Instead of going through the menu and negotiating every dish, you can simply let go. From chef’s tasting menus that unfold in courses to couple’s menus and midweek friends’ evenings, these are the tasting menus worth knowing in Tel Aviv.
There are evenings when it’s actually nice not to choose. You sit down, order a tasting menu, and let the kitchen set the pace: a small bite to start, another plate, another glass, and then a dish you wouldn’t necessarily have ordered on your own. On Ontopo, there’s plenty of demand for this format, and in Tel Aviv today it comes in very different versions, from full-evening chef’s tastings to lighter, more accessible menus. These are the places worth booking a table.
1. OCD
If there’s a restaurant where the tasting menu is part of its identity, it’s OCD by chef Raz Rahav. In the intimate space on Tirza Street, diners sit around a bar facing the open kitchen, and the entire meal is served to all guests simultaneously. Instead of choosing dishes, you enter a menu the kitchen builds and move through it over the course of the evening, with the work behind each plate unfolding right before your eyes.
The tasting menu changes from time to time and is built according to the season and availability of ingredients, with influences from local culture, memories, and techniques drawn from different worlds. This isn’t a tasting version of an existing menu but the way OCD is built from the start, which is why it’s also the natural starting point for this list.
The lowdown: Full tasting menu | ₪730 per guest.
Address: Tirza 17, Tel Aviv-Jaffa.
2. &Moshik
At chef Moshik Roth’s place, the tasting menu isn’t a shortcut to getting to know the menu—it’s the reason to come. &Moshik in Sarona is built around a full evening where the kitchen leads the pace, and each dish is another stop in a sequence designed to work as a whole. The atmosphere is intimate, attention is focused on the plates, and the experience is especially suited to an evening when you want to dedicate time to the food and not squeeze in other plans afterward.
Roth’s style leans on technique, ingredients, and connections between different culinary worlds, so the point isn’t just what arrives on the plate but also how the meal unfolds. The tasting menu is seasonal and changes frequently, so the menu itself can shift from visit to visit.
The lowdown: 10 or 12 courses | ₪950/1450 per guest respectively | Price includes mineral and sparkling water, hot beverages, and desserts.
Address: Tzvi Starkilvitz 4, Tel Aviv-Jaffa.
3. Chez Vivie
Chez Vivie on Dizengoff, led by chef Asaf Gabay, is a fish and seafood restaurant with a vibe far more relaxed than the classic association of a tasting menu. This isn’t a ceremonial, quiet evening, but a couple’s table that moves between plates, flavors, and textures, within the Tel Aviv atmosphere of Dizengoff.
The format, called “open table,” is built to give a broad taste of the kitchen without having to assemble an order yourself. The meal includes 9 starters that arrive at the table and a main course of choice for each guest, so you get much of the Chez Vivie experience in one meal.
The lowdown: 9 starters and a main for each guest | ₪380 per couple | Sunday–Thursday and Saturday, starting at 7:30 PM.
Address: Dizengoff 166, Tel Aviv-Jaffa.
4. Darya
On the pool level of the Hilton Hotel, facing the sea, Darya starts the evening with the view. The restaurant’s kitchen travels along the Silk Road and connects flavors from the Far East, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean, so a tasting menu feels like an especially natural way to move between these worlds without choosing one side.
The menu is built as a full meal, from an opener and starter through intermediate courses to a main and shared dessert, and there’s no need to order it in advance. You can arrive and decide you’re in the mood for the tasting menu and request it. For those who want to continue the journey in a glass, you can add a wine pairing.
The lowdown: Opener, starter, intermediate courses, main, and shared dessert | ₪370 per guest | ₪490 per guest including wine pairing | Suitable for couples and up to 4 guests.
Address: HaYarkon 205, Tel Aviv-Jaffa.
5. Popina
Popina sits in the heart of Neve Tzedek, inside a historic building with stained glass, intimate spaces, and an atmosphere perfectly suited to an evening when you want to give attention to the food. Chef Orel Kimchi’s kitchen is known for playing with cooking techniques and ingredients, so a tasting menu is an especially good way to encounter it.
Instead of choosing a few individual dishes and being left with a partial glimpse, the tasting menu allows you to move through six stages and see how the same kitchen shifts pace, temperature, and texture over the course of the evening.
The lowdown: 6 courses | ₪430 per guest. Alcohol pairing for the tasting menu (5 glasses) | ₪215 per guest.
Address: Ahad Ha’am 3, Tel Aviv-Jaffa.
