The writer argues that many Tel Aviv restaurants have become too stingy with portion sizes while keeping prices high. The piece begins with a recent visit to a successful tapas bar in Tel Aviv, where 5 tiny anchovy fillets cost 45 shekels, or 9 shekels each, and uses that experience to question a wider trend.
To show that small dishes can still be memorable, the writer recalls an unforgettable meal about 10 years ago at El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Catalonia, a three Michelin star restaurant once considered among the world’s best. There, the first of 17 tasting-course dishes featured a miniature olive tree with olives stuffed with anchovy, a dish the writer describes as astonishing in its balance of sweet, crunchy, sour, bitter, salty, and sea flavors.
The article says small portions are acceptable when they are part of a tasting menu, but not when they are sold at full price in regular dining rooms. It notes that the problem is especially acute in Tel Aviv, where, according to the writer, some restaurateurs have lost the balance between portion size and value. The text acknowledges real pressures, including high rents, rising wages, shortages of workers, expensive ingredients, security-related cancellations, fewer tourists, and lower corporate hospitality spending.
Even so, the writer says those pressures do not justify what feels like a breach of trust with diners, especially loyal customers who already tip 15% to 20% and tolerate weaker service. The article says restaurants are trying to offset costs by shrinking portions rather than raising prices, but customers notice the difference. The writer concludes that hospitality must include generosity, and that anyone charging 45 shekels for a plate of a few anchovies or a handful of peppers should leave the kitchen.
