Sense

Sense, Netanya: high-end kosher food with a real club night around it

I finally made it to Sense, and I had a really good night. It sits in the Poleg part of Netanya, a little out of the way in the industrial area, but the moment you walk in you forget all that. The room is dark and dressed up, there is a big LED screen glowing over everything, and the whole place is built for an evening out. You can tell right away who it is for: people who want a proper club night but also want to eat well while they are at it, not just pick at bar food. The menu is a real pleasure. It is wide and generous, a mix of cuisines with some lovely Moroccan dishes running through it, so there is a lot to tempt you. We had the home-made cigars stuffed with entrecote, a fish shawarma, and some sweet cigars, and everything came out very good. The entrecote cigars especially, I could happily have ordered another plate. This is a kitchen that can genuinely cook, not just a bar that puts out food. The DJ made the night. He moved between Israeli, international, and Moroccan sets and really read the room as it filled up. If you are after a quiet dinner where you can hear each other across the table, this is not that place, but that is not why you come. You come for the buzz, and the buzz is great. I will be honest about the service, because it was the one thing that let the evening down. Our waiter kept coming back to ask whether we had already ordered, five or six times over the night, and after a while it wore a little thin. It is the kind of loose service you sometimes get in these party restaurants, where the room and the music take all the attention and the floor slips a bit. On price, it is not cheap, and the food sits on the higher side. But for what you get, and compared to what you usually pay for far worse food in a place with this kind of atmosphere, I thought it was worth every shekel. On the fun alone I would happily call it a ten. The service pulls it back a touch, so a fair overall is a strong eight. On the kashrut, Sense is a meat restaurant under the Rabbanut Netanya, so it is fully kosher, just not mehadrin. A few practical things. You will find it at HaMelakha 4 in the Poleg area of Netanya, it is evenings only with the DJ starting around eight, and it is closed Friday and back after Shabbat. Book ahead on 09-7777778, come ready for a night out rather than a calm meal, and if you are planning something special, they do private events and can take over the whole room.