Eating Israel :: All Things Andy Gavin

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Eating Tel Aviv – Manta Ray

Aug28

Restaurant: Manta Ray

Location: Promenade | 7 Koifman St, Tel Aviv 63305, Israel. +972 3-424-7717

Date: July 6, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: seafood!

Our final night in Israel — just hours before heading to the airport for a very long series of flights home.

Some friends had recommended this.

And it’s right on the beach.

With a straight on view (and the typical glass barrier beach restaurants often have).

The menu.

Plain pasta.

Pasta sauce.

Here they bring this slate of mezze and you can choose whichever ones you like. Pretty good stuff.

And served with fresh bread.

Filleted Blue Bream served on red rice, pineapple & chili butter.

Chunks of Filet of Grouper on mashed blue potato and shallot flakes.

Mixed seafood in a black cast-iron pot. This had a slightly sweet sauce.

Sharing Seafood: mussels, shrimp, and crabs, sweet potato and grilled pineapple in a coconut milk sauce with lemon grass, ginger and curry paste. This broth was better (although the seafood quality was good for both). Really nice vaguely Thai flavors. Lots and lots of crab! Probably 4-5 whole ones.

Overall, a fairly simple menu, but I liked the Mezze and the seafood was delicious.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Beach, Easting Tel Aviv, Eating Israel, Manta Ray, Seafood

Eating Tel Aviv – Claro

Aug26

Restaurant: Claro

Location: Rehov Ha’Arba’a 23 | Corner of David Elazar 30, Tel Aviv 6107450, Israel. +972 3-601-7777
Website

Date: July 5, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Surprisingly delicious — incredible lamb

Our penultimate night in Israel led us to this totally different much more modern area of Tel Aviv.

Like a Jinga building, lightweight edition.

And to Claro, which I was worried (from the online reviews) would be overly “international.” Turned out to be great.

Interior is the Israeli version of one of those DTLA converted warehouse restaurants. Older warehouse building with hip new decor. Large.

The menu.

Some more bubbly.

Puffy zatar bread with olives, yogurt, cucumbers, etc.

Asparagus, asparagus cream, butter, chili sheep cheese.

Beef tartare, spinach, mustard-labaneh, seasonal vegetable, Kodosh cheese, bruschetta. Great tartare.

Leaves salad, herbs vinaigrette, pickled onion, sheep cheese.

Mediterranean fish confit brushetta, tomatoes, spinach-labeneh, olives, capers.

Seared sea fish, mustard horseradish puree, garlic aioli, red chili.

Asparagus gnocchi, cherry tomato, spinach, butter, white wine.

Family style lamb platter, tzatziki, matbucha, pickled vegetables, pita bread. This was one of the best dishes I had in Israel. My father and I split the whole thing too! Let’s take a closer look.

Various sides and toppings, almost like a Korean meat or Vietnamese fish dish: tzatziki (garlicky yogurt), spicy red stuff, herbs, pickled veggies, lettuce.

Then this huge hunk of incredibly tender lamb and the really nice fresh thick pita breads.

The dessert menu.

King size truffle. Milk chocolate mousse, caramelized hazelnuts, creme anglaise.

Sticky toffee pudding. Dates, coconut sorbet, toffee sauce.

Overall, Claro turned out to be lovely. In it’s way, it is an international restaurant. It would be at home in LA. But the ingredients are Israeli centric. The room, service, and food quality were, however, excellent.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Claro, Eating Israel, Eating Tel Aviv, lamb

Eating Tel Aviv – Onza

Aug23

Restaurant: Onza

Location: 3 Rabi Khanina, Tel Aviv 6813731, Israel. +972 3-648-6060

Date: July 4, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Really great

On this particular evening, our restaurant was in the historic port city of Jaffa.

The port where Jonah supposedly hitched a ride with the whale. But regardless, it’s been an important seaport since ancient times and is the only ancient part of Tel Aviv.

On our way to dinner we wandered through the old arab quarter of Jaffa, which is now home to art galleries.

Our destination was Onza, a modern Turkish-Israeli restaurant.

Two inside floors and a lot of outside patio dining (which is where we were).

The menu.

