Furman's in Netanya: Much more than a pizza bar - review

Furman’s in Netanya, founded by siblings Aviad and Avivit, is famous for its pizza. Their pies are baked in a wood-fired oven custom-built in Italy to the restaurant’s exact specifications.

It’s situated on the city’s promenade and has small tables set around a central circular bar, with lighting from hanging lanterns producing a friendly, welcoming glow. The electronic menu has a Union Jack, which we thankfully pressed to be confronted with a wide selection of starters and main courses.

Our waitress, Anna, was super-efficient, and ice-cold water and glasses appeared almost instantly, to be followed by a bread board bearing hot focaccia with dips that included oil and balsamic, olives, chopped tomatoes, and a very spicy dip, which we were unable to identify but probably contained very hot green chili peppers as it was too powerful for our British-born palates. (NIS 39).

The next starter was an eggplant roasted in the tabun with a tahini dressing that was faintly sweet. It was very good, but we tried not to polish off the whole thing knowing there was more to come (NIS 49).

For a main course, my companion chose salmon fillet with gnocchi and a separate salad (NIS 172). The fish was hot and had been cooked to the exact degree, was well-seasoned, and was a great main course. The crowning glory was the gnocchi, the best I have ever tasted, and the salad was fresh with a good vinaigrette dressing.

Then it was time for desserts, and my companion had his beloved cheesecake with sweet red sauce, which might have been strawberry (NIS 52).

I had less luck with the lemon pie, which was disappointing – soggy pie crust, a lemon filling that was too solid, and three different sauces that did nothing to improve the dish. The good thing about it was the crispy tuile decoration on the top.

We ended this interesting meal with two good cappuccinos, one regular and one decaffeinated, before stepping out into the balmy night air for the much-needed walk home.