Nagisa Raanana

Nagisa Revisited January 2018
eLuna revisited Nagisa Ra’anana (Etgrim Tech Park) to try their New Winter Menu . Nagisa recently added several dishes to their winter menu. We enjoyed this visit and we were very pleased that we returned to Nagisa.

Part of the fun of ordering at Nagisa is the electronic menus. We were each handed a tablet with a well-organized menu that was easy to use, with great pictures of every dish, good descriptions of what goes into them, and prices of course. The descriptions are brief as you browse the categories (starters, soups, mains, sushi, etc.) and go into more detail if you focus on a particular dish. You can switch languages at the main screen if you prefer.

We ordered three starters and one main course for two diners. Immediately after we placed our order, we were brought a portion of the sweet Asian pickled salad. This seems to be the way the restaurant greets its guests - lets hear it for Asian hospitality. The salad was a mix of several pickled vegetables in a sweet vinegar dressing: grated cabbage, sliced carrots and thin slices of pickles. This kept us occupied and satisfied while our starters were prepared.

We chose all vegetarian starters, and there were many to choose from. We had edamame (young soybeans) in the pod, steamed and sprinkled with sea salt. This dish is addictive – you can sit there forever, popping open the pods and eating the beans. You will accumulate a large pile of empty pod shells, but it’s fun and tasty.

Our other two starters were Panko Potatoes and Asiatic salad. The Panko potatoes are slices of potato in a tempura coating with a mild sweet chili sauce. Even my companion, who is shy of chili, enjoyed this dish. The Asiatic is a cold salad of grated red and white cabbage topped with grated carrots in a peanut flavored sauce. There was something mildly spicy about this salad, but I could not identify it. Perhaps there was chili that they didn’t tell us about? Both starters are generous portion which were easy to share.

Our main dish was the Asian Pargit (deboned chicken legs). This new dish is a Western favorite in an Asian style. The grilled pargit is coated with what the menu describes as an aromatic sauce - not barbecue flavored or sweet, topped with toasty grated root vegetables. Pargit is my favorite kind of chicken, and I love it grilled. I guess the Asian touches were the sauce and toasted root vegetables.

The main course was served with Asian side dishes: three egg-size balls of sticky rice, crispy on the outside, served on a smear of raw tehina sauce, with a drop of sweet chili sauce. Also on the plate was a portion of the grated red and white cabbage, this time without a dressing. The colorful grated cabbage seems to be a signature vegetable dish at Nagisa,

Service was prompt and courtious, there is convenient parking, and again we enjoyed our time at Nagisa Raanana.

Edamame, 14 shekels; Panko potatoes, 28; Asiatic salad, 15; Asiatic Pargit, 59

December 2016
Raanana welcomes the newest branch of Nagisa Asian Restaurant in Raanana. This is a spacious restaurant simply decorated with clean lines.

In a word, what makes Nagisa Raanana special is the owner and the primary chef Daniel. Daniel was chefing for years in different restaurants before discovering Asian food. He apprenticed at Nagisa Kfar Saba for some time, learning the Nagisa style. While there, he developed several original dishes that were added to their menu and to the menu of the entire chain. At Nagisa Raanana, he prepares foods that are unique at this restaurant.

I must add that Daniel has a great sense of aesthetics. The dishes are all beautifully presented, as you would want in an Asian restaurant. We also felt that the prices are very reasonable for what you get. There is table seating throughout the room and in the courtyard. There also is seating at the wrap around sushi bar.

About The Nagisa Menu

"Let me bring you some of our favorites" says Daniel as we were guided to the comfortable banquettes, at Daniel's suggestion. The suggestions went on from there.

We started with the sweet pickled Asian salad. This is a favorite of mine, and a highlight at Asian restaurants. We then had two marvelous non-meat starters - a bowl of large fresh crispy mushrooms fried in tempura coating, again a favorite. Crispy but not oily, the mushrooms were very enjoyable.

Nagisa Raanana is the only branch that offers vegetarian egg rolls. A single portion comes with three good sized egg rolls served with sweet chili sauce, and was just enough for us to share. My companion enjoyed the specialty chicken egg rolls which are actually solid chicken white meat rolled in the egg roll jacket, with a crown of white and black sesame seeds at the ends. There are two rolls in this portion, cut in half and decoratively stacked, with sweet chilly sauce on the side. This was a beautifully presented dish.

Sushi must be part of your dinner at Nagisa, and to that end we enjoyed both vegetarian and fish sushi. We loved the luscious large pieces beautifully and aesthetically plated.and the crunchy panko coating.

For our main course my companion chose the lemon chicken with rice and I had the noodle and salmon saka soba dish. The impressive looking lemon chicken had large nuggets of chicken breast coated with tempura and sprinkled with sesame seeds. It was lightly covered with sweet lemon chilly sauce. The rice was served in a bowl on the larger plate, beside the chicken pieces. The rice was flavored with a gravy, and small pieces of chicken mixed in. I searched, but could not find a photo of the lemon chicken dish which is a shame because I would love to share with you the beautiful presentation of this dish. The chicken pieces on a lettuce leaf, mounted aesthetically on the platter with the rice was on the platter in a separate bowl, made a sight that was almost too beautiful to eat. But eat we did. And we licked our fingers it was so good.

The saka soba from the stir-fried menu is a comforting dish of stir fried noodles with broccoli, scallions and chunks of fresh salmon flavored with basil, coconut milk and curry. I must confess that I could not do that noodle and chicken dish justice, after all the starters and sushi that we ate.

That certainly did not stop us from enjoying the delicious light dessert of chocolate cream sushi-like rings and glazed banana.


From the menu: Asian sweet pickled salad NIS 15. Mushroom tempura starter NIS 32. Vegetarian egg rolls (3) NIS 22. Veggie sushi NIS 26. Fish sushi NIS 32. Saki Saba noodles with salmon NIS 56. Lemon chicken with rice NIS 49. Dessert NIS 28.


The Nagisa Philosophy:
Nagisa started as a sushi bar in 2005. Over the years the restaurant has introduced Thai and Asian dishes, and today these are the Nagisa signature dishes. The word Nagisa is the Japanese word for sea beach sunset. The first branch of Nagisa was in Kfar Saba, Today the chain has many branches throughout the center of the country. All branches are kosher and some are menadrin. The menu is tweaked for Israeli tastes and is based on fresh fish and vegetables.

Nagisa works for every diner: families at tables or individuals at the bar. If you prefer to stay home, Nagisa will deliver to your door throughout the day. Nagisa is proud to host private and corporate events at one of the Nagisa branches.


Getting There: Nagisa is located in the Tidhar building in Raanana's Etgarim tech park. Tidhar is a tall glass spiffy modern building, stacked with high tech companies. The Tidhar building has a partially covered courtyard with restaurants on the ground floor. Nagisa Asian restaurant occupies the space at one corner of the courtyard. The entrance to the underground parking garage is directly across from the entrance to the SAP/NICE buildings.