The Dag al HaDan restaurant is one of those legendary places in the Holy Land that every local knows of, or has at least heard of. The place has been around since the 1980s but that doesn’t mean there aren’t queues forming on a busy Saturday lunchtime…
The fish restaurant side of the business (the trout is especially renowned) is what most visitors come for, but there’s also pasta and other goodies on the main menu, plus a variety of great desserts. The wife was slightly disappointed with her fish to be honest (she’s been spoilt with too much Tel Aviv fine dining!), but the salads were plentiful and fresh and the service was pretty good.
The best thing about this place in my opinion is the setting. There aren’t many restaurants in Israel where you’re sat right alongside a trickling river, with swans and ducks aplenty. Definitely a great place to take young kids, my three couldn’t sit still after eating their meals and wanted to explore every nook and cranny. The adjoining fish farm is also great for the kids, where they get to see pools teeming with various-sized fish. Just don’t tell ’em they’re somebody’s lunch tomorrow…
The Dag al HaDan is located at the point where the Hatzbani River meets the Dan River in the far north of Israel, in the Upper Galilee. So not a quick drive up from Tel Aviv for a night out at a country fish restaurant…I’d only recommend this place if you’re up in the north of Israel for a couple of days at least.
And with a nice little camping site and kayaking courses down the Hatzbani River, you could easily be tempted to spend a day or two here…
How to get there: Easier said than done! Watch out for the sign in English on Road 99 between Kiryat Shmona and the entrance to Tel Dan Nature Preserve. And make the most of that sign because it’s the last one in English! There’s only a couple of turns to make so you should be OK, but still…
Telephone: 04-6950225 (Give them a call, they have a few packages available that might just tempt you to stay up north longer!)
You can check out Dag al HaDan’s website, in English, here: www.dagaldan.co.il/?p=english