full breakfast for two. There is a lovely selection of salads and sandwiches. One of the unique offerings is Lobbystro platters, with superior quality and exotic cheeses and fish.
 A full meal can include a quiche and salad or a fish platter with two side dishes .
A pasta platter with any of half a dozen sauces runs between NIS 46 and NIS 55. Two-course business lunches are available from noon till 6:00pm. These include soup or salad and either pasta, sushi, or a fish main course. Prices range from NIS 55 to NIS 85.
Scrumptious cakes wink at you from a glass case
at the bar. A sweet treat and a cup of coffee alone, are worth a visit to this delightful restaurant.
The Friday Buffet (NIS 79 per person): Friday from 9:00 till 3:00pm, in addition to the regular menu, Lobbystro offers a fantastic buffet. Situated in the center of the lobby, the eye-catching buffet includes breakfast foods such as breads, salads, fish and cheese, plus some not-so-early-morning foods like soup, spaghetti, and quiches. Come in the morning and eat right through lunch. Go back for more as often as you like.
Make no mistake.
This is not the breakfast buffet for hotel guests. This very special buffet with live piano music, comfortable seating and a gorgeous panoramic view of the sea is just for guests of the lobbystro restaurant.
The buffet starts with table service. Your waitress will take your order for eggs, any way you like them. Then you will be served free-flowing juice and coffee.
And then there is the buffet. Take a plate or two or three, and get started.
Each side of the square buffet contains beautifully presented and delicious offerings. One side of the buffet is all cheeses: hard cheese, soft white cheeses, marinated cheese cubes, etc. Another side is all salads, including tuna, avocado, vegetable, mushroom, bean, pasta, and more. A third side offers a landscape of breads and yeast cakes. You can slice from the many unusual loaves or choose fresh rolls. There are also croissants and chocolate filled yeast cake. Oh heaven. And then there are the hot dishes. Wow. There are two choices of hot simmering soup, two pasta choices and two outstanding quiche.
Is this breakfast, brunch or lunch? It is all three. At under NIS 160 per couple, the Lobbystro Friday buffet is a culinary find!
 Lobbystro has an amazing selection of Asian food including noodle dishes and sushi. Our sushi-sashimi assortment was rich, exotic and top-rate, with a wide variety of fish. Vegetarian hand rolls were jewel-like mosaics, with asparagus and avocado featured prominently. Nigri (pieces of fish on rice) of denis and salmon were decorated liberally with pearls of red and black caviar, as were beautiful Make rolls sheathed in salmon. Salmon sashimi also came striped together with layers of red and black caviar; a new and unique looking treat. We were enchanted by the sheer variety and intricacy of our selection.
Eating sushi is almost always a delight--but even more fun is initiating someone into the glories of this food. Since my companion was a former nonbeliever, getting her to try and delight in sushi was a part of this evening's challenge. As it turned out, bowling her over with Lobbystro's offerings was a piece of cake. In fact, after waves of rapture and exclamations she concluded that "Sushi is so pretty, it is the protein equivalent of a gooey cake. No?" Almost without realizing it, she began planning her next sushi experience. With the quality of sushi we were eating, it was no wonder.
As for other Japanese food selections, The Dolphin offers fish prepared 'Tapan-Yaki" style, sauteed crisply in butter--what could be bad? This dish is prepared with your choice of either salmon, denis or locus. From the tantalizing look and smells of the Thai dishes that whisked by us, we're sure any hot Oriental entrees that this team puts its hand to will be terrific. Meanwhile, we'll just revel in the sushi, the music, the view....
Sushi: 6 pieces/55 NIS, 9 pieces/79 NIS, 12 pieces/99 NIS, Temaki Handrolls 3 pieces/40 NIS, Fish Tapan Yaki style/65 NIS.
| Sushi reviewed by Dena Ribner (ribnerfish@aol.com) |
From Our Readers:
Submitted by: D. Amini Date: November 07. Description: My wife and I tried the Friday Buffet yesterday (02.11.07).
The food was deliciously fresh and tasty and plentiful. The cold drink was cold. The hot coffee was very hot. The ambience gorgeous. The staff polite and very smilingly pleasant.
Submitted by: lgradstein Date: November 06. Description: I recently surprised my husband with brunch at Lobbybistro. We left Jerusalem without him knowing where we were going and an hour later pulled into the Daniel Hotel. The view of the beach is beautiful and the food is terrific. We especially enjoyed the pumpkin soup and a fettucini al fredo. They also had excellent cheeses that we really enjoyed.
My only complaint was that only one cup of coffee was included with the brunch. An extra small hafuch was 14 shekel each which was a bit high. Overall, a great way to spend a Friday morning! Linda Gradstein |
