Good lounging on Lilienblum

Jerusalem Post, Billboard; August 5, 2005

Recently built upon the ruins of the Ays, Tel Aviv's hottest underground dance bar in its heyday, Lima Lima is nothing like its departed predecessor. It's a sophisticated lounge bar - with an emphasis on the lounging.

Unlike most bars in the Lilienblum bar compound, which cramp crowds by the center bar, Lima Lima is based on custom-made leather sofas, generously sprawled throughout, where groups of friends and couples can lounge, sit, chill, relax - and talk. The decor - olive and brick colored accessories, flowery wallpaper, paintings with subtle sexual references, a medicine cabinet in the bathroom - and the rich liquor menu, create the feeling of some warm, inviting mafia living room in South America or Mexico.

Lima Lima was designed by Tel Aviv design-duo Roy Roth and Yaal Tevet (Roth-Tevet Designs), whose claim to fame is Haoman 17 (Jerusalem and Haifa branches) and other Tel Aviv hot-spots. Specializing in creating leisure experiences, the duo didn't want to create just another loud, hectic pick-up bar, where it's hard to get intimate on more than just the physical level, although there's room for that at Lima Lima as well.

'We sought to create a space where people can take their time with each other,' said Roth. The music, coming from a DJ station centralized against a wall lined with stream rocks, is of the groove that allows for casual lingering and deep conversation.

And like any well-to-do home, there is also an outdoor patio, invested with luscious tropical plants and a water cascade surrounding the pastel-colored patio furniture spread over a wooden planked floor.

But unlike any good home, there is no large kitchen or rich food menu, which proposes a challenge to hard-core lounging. There is only so much one can drink without having someone serve a variety of finger foods or some other home-made munchies that satiate other basic appetites.

No cover. Lilienblum 42, (03) 560-0924. Hours: From 9:30 p.m. Music: Eclectic, electronic, world