September 2022
Solo Carne is a high-end meat restaurant with the highest level of Kashrut supervision. Solo Carne is two restaurants in one, On the ground floor there is a fast-food take away eatery, while one short flight up is the flagship up-market restaurant with comfortable seating, pleasant décor and an open kitchen.
Chef Yisrael Dudek is a legend in the world of Mehadrin culinary. Chef Dudek presents unique flavors prepared from everyday ingredients that he transforms into elegant dishes, unrecognizable in their new state. Bordering on molecular gastronomy, in Chef Dudek’s hands cucumbers become a delicious unrecognizable food served on a bed of onion cream. Another colorful dish is made from - you’ll never guess – the pickled rind of a watermelon. Don’t try this at home. Aesthetics are also an important part of the dining experience. The chef plates his dishes in dark stone serving platters specially made for the restaurant, contrasting with the gold flatware.
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| The great finale of the meal was a cleverly presented 3-piece meat dish of roast beef, corned beef and Turkish pastrami served on an artist’s palette, with dabs of colorful barbeque and beet ketchup sauces in place of the paints. The culinary artist was definitely at work. |
Dine slowly and savor the food, says Chef Dudek. Solo Carne is not a place to eat and run. Dinner is structured as a tasting feast with a series of shared dishes served sequentially.
We started with a platter of bread, made literally by hand, using no machinery. Thick slices of two types of sourdough bread, one baked with a sprinkling of carrots and the other with beets, were served with three dips. With the bread still on the table we moved on to the next course, a smokey eggplant dish offset by sweet flavoring.
With a name like Solo Carne I expected an all meat restaurant. Most of the dishes are meat, but Chef Dudek will tweak some of the dishes for non-meat eaters. After the all-vegetable dishes, there came a meat dish called “Windows of Bnei Brak.” Windows is a platter of sliced seared steak, red on the inside, flavored with reduced beef stock and a sweet sauce, with just a touch of barbeque sauce. The dish is inspired by “Windows of New York” offered at the very non-kosher Hudson Restaurant. It is hard to believe that the typical Solo Carne customer would get the reference. eLuna members ordering dinner for two will receive a complementary dessert with an eLuna coupon.
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From Our Reader:
Submitted By: Pesach Rogoway. Date: September 2022.
“Solo carne” means “only meat” in Spanish, but calling this restaurant by that name is a gross misnomer. This is because everything they serve with the meat is original, surprising, and very tasty. That is not to say that the meat itself is not delectable. Actually, I would stretch the language and define solo carne as the one and only meat restaurant. The restaurant is at the former location of Zipori, the first restaurant in Bnei Brak, which housed the first telephone for the entire area. The chef is the well-known Yisrael Dudek, who is associated with the Zipori Group.
The fast food counter is the first thing that greets you when you enter. They serve many types of food, in the form of sandwiches or plates, including lamb shawarma, pulled beef, minute steak, chuck rib, kababurger, and Pargit steak. There are also two vegetarian offerings, a humus ball dish and a grilled vegetable affair. I do not want to reveal all the surprises, but I will give you a few. Choice of bread for a sandwich is rustic white, rustic whole grain and Yemenite lachoach. For a plate: two sides, two salads, and house dressing. All sandwiches are 59 shekels, and plates are 73. There is limited seating on stools at the “sandwich bar”.
I would be delinquent if I did not reveal one more surprise: They have probably the best french fries you have ever tasted. You get a good-sized bowl of this solo-carne specialty for 30 shekel. At that price, they had better deliver, and they do. (They do deliver, literally as well as figuratively, only locally at least for now.) Each “chip” resembles a small knish but tastes like an ideal chip. They come with three sauces: American spicy barbecue, beet ketchup, and honey mustard. You get all three, not a choice of one. They are all better than good.
Windows of Bnei Brak
If you climb the short flight of stairs, you enter the dining area, not heaven but worthy of a similar accolade. It is simple, yet dignified, hospitable, tasteful. We had the business meal, served until 17:00, for 115 shekels per person. You get a bread course, an opener, and a main course with two side dishes. If you prefer, you can opt for a first course at 38-52 additional, and/or you can select a grilled meat main course option for 20 shekels additional. We had brisket, ribs, and entrecote. By consensus, we judged all three excellent, the ribs the best. The meat came sliced, which allowed the full flavor to absorb the spices and really identify itself. Two of the more intriguing dishes were roasted beets as a starter and sweet potato puree as a side dish.
Dinner is a completely new ballgame. You can choose between a four- course meal for 175 shekels (advertised as 350 for two) and a seven-course meal for 250 shekels per person. The courses are all platters (normally for two), and the four-course meal is a choice of the seven. Many of the courses are lunch offerings. One of the platters is cured meats that undergo a complex process. Another is Bnei Brak Windows, using an enticing Japanese tataki (lightly seared) method of cooking. My last platter is brisket and pargit on an orange (squash/pumpkin) background. Sounds yummy.
The service was impeccable. The waiter knew everything about the various dishes, and was extremely kind and considerate. (It did not hurt that the chef was in the background slicing the scrumptious bread. Remember – simple and hospitable?)
Our lunch had an important purpose - to discuss a pressing family issue. Our discussion was very successful, not in spite of the great food, but largely because of it. The ambience created by a combination of many factors, including exceptional food quality, did the trick.
Try it, whatever your reason or excuse. Truly one of the best. Solo carne. Don’t take that name literally.
From the Menu:
The Solo Carne menu is a tasting festival. . A 7-course dinner for two will set you back NIS 500, a 4-course dinner for two, NIS 350. Wine and dessert are extra. eLuna members ordering dinner for two will receive a complementary dessert with an eLuna coupon.
The Histoy
Not 60 years ago Jabotinsky Street, the major artery that links Ramat Gan, Bnei Brak and Petach Tikva, was a quiet street. There was only one restaurant in the neighborhood, visited not just for the food but because it had the only phone in the area.
This restaurant, run from the Tzipori family house, was the original Tzipori restaurant, the first in the empire. Today this house has become the venue of Solo Carne Restaurant.
Parking: Street parking is tight in Bnei Brak. The closest lot that we found was a pay lot across Jabotinsky St, behind Machon Mor.
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