We were really excited to try Poupée. It’s one of the latest high-end restaurants to turn kosher and there was a lot of hype for it. Unfortunately, it didn’t meet our expectations.
Poupée has spent months renovating their location since becoming kosher and we will give credit where credit is due. As far as kosher restaurants go, it’s one of the most impressive interiors we’ve seen.
The bar:
The bathroom is spectacular.
But that’s mostly where we think the good parts stop.
We started off the meal with the kubana (38 shekel) which we were told was a must. It’s a yemenite pull-apart bread that’s supposed to be made with butter, giving it a rich taste and fluffy texture. But since Poupée is a kosher meat restaurant, they couldn’t use butter. And it shows. Unfortunately, we just don’t think its worth serving kubana if butter can’t be used.
For appetizers, we ordered a few raw fish dishes (~58-70 shekel) as well as a deconstructed sabich dish (68 shekel) to share. We thought they were all okay, but not great. We also recommend not getting these to share as the fish comes on long crackers that are difficult to split into separate pieces.
Still quite hungry, we ordered some main dishes to share as well (that seems to be the thing to do in Tel Aviv these days). We ordered the beef filet (196 shekel), the lavrak fish (138 shekel), and another fish curry dish that seems to have dropped from the menu as well (but was delicious). The beef filet was a small dish but was actually some of the best steak we’ve had in Tel Aviv, although we regretted not ordering the larger Nebraska steak instead.
Still hungry, we decided to order another dish: a linguine (~70-80 shekel). It seems to have disappeared from the menu which is unfortunate, because it was probably the best thing we ate that night. The pasta was almost definitely made by hand and the sauce was light and delicious.
All in all, we spent about 200-250 shekel per person. At that price, we think it’s reasonable to expect prompt service and excellent food (and large enough portions). But we found ourselves leaving hungry and tired of chasing waiters. I don’t think that should ever happen, even at an upscale restaurant. We’re glad we tried Poupée but we won’t be running back, except maybe to sneak in to use the bathroom.
Poupée at a glance
| Type | Upscale French |
| Best Dish | Linguine |
| Overall Score | 7.8 |
| Cost | ₪₪₪ |
| Website | Poupée |