Because Israeli wines were mysteriously double the price of European wines, I ordered this Spanish Albarino.

Bread for the mezze.

Simple pasta.

Pickled peppers and onions.

Pickled cauliflower.

Tahini with tomato and olive oil.

Warm Eggplant. yogurt, butter & pistachios. Aka Babaghanoush. The first of many mezze. A very nice one. I liked the pistachio angle.

Gigik yogurt. cucumbers, dill & mint. Aka Tzatziki.

Melon and feta. Salty sweet!

Tomato Salad. chili, walnuts, pomegranate syrup & feta cheese.

“Choban” salad. Selanova, caesar lettuce, puff quinoa, date, Tulum & cucumber.

Pasturma cigar “Kashkaval”, chives & dill yogurt.
Fish Sashimi. pickled beets, sheep yogurt, citrus peel, aniss oil & Sumak.

Eggplant “Mafrum”. Minced meat, roasted tomatoes, potato, pistachios, eggplant foam.

Balik Kofte. Brioche, fish patties, yogurt tahini, “matbukha” & coriander. Like the fish versions of crab cakes in tomato sauce, with different herbs.

Fried Cauliflower Salad. Cauliflower, tahini, onions, almonds, garlic & lemon. Liking the cauliflower tahini combo.

Sea Bass Fillet. Eggplant cream, black lentils, salicornia, fries eggplant & “Beurre blanc”.

These Pie flat breads are like Turkish pizzas.

“Pide” Roka. Tomato sauce, mozzarella, olives, parmesan & arugula.

“Pide” Lamb Bacon & Shrimps. Arugula salad, kashkaval cheese & olive oil. More exciting!

They had dessert, but we wandered down the street into the market (below).

Overall, Onza was great. Personally I finish Turkish to be one of my favorite middle easterns as it unifies the swath of influences from the Balkins to Persia. I particularly enjoyed the mezze here.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Israel, Eating Tel Aviv, Eggplant, Mezze, Turkish cusine

Eating Tel Aviv – a Place for Meat

Aug21

Restaurant: A Place for Meat

Location: 64 Shabazi Street | Neve Tzedek, Tel Aviv, Israel. +972 53-944-4023

Date: July 4, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Not my favorite

After a morning touring some of the city’s historic sites…

We ended up needing to get my dad lunch — he’s a definite 3 meal a day kind of guy.

And in search of a Yemenite restaurant ended up at this steakhouse — boo, not a steakhouse fan.

The lunch menu. This is like Israeli Houstons or something.

Tomatoes, onions, etc.

Greek salad.

Beef carpaccio. I ordered this and it was actually a pretty good beef carpaccio. Very salty though, both from the parmesan and probably from some salt.

Home made potato crisps — aka chips. Nice and crispy.

Creamed spinach.

Grilled artichokes.

Skewered filet. A bit tough.

There is nothing wrong with the kitchen here, but it’s just kind of boring. I like more exotic flavors and spices.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Israel, Eating Tel Aviv, Meat, Steak

Eating Tel Aviv – Shila

Aug16

Restaurant: Shila

Location: Rehov Ben Yehuda 182, Tel Aviv 6347122, Israel. +972 3-522-1224

Date: July 3, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Great

The end of our trip brought us to bustling Tel Aviv.

Only about 100 years old, Tel Aviv is a radically different kind of city than Jerusalem.

For our first restaurant we went to Shila.

The restaurant was established ten years ago by Sharon cohen and his wife Adi. At the first years Sharon worked with 2 cooks and Adi with 1 waitress. Year after year, step by step the restaurant grows and expanded its size, staff and culinary vision. Today shila became a home for people that love to eat and have fun, Sharon Cohen, the chef, manages his kitchen with laughter and humor behind the Flame, Seasoned with grace and serves with love.

The interior is decidedly more modern than most of what we’ve seen in Israel up to this point. Space was crowded and buzzy too.

The menu.

Bread.

Tahini and spicy sauce.

Fisherman’s Caaprese. Mozzarella di Bufala, cherry tomatoes & Spanish anchovies.

Iron salad. Spinach, endive, walnuts, beetroot carpaccio & Feta cheese.

Yellowtail Sashimi. Sliced apricot, cherries, wakame seaweed & Labaneh stone.

