Gaston Steakhouse in Airport City is the king of the meat empire founded by the Lagziel brothers. They began with a small butcher shop that grew into the well-known Meat Man factory and its popular stores.
Their fast-casual beef-restaurants are another successful Lagziel enterprise.
Gaston Steakhouse is the Lagziel brothers’ top-of-the-line fine-dining end of their business. And fine dining it is. The restaurant is beautifully designed. The food is exceptional both in its presentation and flavors. The restaurant has much to be proud of, but the brothers are most proud of the service.
Polite and ingratiating, knowledgeable and attentive, the waiters come to your table dressed in sparkling clean and pressed white coats.
It’s a wow.
Gaston Steakhouse is a dinner restaurant. However, the brothers recently started offering a business lunch to service the offices at Airport City. I regretted that our first visit to Gaston was for lunch because the evening atmosphere, where the restaurant excels, was missing. Though the presentation of the dishes and the flavors do not falter at lunch, missing is the elegance, the fine-dining atmosphere, and the “show,” including the steak flambé, of the dinner hours.
'Just a few to taste'
“I cannot pass up wings,” my dining companion declared, perusing the menu. “Just a few to taste” will do it. And out came a platter of 10 large chicken wings coated in a sweet and sticky sauce, just the way he likes them (NIS 52). Along with the platter came two hand wipes; they thought ahead.
The restaurant is most proud of its Asado meat-filled croquettes (NIS 63). In this starter, a good number of meaty balls are presented on a round plate with a dip in the center. The balls have a crispy coating and are filled with unexpectedly sweet Asado meat. The whimsical presentation is charming and so enticing that your dining partner may insist on having a share.
For us, the standout starter was the non-meat beet tartare (that’s beet, not beef). The presentation is stunning, and the flavor matches it bite for bite. It arrives as a neat round mold topped with crunchy nuts. The earthy flavor of the beets is balanced by balsamic and apple vinaigrette. It’s the perfect opener – satisfying and full of flavor that teases you for more, yet is light enough so as not to overwhelm the main course.
A glass of wine
“Would you like wine with your meal?” There is a very large selection of wines. Bottles and corks are part of the décor of the restaurant. Indeed, a meal of this quality deserves a glass of fine wine, and Gaston has its own blend.
For a restaurant that specializes in meat, they certainly know how to prepare fish. The Denis fillet that I chose for my main dish was just they way I like it (NIS 158). How did they know? The pieces were thin yet dense, with a perfectly crisp skin. The fillets were served on a bed of smooth, “buttery” mashed potatoes (kosher, of course, so no actual butter), which added just the right balance.
This is a steakhouse, friends, so for steak it will be. My companion’s sirloin steak (NIS 148) was cooked to a perfect medium rare. The steak was served with chimichurri sauce, but the flavor of the meat was so rich that the sauce was not necessary.
How we left without trying one of the luscious desserts is a question that I am still asking myself. I believe that the dishes we ate set the bar so high that they could not be topped. So we didn’t even try.
The restaurant is fully accessible. There is convenient parking in a lot beside the restaurant.
Gaston Steakhouse
5 Negev St.
Airport City
Tel: (08) 926-5775
Hours: Sunday-Thursday: noon-11 p.m. After Shabbat until 11 p.m.
Closed: Friday and Shabbat
Kashrut: Chevel Modi’in Rabbinate
The writer was a guest of the restaurant. She is the founder and CEO of eLuna.com, the premier English-language website for kosher restaurants in Israel.