A fishy tale

February 6, 2007 - 10:48 AM by David Brinn

I’ve always been a little put off by the fortress-like, uninviting outside to Beni Dagim, Jerusalem’s oldest fish restaurant, and a veritable institution. Always pictured it to be a dusty, outdated, empty establishment from the early statehood period.

gshawb

But after 21 years here, due to the luck of being the ‘he can come too’ addition to friends taking my wife out for her birthday, I got my first glance inside. You need to buzz to get in the heavy wooden door (in lieu of a security guard).
But once inside, it was classy European décor, with elegant tablecloths and napkins, lots of sea-faring souvenirs lining the mantelpieces, and a centrally-located tropical fish aquarium (kind of cruel, said my wife, to make fish watch their brethren be devoured on a daily basis).

But it was empty at 7pm, when we arrived, adding to my feeling that time had passed Beni by. The white-uniformed waiting staff attended to our every wish, and the food was exceptional. And slowly, but surely, the later-eating Jerusalem crowd began pouring in – until by 8pm, almost every table was occupied. And these weren’t tourists, they were Israelis who know the venerable owner Beni and the long-standing staff personally. I didn’t recognize any faces, but everyone seemed to know each other – these were people who have a weekly reservation and table waiting for them.

Late in the meal, a finely dressed gentleman came in, and made the rounds shaking hands at various tables before being led to his own – he was either some municipal or government official or perhaps a local underworld character (too difficult to distinguish between them all these days).

Leaving the restaurant stuffed, I vowed never to judge a book by its cover again.

Share with others