Sea fish tartar. wrapped in avocado, served with almonds and a mint Aioli.

Tel-Aviv mix of fish on top of tzatziki & pita bread.

Green Tortellini. filled with a homemade Ricotta. Served with Crystal shrimp and crab meat.

Fish Fillet and Lobster Ravioli in a Swiss Chard Stew with a lemon butter sauce served with mussels, Tiger shrimp & calamari.

Seafood spaghettini. Shrimps, mussels & calamari in crab stock & pickled caper leaves.

The dessert menu.

Entremet. Dark & Milk Chocolate Mousse, Salted Caramel Cremeux, Sesame Crumble & Sesame Nougatine.

Caribbean Crème Brule. Crème Brule, Almonds Crumble, Coconut ice cream & tropical fruits.

Overall, Shila was great. It was young, hip, loud, crowded, and full of energy. Service was good. The food was more unusual and more contemporary than many places we visited up until this point. The presence of so much “seafood” (aka tref, shellfish) was a pleasant change too. It was definitely rich, but didn’t come off as heavy.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Israel, Eating Tel Aviv, fish, Sharon Cohen, Sharon Cohen's Kitchen & Bar, Shellfish, Tel Aviv

Eating Caesarea – Portcafe

Aug14

Restaurant: Portcafe

Location: National Park of Caesarea Harbor, Caesarea 3842134, Israel. +972 4-610-0299

Date: July 3, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Lovely location, great food

On our way from the “North” to Tel Aviv we visited the port city of Caesarea.

Above are the ruins of old Caesarea, founded by King Herod as a new Hellenistic capital away form the “overly religious” Jerusalem.

Passing through the ruins to the port we met up with relatives at Portcafe.

The sea breeze was gorgeous.

The menu.

Caprese. Tomato caprese, fresh mozzarella, basil and olive oil and Calamata olives.

Market Salad. Lightly salted Bulgarian cheese, with fresh vegetable salad, lemon, olive oil and hyssop.

Homemade Icra (fish roe) with red onion and pita bread. Love, love this salty umami dip often found in Greece.

Roasted Eggplant Carpaccio. Baladi Eggplant Filet charred on the fire. Ethiopian tahini, tomato salsa with green onion and olive oil. One of the best eggplant and tahini dishes we had on the trip.

House baked pita bread. Thick and excellent.

Fresh Cheese Ravioli filled with ricotta and feta cheese in rose sauce (aka pink sauce) — tomatoes, cream and parmesan.

Fish and Chips. Filet of cod in beer batter served with lemon and tartar sauce.

Portburger. Signature burger 100% fresh Angus beef, brioche bun, BBQ aioli, pickled cucumber and rockat cheese, onion jam.

Vegan Port Burger. Beyond Meat Cut, chopped pea protein hamburger, Ethiopian tahini protein, lettuce, tomato, pickled cucumber in a bun and a green salad.

I really like Portcafe. First of all, the seaside setting with its sun and breeze was classic Mediterranean. Then beyond that the food (really the mezze, which is all I ate, skipping the fried stuff) was very fresh and delightful.

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The ancient (and modern) theater.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Caesarea, Eating Caesarea, Eating Israel, Eggplant, Mezze, Port Cafe, tahini

Eating Rosh Pina – Shiri Bistro

Aug09

Restaurant: Pina Barosh – Shiri Bistro

Location: Rehov HaChalutzim 8, Rosh Pina 1200000, Israel. +972 4-693-6582

Date: July 2, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Great view, sloppy service

For our second night in Rosh Pina we went up the street again to Pina Barosh and its Shiri Bistro.

They have a lovely (if slightly dated) outside patio with great views.

Said great view.

The menu.

Geoni Salad. With sprouts, carrots, beets, cucumbers, walnuts and goat cheese.

Seared Cauliflower. With tahini sauce, chimichurri and radishes. As I’ve already noted, Israeli’s LOVE tahini. This was quite good though.

Foie Gras Terrine. With onion and pears comfiture. Tasty. Too bad it’s been banned again in LA!

Simple pasta.

Chicken breast with green beans.

Sea Bream fish. Whole baked and served with bonfire vegetables.

