The words at the top of the sticker are "hodu l'adonai ki tov," which in Hebrew is a line from a psalm that means "praise God, who is good." But "Hodu" is also the Hebrew word for India. The line in small print just above the restaurant's URL says, "The first Hebrew tali."
The food is prepared by Indian cooks, and it's very good, but otherwise this is really an Israeli version of an Indian restaurant. The plates, for example, are not traditional Indian tali plates - but what seems to be the kind of plate used in army mess tents. Also, they use regular Israeli rice instead of basmati. I've bitched about this to the owners several times, but they're not that interested in authenticity - especially when the higher cost of basmati cuts into their profit margin.
(click this one to enlarge).The atmosphere is the Israeli version of "shanti" that can be found in popular places in the Sinai, like Ras al Satan: low tables and cushions on the floor.
The most popular dessert is banafu pie, which is served at Anil's guesthouse in Bagsu, a village near Dharamsala. Anil's is hugely popular with Israelis - in fact, Hebrew is the lingua franca at Anil's during the summer months. His famous dessert is made of dulce de leche, biscuits and dried coconut. It is the best cure for the charras-induced munchies ever. If you want, Anil will sell you the charras too. But don't tell him I said so - he doesn't want any troubles with the cops. Especially since that crazy Brit washed a few ludes down with a bottle of whiskey and fell asleep forever in one of his rooms during the summer of 2000. It took them forever to get him down the mountain. The guy weighed a ton. (I saw it all).
And the chai at 24 Rupee is absolutely perfect - better than the chai I had in India.
The tali costs 24 shekels (hence the name of the restaurant), and refills cost 5 shekels. There are mango and banana lassis, too.
