A culinary oasis
Review: Chef Rima Olvera and her team whisk diners to globe-spanning gastronomic destinations, from the comfort of her beautiful restaurant.
Just steps off of busy Allenby Street sits a cozy restaurant characterized by understated elegance, a tranquil rear garden and an open kitchen. Oasis is the brainchild and headquarters of San Francisco native Rima Olvera, who says she has not stopped working in the kitchen since the age of 14.
Her experience of 35 years has culminated in a restaurant that has grown in size and popularity since opening in a different Tel Aviv location four years ago. The concept is as fun as it is creative: the main courses are identified by the city name (and airport code) representing the national cuisine the dish is from, and are listed under the heading: “Please fasten your seat belts and choose your destination.”
The meal service on a flight at Oasis might well start with one of “Our Cocktails.” Since the names are all familiar, the implication here is not that they are unique but that they are mixed here expertly. The Bloody Mary was indeed excellent, with a spicy tartness that made the lips pucker. The violet martini, meanwhile—vodka with French violet syrup—was finely balanced, with a sugar rim that imparted a nice touch of sweetness.
According to Olvera, the menu is constantly being updated: while there are a few dishes that are virtual mainstays, many of the nine starters and eight main courses rotate almost daily, based on availability of the freshest ingredients. It is the kind of place where we felt comfortable asking the kitchen to bring out what they recommended that evening—and the kind of place that agreed to do so.
Our one request, since it was a bit cold out, was to start with a bowl of the one soup on the menu: Vietnamese pho. The clear consommé was loaded with shredded white meat, bean sprouts, and cellophane rice noodles unusually shaped like penne. The delicious, authentic broth, served with fresh lime, was ideal for a winter’s eve.
The Hong Kong mussels are flame-roasted, with Szechuan pepper, green onions and sake butter. The intriguing method of preparation, along with the very judicious use of the fiery pepper, resulted in the best mussel dish I have had in a long time. If only Oasis served bread, we would have used it to mop up every last drop of the sake butter sauce.
The raw zucchini salad à la Rome featured zucchini julienned to resemble pasta, with white truffle oil, lemon and Pecorino Romano. There was practically as much cheese as zucchini, in a lemon and oil dressing that really perks up the taste buds. This was the only vegetarian option on the entire menu; yet on the strength of this extraordinary dish alone, I would not hesitate recommending Oasis to a vegetarian.
The beef tartare Bangkok with kaffir lime oil, shallots and tapioca pearls was served with large, crispy prawn crackers, whose texture was a nice foil for the perfectly seasoned, velvety meat mixture, which filled the mouth with a pleasant sensation of heat.
We really had room left for only one main course, the lamb sirloin in a Persian lemon glaze, with a warm salad of black rice, buckwheat and green herbs. The medium-rare slices of meat were juicy and succulent, in a mild, mint-accented glaze that enhanced the flavor without overpowering it.
Otherwise, there was a slight deviation from the ingredients as listed on the menu: pine nuts were a nice addition to the rice salad, which an accompanying flaky borek filled with feta cheese and spinach was lacking the itemized dried cherries. All in all, the dish represented a terrific interplay of flavors and textures.
The wine list is Israeli and European, predominantly French, with 10 selections available by the glass. The knowledgeable sommelier recommended a pleasant rosé from France and a fragrant Cabernet franc from the same country (the Loire Valley).
There are eight desserts, a number of which featured ice creams and sorbets. Our choices were the strawberries carpaccio brûlée with Szechuan pepper and kaffir lime ice cream and the goat cheese and geranium ice cream with fresh persimmon. Both ice creams were exceptionally light and creamy: in the former, the razor-thin, caramelized slices of fruit—bursting with flavor—were the star of the show; while in the latter, the combination of subtle goat cheese with delicate flower has to be tasted to be believed.
Tel Aviv is hardly a culinary desert, but Oasis still manages to stand out as welcome, refreshing place for a memorable gastronomic experience.
Not kosher
Montefiore St. 17, Tel Aviv
Tel. (03) 620-6022