Seafood Risotto. With shrimps, baby shrimps and calamari with parmesan cheese. A bit heavy. Not a perfect Italian risotto, but not awful either.

Lamb T-Bone. With antipasti bonfire vegetable.

Shiri Bistro had a great view, but the food was a touch sloppy and the service very slow and confused. They were sweet, but there was basically one waitress for the entire large space and she was overwhelmed — and maybe a bit young and untrained.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Israel, Eating Rosh Pina, Israeli Cuisine, Pina Barosh, Shiri Bistro

Eating the Golan – Shawarma

Aug07

Restaurant: Shawarma

Location: Somewhere in the golan

Date: July 2, 2019

Cuisine: Kosher Shawarma, Falafel etc

Rating: ok, but not amazing

While driving around the Golan Heights we stopped at:

This authentic kosher Shawarma place. I have no idea where or what it’s actually called.

The inside is very casual. Very. There was substantial authentic Israeli salesmanship going on in dragging us inside. Many of the customers were young army soldiers.

You can see the rotating cylinder of Shawarma in the back right.

They really good self serve pickles. The peppers were incredibly spicy, even by my standards.

Shawarma. With fries. It was all a bit dry. Flavor on the meat was good. But it really needed the tahini. Probably the kosher meat factor. Plus it was chicken or turkey or something. Lamb would be better (aka fattier).

The ruins of Beit Shean (a late Roman city)

Falafel.

I was not super impressed. I was hoping for some really good beef/lamb — ideally with yogurt (aka lebneh). This was much like you get at a super casual LA kosher Shawarma place.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Golan, Eating Israel, Kosher, Meat, Shawarma

Eating Rosh Pina – Auberge Shulamit

Aug05

Restaurant: Auberge Shulamit

Location: 34, Rosh Pina 12000, Israel. +972 4-693-1485

Date: July 1, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: A little old fashioned, but good

After our stay in Jerusalem we moved up north to the Galilee (named after the large and famous lake in the region). And more specifically we stayed in the small town of Rosh Pina.

Auberge Shulamit was recommended to us by our guide and was located in this building atop the hill.

For obvious reasons the position led to an excellent view.

And the glassy restaurant space takes advantage of that.

Here is the menu.

We ordered this local sparkling wine.

Watercress salad. with apple,red cabbage and pomegranate vinaigrette.

Grilled portobello mushroom. Mushrooms, peppers, mustard sauce, almonds.

Shrimps in butter. garlic and with wine /cream and roquefort. I actually loved this dish.

Simple pasta.

A bit of mango sorbet as an intermezzo.

Grilled lamb ribs. Mashed potatoes.

Salmon fillet in salvia butter,thyme and white wine sauce.

Pannacotta with fruit (and those Middle Eastern pastry noodles).

Creme Brûlée.

Chocolate sorbet. A bit icy.Overall, Auberge Shulamit was a good place. The view was nice and the service very friendly. Food was solid, if a bit old fashioned. After mostly kosher meals — or at least ones without shrimp on the menu — it was nice to get some shellfish back in my diet :-).

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Above, the Sea of Galilee.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Israel, Eating Rosh Pina, Israeli Cuisine, Rosh Pina

Eating Jerusalem – Mona

Aug02

Restaurant: Mona

Location: 12 Shmu’el ha-Nagid, Jerusalem 9459212, Israel. +972 2-622-2283

Date: June 30, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: best place we ate in Jerusalem

I really wanted to go to Machneyuda but I didn’t get my butt in gear early enough to make a reservation, so I ended up making one at Mona (owned by the same people, I think) instead. Turned out to be a great choice.

More gratuitous tourist shots: David’s Citadel.

Mona is located in the Artists House, an older and attractive house which is part of Art University in Jerusalem. An unusual, but attractive location for a restaurant.

The menu is short but sweet.

We ordered this Israeli sparkling.

Bread came with various salts and roasted garlic and tomato. Garlic was great.

An amuse of watermelon water.

Tomato Consommé. Pickled cucumber. I don’t even like tomato and I really enjoyed this.

Green Salad. “Fakus”. Peach vinaigrette.