6. a
At a, Japanese cuisine is a starting point, not a boundary. The restaurant works with techniques like fermentation, smoking, and koji and connects them to local ingredients, fish, fire, and flavors from different places. The couple’s tasting menu concentrates all this language into one evening, without the need to choose from the menu.
The meal is built from a fixed menu designed for omnivores that cannot be changed. It starts with three bites, continues through three rounds—including sushi and dishes from the fire—moves to a main and side of choice, and finishes with a dessert of choice from the restaurant’s menu. It’s a fairly rich menu, where each part of the meal feels different but all belong to the same world.
The lowdown: Bites + 3 rounds + main + side + dessert | ₪460 per guest | For 2 guests only and with advance payment.
Address: Derech Menachem Begin 121, Tel Aviv-Jaffa.
7. Mitbach Layla HaChadasha
Mitbach Layla HaChadasha takes the idea of a tasting menu to a less formal and much more social place. On Mondays, the restaurant holds a “friends’ meal,” where the kitchen assembles a selection of dishes from the menu for the table. No need to plan the order, argue about who wants what, or calculate how many starters will be enough. You sit down and start sharing.
This is perhaps the most accessible format on the list for those who like the idea of tastings but aren’t looking for a fine-dining evening. There’s no fixed number of courses advertised; instead, the kitchen builds the meal from the menu according to the budget.
The lowdown: Changing selection of dishes from the menu | ₪200 per guest | On Mondays.
Address: Lilienblum 20, Tel Aviv-Jaffa.
8. Taizu
At Taizu, there’s plenty to taste, so the choice not to choose works especially well here. Chef Yuval Ben Neriah’s kitchen is built on inspiration from travels in Asia and jumps between regions, techniques, and styles, from raw fish and dumplings to deeper dishes from the fire. The tasting menu is fixed and allows you to get all this movement within one meal.
The menu starts with Taizu tartare as an opener and continues through four rounds, each bringing 2–3 dishes to the table, and finally a dessert of choice. This way, you can move in one evening between raw fish, dumplings, hot dishes, lamb, and whole fish without choosing just a small part of the menu.
The lowdown: Opener + 4 rounds + dessert | ₪480 per guest | Couple’s meal with advance payment, excluding drinks and service.
Address: Derech Menachem Begin 23, Tel Aviv-Jaffa.
9. Mi Va
Mi Va on Dizengoff brings another side of tasting menus to this list. The vibe is that of an Italian food bar, with an evening that starts early around a drink and can continue without much ceremony. Within this setting, the couple’s tasting menu allows you to open up the table, move between plates, and let the kitchen build the meal instead of deliberating over each dish separately.
The advantage here is also in the flexibility: during early evening hours, you can enter the tasting menu at a more accessible price, and later in the evening move to the full menu. It’s an option suited to those who want the fun of a tasting menu but in a lighter atmosphere, with a glass on the table and the pace of Dizengoff around you.
The lowdown: Number of courses varies | ₪350 per couple between 5:30–7:30 PM | ₪450 per couple starting at 7:30 PM | On Fridays ₪450 per couple throughout the evening.
Address: Dizengoff 122, Tel Aviv-Jaffa.
10. Lunel
At Lunel in Florentin, chef Yanon Elal connects French techniques with Yemeni and Jerusalemite flavors he grew up with. This connection runs through bite-sized dishes, raw fish, pastries, stews, and deeper dishes, so the couple’s tasting menu is an especially good way to get to know the kitchen without limiting yourself to a few choices from the menu.
The evening opens with an aperitif and vermouth tonic for each guest, continues with a choice of 2 bite dishes, 2 starters, and 2 mains for the couple, and ends with a dessert tasting platter. Among the options on the menu are jachnun bruschetta with raw fish sashimi, labraq shawarma on lahuch, beef tartare with shifka aioli, chard and cheese agnolotti, and shawiya and aseed stew.
The lowdown: Aperitif for each guest + 2 bite dishes + 2 starters + 2 mains + dessert tasting platter | ₪550 per couple | Sunday–Saturday starting at 6:00 PM.
Address: Abarbanel 72, Tel Aviv-Jaffa.
A tasting menu is, in the end, a slightly different kind of order. Instead of knowing exactly what will arrive at the table in advance, you choose the kitchen you want to get to know and let it lead the evening. Just be sure to book ahead: at some places, it’s a limited format, at certain hours, or by advance reservation only.
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