I had never thought of Holon as a culinary destination, but I really, really enjoy sushi. So when I was invited to Holon’s newly kosher Sumo restaurant, I thought – why not?
My first surprise was how many haredim live in the city – a fact that likely influenced the restaurant’s decision to turn kosher. The second surprise was how good the food was.
From the outside, Sumo looks like any one of the generic Japanese restaurants that have sprung up around Israel. I read somewhere that Israel has more sushi restaurants per capita than any country other than Japan. Many of those I tried offer lackluster sushi with very small amounts of fish and no décor.
Enjoying food at Sumo
Once inside Sumo, the décor is beautiful, with a lot of cherry blossoms and dark wood. The tables are spaced far apart to enable private conversations. There are several dining rooms and a lovely exhibit of Japanese art and sculpture on one of the walls.
The restaurant has been open for three years but became kosher just over a month ago, says manager Idan Naim.
“First of all, Holon is quite religious,” he said. “But it also means that all of the workers can be home with their families on Shabbat, and everyone can now eat here.”
Sumo’s menu is quite extensive, so my husband and I decided to focus on the sushi and appetizers. Our waiter Tzion, who knew the menu very well, assisted us in our choices.
We tried the crispy rice (NIS 65) – fried crispy rice topped with spicy tuna and truffle oil, as well as spicy salmon and sriracha. It was not too spicy and was excellent. On Tzion’s suggestion, we tried the thinly sliced amberjack carpaccio (NIS 72) with yuzu olive oil, tomato seed, chili, green beans, and pistachio. It looked like a painting and was almost (note the almost) a shame to eat it.
One of my favorite dishes here was a tuna tartare (NIS 69) served in a rice paper shell. It came with cubes of very fresh tuna, radish, avocado, chili, and ginger; the shell had been lightly fried so you could eat that, too. For a sushi roll, Tzion recommended the Fuji tuna tobiko (NIS 71) – spicy tuna, cucumber, oshinko (Japanese pickled vegetables), and green tobiko (caviar).
I was getting pretty full by this point, but we tried kinuko udon (NIS 71), a large portion of fresh noodles with fresh peas, mushrooms, and carrots in a soy shiitake broth. Very well made.
We didn’t make have room to try the lamb chops or steaks, but they looked and sounded delicious. For dessert, my husband had a mega chocolate praline (NIS 52), which was similar to a gooey hot chocolate cake.
There is also an extensive alcohol and wine menu. By the time we left, the place was full, even though it was a Monday night.
- Sumo Kitchen and Bar
- 6 Golda Meir St., Holon
- Tel: 077-806-6300.
- Open: Sunday-Thursday, noon-midnight; Friday, noon to an hour before Shabbat; Saturday night, an hour after Shabbat ends
- Kashrut: Rabbanut Holon, although all meat is glatt kosher
The writer was a guest of the restaurant