Michali's Patisserie
May 2015
As a youngster, Michali, the namesake of this restaurant, would steal into the kitchen to watch her Mum mix, knead and roll out the different dough pastries. At her own Patisserie and Boulangerie in Modiin, Michali has aimed to emulate the wonderful foods from her mothers kitchen. The ambiance is warm and inviting with a lovely fresh dcor that anticipates the delicious culinary experience that lies ahead.
Michalis calls itself Patisserie and Boulangerie and indeed the cakes, pastries, pies, breads and rolls are of the variety and quality you might expect in the best French bakeries. But Michalis is also a caf-restaurant, with the full gamut of meals a choice of breakfast dishes, salads, quiches, pizzas and pasta. In addition there are vegan options they have thought of everybody.
Michalis is in Yishpro, outside Modiin town center, at the traffic circle across from Rami Levy. This is easily accessible from Road 431. Michalis offers indoor and outdoor seating, with an enclosed patio at the back which can be booked for functions. The design combines French rustic with practical features white and light oak furniture, shelves laden with fresh French baguettes and bread and jars of biscuits large and small. The staff are helpful and friendly all making for a warm, pleasant ambience.
About The Michali's Menu
In the spirit of a true French patisserie, when you come into Michali's you will be totally wowed by the baked goods. The breads, the pasties, and the gorgeous desserts are a sight to behold. Enjoy these at the restaurant and/or buy to take home.
The breakfasts at Michali's are all based on their high end breads and pastries - something you don't want to miss. Breakfasts ranges from Israeli, to French, Italian, Greek and North African.  The Croissant Paris a light and crumbly savoury pastry filled with mushroom and spinach, butter, eggs, smoked salmon and hollandaise sauce is served with a green salad flavored with sunflower seeds. The focaccia, the base of the Toscana Breakfast, is baked in a stone oven with pesto, cherry tomatoes, 2 fried eggs, and cheese, all served with a green salad. Then there is a Greek option burekas filled with mushrooms and feta cheese, with fried egg and mixed salad. Moving from Europe to North Africa there is a delicious shakshuka served in a hot skillet with eggplant and feta added to the customary tomato sauce.
Other items on the menu are equally varied and creative. For starters,  choose from antipasti or smoked salmon florets with cream cheese or for something completely different - leekballs served with sour cream. You could have a really creamy mushroom soup or minestrone served with pasta and pecorino cheese a meal in itself!
The international theme continues with Michalis sandwiches; the Meditterano is based around pesto and feta, the Tunisian boasts a tuna harissa with pickled lemon, the Provence is made with a gorgeous olive tapenade with goats cheese.
You can choose from a variety of salads as a main course, or enjoy a quiche with a fresh, flaky and light crust. If pizza is your thing, there are three types to choose from. Pasta? What is a dairy restaurant without pasta? Choices include spaghetti, fettucine, three different ravioli dishes, and gnocchi. The Pasta Rigatoni is made with whole wheat flour and prepared with a colourful array of vegetables and kalamata olives.
Vegans will enjoy the Fresh Roll from the Far East rice sheets stuffed with mixed vegetables, herbs, sesame seeds, peanut soy sauce with a Teriyaki sauce.
Our Visit to Michali's
July 2015. We visited Michali's Restaurant on a week day evening.
At about 7pm the restaurant was partially filled with couples having a late afternoon snack. As the evening progressed several families came to dine. There is comfortable seating outside and inside.
My companion and I shared a basket of breads, an appetizer and a salad.
The bread basket (shown above) shows off a selection of the breads baked at the restaurant. The roll and the different breads were a treat, but We were totally taken with the dark nut bread. Breads are served with butter and jam. We then shared the cream cheese and lox starter. This is a single person starter, nicely presented with the lox arranged in flowerets and scoops of cream cheese. We went on to the health salad based on red cabbage, with nuts and spices. The dressing on the salad was sweet and the combination with the vegetables was quite pleasing.
The cakes and desserts on display are enticing. It would be worth stopping by this restaurant just for a cake and a cuppa.
The service staff was exceptionally pleasant and accommodating. All the young men serving at the time were helpful and energetic. All sharing the load, I would be hard pressed to say which was our waiter. Owner Eli, who you may mistake for the mashgiach, runs this restaurant, as he ran his previous restaurants, professionally and successfully. We recommend Michali's for light dairy meals throughout the day and we wish this restaurant great success.
As Michalis is a patisserie, you simply must be sure to enjoy coffee and some of Michalis home made cakes, pastries, pies and mousses. And if you just cant squeeze in another bite after your meal, buy some desserts to take home for later.
Enjoy!
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