Fish Tartare. Chili Oil. Labneh. Tomato Seeds. Again, despite my fear of tomato goop, I ordered — and very much enjoyed this dish.

Pasta for the boy.

With cheese sauce on the side. He fell asleep and my mother and I took turns mixing the cheese sauce with this lovely homemade pasta and dumping black pepper in. Delicious! Really excellent pasta and sauce actually.

Fish Fillet. Beurre Blanc. Courgettes.

Smoked Tuna. Soba Noodles. Walnuts vinaigrette.

Rump steak. Yellow wax beans. Boy choy.

Overall, Mona was great. Service was much better than most places in Israel (which is usually friendly but slightly confused). Food was interesting, sophisticated, and on point. Not as middle eastern as some places, but modern and delicious.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Israel, Eating Jerusalem, Israel, Jerusalem, Mona

Eating Jerusalem – Pergamon

Jul31

Restaurant: Pergamon

Location: 7 Heleni ha-Malka, Jerusalem 94221, Israel. +972 50-684-3988

Date: June 29, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Very good, particularly for vegetarian

When I made a reservation at Pergamon, which was very well reviewed, I didn’t even realize it was vegetarian. Not a big deal, but it’s not typical for me to hone into the meatless domain — but in Jerusalem with the prevalence of kosher rules this is one way for them to be dairy.

Gratuitous city shot.

Pergamon is located on a pedestrian alley off a busy street.

The menu.

We sat in a cute courtyard in the center of the restaurant.

Like many Israeli places, they have a bar.

We ordered some prosecco.

Dakos. Greek salad with toasted bread and feta cheese.

Beetroot, charred spring onion salsa, manchego cheese & pistachios.

Zucchini salad with arugula, basil, balsamic vinegar, hazelnuts & parmigiano Reggiano.

Polenta chips, tartar sauce. These were really tasty, even if “off diet” (carby).

Fried rice balls in tomato sauce with green beans, spinach & pomegranate molasses.

Grilled courgette with tomato and date salsa, feta cheese, walnuts & smoked tahini. Israeli’s LOVE tahini.

Parisian gnocchi with za’atar butter, charred eggplant, feta cheese & tomato seeds. These were also very good.

Roasted eggplant, tahini, pickles, tomatoes, parsley & a soft-boiled egg. This basic dish — i.e. roasted eggplant with tahini — is super popular in Israel.

Kanafeh, which is cheese and “noodles” with syrup or honey. Delicious stuff when done well, like this one.

Overall, Pergamon was quite lovely. The courtyard was cute and the food was very tasty — particularly considering that it was all vegetarian!

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Israel, Eating Jerusalem, Israeli Cuisine, Jerusalem, Pergamon, vegetarian, Wine

Eating Israel – Aroma Cafe

Jul26

Restaurant: Aroma Cafe

Location: all over Israel

Date: June 29, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Not impressed

Aroma Cafe is a chain that’s all over Israel. As far as I can tell, it’s not in any way related to the LA Aroma Sunset Bar & Grills (which is vaguely Israeli).

The Israeli chain itself is kinda like Au Bon Pain Israeli style, salads and sandwiches. They are everywhere (in Israel).

The menu.

An iced coffee.

Chocolate croissant.

To get simple pasta we had to order a more complex pasta with everything on the side. They wouldn’t sell us just the pasta.

Here is the “on the side.” lol.

Halloumi salad. Sliced of roasted halloumi cheese with white cabbage and roasted mushrooms, roasted pepper, red onion, tomatoes, ccarrots, lettuce, parsley, arugula. Seasoned with olive oil and lemon juice dressing. With an over easy egg.

A close up. I did NOT like this salad. It was warm, very white, and basically had no seasoning at all. In general Israeli food can be a bit under-seasoned and this certainly was. I had to go up and ask for dressing and all they had was tahini. Did not combine well, made it very heavy — and it was 100 degrees out. Really, I wanted some kind of highly acidic vinegar dressing. I didn’t find these at all in Israel, salads were usually sweet.

Shakshuka. Two eggs sunny side up, tomato and peepper sauce, parsley. Bread and butter. This is a very common dish in Israel.

Roast Beef sandwich. Not much of a looker.

