Patrick's Rooftop: Thirty One Taps Above the Shop Time Promenade

The stairs up from the promenade are unremarkable, and then the room opens, the air conditioning hits, and thirty one brass tap handles run along a mahogany bar like organ pipes. It is nine on a Tuesday. A match plays silently across a wall of screens, two men at the far end argue about an offside call in Hebrew and English at once, and a server carries a wooden board stacked with chorizo, marga, wings and pargit that perfumes the whole aisle with charred fat and baharat. Past the bar the terrace doors stand open, potted fruit trees catching the last of the light, and the roof above them has been rolled back for the evening. This is Patrick's Rooftop, second floor of the Shop Time complex in Petah Tikva.

The kitchen here is pub cooking held to a standard the category rarely bothers with. Start with the arayes at 53 shekels: a grilled pita, split and packed with ground meat seasoned heavily with baharat and studded with pine nuts, pressed on the grill until the bread blisters and the fat inside renders into the crumb. It arrives with a spicy tomato sauce and a puddle of tahini, and it is the single dish that tells you what this kitchen values, which is smoke, salt and restraint in that order.