Restaurant: Portcafe

Location: National Park of Caesarea Harbor, Caesarea 3842134, Israel. +972 4-610-0299

Date: July 3, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Lovely location, great food

On our way from the “North” to Tel Aviv we visited the port city of Caesarea.

Above are the ruins of old Caesarea, founded by King Herod as a new Hellenistic capital away form the “overly religious” Jerusalem.

Passing through the ruins to the port we met up with relatives at Portcafe.

The sea breeze was gorgeous.

The menu.

Caprese. Tomato caprese, fresh mozzarella, basil and olive oil and Calamata olives.

Market Salad. Lightly salted Bulgarian cheese, with fresh vegetable salad, lemon, olive oil and hyssop.

Homemade Icra (fish roe) with red onion and pita bread. Love, love this salty umami dip often found in Greece.

Roasted Eggplant Carpaccio. Baladi Eggplant Filet charred on the fire. Ethiopian tahini, tomato salsa with green onion and olive oil. One of the best eggplant and tahini dishes we had on the trip.

House baked pita bread. Thick and excellent.

Fresh Cheese Ravioli filled with ricotta and feta cheese in rose sauce (aka pink sauce) — tomatoes, cream and parmesan.

Fish and Chips. Filet of cod in beer batter served with lemon and tartar sauce.

Portburger. Signature burger 100% fresh Angus beef, brioche bun, BBQ aioli, pickled cucumber and rockat cheese, onion jam.

Vegan Port Burger. Beyond Meat Cut, chopped pea protein hamburger, Ethiopian tahini protein, lettuce, tomato, pickled cucumber in a bun and a green salad.

I really like Portcafe. First of all, the seaside setting with its sun and breeze was classic Mediterranean. Then beyond that the food (really the mezze, which is all I ate, skipping the fried stuff) was very fresh and delightful.

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The ancient (and modern) theater.