"The steak was tender and juicy and the sautéed spinach was a dreamy delicacy. Spinach fans among you will discover that even a spinach dish can be inspired…" Ricki Elazar, went in expecting fast food and is pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Ranch House Bar Burger in Eilat.
I was promised that Ranch House Bar Burger at the Isrotel Royal Garden Hotel specializes in burgers. But even though I thought I was going to eat Eilat's best burgers, the waiter's recommendation had me choosing entirely different dishes. As for burgers – I didn't even have one.
This kosher restaurant is not a regular old fast food joint. Ranch House Bar Burger is high quality and impressive with a lovely relaxing atmosphere. In the centre of the restaurant is a transparent kitchen, allowing diners to watch the cooks at work and, of course, be appropriately impressed by them. Personally, I really admire restaurants with an open kitchen, for one because the level of cleanliness in the kitchen is a topic worthy of inspection. In the case of Ranch House Bar Burger, the kitchen was clean and one could also see the cooks using gloves.
We were encouraged to try the house wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz from Carmel Mizrachi, which suited the meal ahead. We were then served the house bread with comes with a roasted garlic aioli (essentially a garlic spread) and black olive tapenade (again, a spread), both of which are made in the restaurant. We were pleasantly surprised by the bread, which was served in 4 large slices, in contrast with most restaurants where the house bread is one long roll that diners are obliged to slice themselves. The bread was crunchy and tasty, and the portion lasted us until the end of the meal.
For starters we ate a hot roast beef salad in a spicy sauce with two types of lettuce. The beef was tender and the sauce was an excellent match. The combination of the beef and the salad, which surprisingly also contained walnuts, was an all around success. We also tried the chicken fingers coated in sesame seeds, served with a delicious sweet and sour sauce. The chicken was tender and the flavouring simple. Finger licking good.
The waiter's recommendation for mains included the 300 gram rib eye steak served with Cajun potato skins, sautéed spinach and a steak sauce, as well as the salmon filet in teriyaki sauce. The steak was tender and juicy and the sautéed spinach was a dreamy delicacy. Spinach fans among you will discover that even a spinach dish can be different and inspired, and for this I salute the restaurant's chef. The salmon filet was also tender and a big hit with my sister-in-law who kept eating it until she was stuffed. Still enjoying the dishes in front of us, we understood the reason why these dishes were listed on the menu under the title 'our specialties'.
The main dishes all come with 3 side dishes of your choice: chips, which we chose not to order for variety's sake, Ranch House style sautéed spinach, the very one I passionately ate, and Cajun spiced potato skins, which lacked any sort of specific taste, and which would have been better with more crunch and less spice.
For dessert we indulged in fresh fruit salad containing kiwi, apple, and orange all swimming in orange juice, but lacking overall in my opinion. A fruit salad really aught to have wider range of fruit and its desirable to combine the flavours of the additional fruit or even add a little wine in with the juice. The chocolate soufflé came highly recommended and was accompanied by 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream adorned with fresh mint and nuts. The dessert was very tasty, but standard and lacking in originality.
With that, we once again discovered that Ranch House Bar Burger has the ability to impress when it comes to plating. We ordered tea with mint, and got a set of mugs, each with its own design, and a teapot filled with hot water. The mint was served on a separate plate so that each diner can choose however much mint they'd like. Highly recommended for those who don't like searching for their tea amongst the mint leaves. The tea service reminded us of a proper English tea party. The perfect end to our meal.
Ranch House Bar Burger
La Boulevard Boardwalk, Isrotel Royal Garden Hotel, Northern Beach, Eilat.
Tel: 08-6386628
