5 Best Restaurants in Haifa and the Northern Coast, Israel

When dining at this stellar restaurant, you may wonder how you got so lucky: there's the knockout view of the Mediterranean from the stone terrace, olive-tree-shaded setting, and wonderful Catalonian-accented dishes prepared by Adelina. Cooking is done in the huge silver tabun oven as Spanish music drifts across the dark wooden tables. Try the paella marinara packed with shellfish, roast sirloin with bacon and tarragon, or broccoli cannelloni in a creamy pepper sauce. Move on to knafe (a local pastry) with pistachio ice cream. The eatery is about 8 km (5 miles) east of Nahariya.

Two of Israel's best-known culinary personalities, Amos Sion and Uri Yarmias, opened this restaurant to create a first-rate yet affordable dining experience. It occupies a beautifully restored stone building in the ancient harbor, and large windows everywhere maximize the sea view under a wooden pergola. The chef puts an Israeli spin on Mediterranean-style cooking, turning out such tantalizing appetizers as calamari with lemon and hyssop leaves on sheep-milk yogurt, and sliced sirloin in aged balsamic vinegar with Cambozola cheese and pistachios. Main dishes include an aromatic fish stew made of red mullet, spinach, and Swiss chard, and grilled barbuni (sardine-size fish). The wine room holds the chef's private collection. A children's menu is available.

Inside this old German Templer building with a pleasant outdoor terrace, a huge metal lamp studded with colored glass casts lacy designs on the walls, lending to the Middle Eastern design. The food, much of it prepared by the owner's mother, is an eclectic combination of French and local Arabic cuisines. Her specialty is kubbeh, deep-fried torpedoes of cracked wheat kneaded with minced beef, pine nuts, onions, and exotic spices. A variation on the dish is sfeeha, puff pastry topped with delicately minced beef, onions, and pine nuts. For dessert, try the mouhalabieh, a delicious Middle Eastern custard topped by dried fruits.

This restaurant in a 140-year-old wine cellar is an auspicious place to hear about the extensive wine list from owner Amos Meroz, whose hat always rakishly tilts to one side. Eight tables covered with checkered cloths fill a small space defined by curving stone walls. Dishes of olives glisten on a tiny wooden bar in the dimly lit room. Scores of wine bottles line the back wall with vintages from Israel, Italy, Australia, California, France, and South Africa. You can enjoy cheese and stuffed grape leaves or just sit quietly with your glass while French songs fill the air. More substantial lunch and dinner dishes of entrecôte, selections of cold meats, or cheese platters go nicely with a handpicked glass of wine.

In the souk, duck into this café and enjoy a coffee, some hummus, or a kebab in the courtyard of the 16th-century Khan al-Faranj, or Franks' Inn. Note the 18th-century Franciscan monastery and tower to your left.