Tuna sandwich. Also not exactly gorgeous.

I can’t say I was impressed with Aroma. In fact, didn’t like it at all. Felt so corporate and nothing I tried tasted good.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Aroma Cafe, chain, Eating Israel, Eggs, Salad

Eating Jerusalem – Hamotzi

Jul24

Restaurant: Hamotzi

Location: Rehov Yaffo 113, Jerusalem 9434227, Israel. +972 2-631-0050

Date: June 27, 2019

Cuisine: North African Israeli

Rating: spicy!

Tonight’s spot is Israeli with North African influences and located right next to:

The Mahane Yehuda market.

The street itself is closed to vehicle traffic (at least at night).

The inside is fairly cute and two floors.

The menu. The food is kosher meat, and a touch spicy too from it’s “south of the med” influences.

A glass of kosher rose — a bit harsher than I’m used to.

Chopped vegetable salad with lemon and olive oil.

Super spicy beef handmade cigar. Basically taquitos. They were medium spicy to my taste, but still very tasty.

Adir’s meatballs in rich tomato sauce.

Spicy peas as a side — delicious. I ate at least a whole plate. Had cumin and some other spices mixed in.

Roast potatoes.

Kosher chicken tenders and fries.

Cubes of beef with almonds and potatoes.

Boulettes. Algerian meatballs in tomato sauce, cabbage, and onion.

Spicy beef cheeks and chickpeas. Like spicy North African beef stew.

Rice.

Overall, Hamotzi was a lively place and I found the food very tasty. I always enjoy different and “spiced” flavors, and this Algerian/North African flavor profile was a bit different for me — plus it has some (good) heat. That distracted from the lack of dairy.

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Afterward we went to see a light show in the ruins of David’s Citadel — pretty cool!

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Algerian cuisine, Eating Israel, Eating Jerusalem, Hamotzi, Jerusalem, Kosher, Middle Eastern Cuisine, North African Cuisine

Eating Jerusalem – Dolphin Yam

Jul19

Restaurant: Dolphin Yam

Location: 9 Shimon Ben Shetach str., Jerusalem 9362909, Israel. +972 2-623-2272

Date: June 26, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Israeli Banchan!

Our second night brings us to:

Dolphin Yam, or Sea Dolphin.

It’s street side on a popular pedestrian street, and not kosher per-se, although like most Israel restaurants no pork etc.

The menu.

We ordered this passable Sauv Blanc. While fine, I noticed during my trip that Israeli wines are usually 2-3X the price of European wines on Israeli wine lists — why? — I have no idea.

Infinite mezze come with dinner here (at a small extra cost) — which is hard to beat. Like Israeli banchan.

Great bread to accompany the mezze.

Special salmon mango ceviche.

Fried Fish Fingers. Not bad at all, but a bit too strong in taste for my 10 year-old.

Grouper Carpaccio with olive oil and pepper.

Roast potatoes.

Grilled Sea bass filet.

Seafood pasta with tomato sauce.

Trout fried with almonds and served with pineapple and orange sauce.

Lamb kebabs served over a piquant tomato sauce. Good, but a touch dry even with the sauce.

Dolphin Yam was solid. Food was pretty good. Not the best we had in Israel by any meals, but certainly good. Service was friendly but pretty slow. We made the “classic” mistake of not being ready to order the INSTANT we sat down and paid the lengthy penalty of not having the server return for about 20-30 minutes. Wine service was particularly slow as I think we were in between courses by the time it arrived.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Dolphin Yam, Eating Israel, Eating Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Middle Eastern Cuisine

Eating Jerusalem – Inbal Breakfast

Jul17

Restaurant: The Inbal Jerusalem

Location: Jabotinsky Street 3 Jerusalem 92145. 02-675-6666

Date: June 26 – July 1, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli Breakfast

Rating: solid buffet, although one could ask, “where’s the bacon?”

During the Jerusalem section of our trip we stayed in the Inbal, which was a lovely and newish medium sized hotel just outside of the old city.

The Temple Mount, Western Wall, and the Dome of the Rock — where the binding of Isaac is said to have occurred! Well, and several thousand other years of sacred happenings.

The Inbal’s main breakfast dining area is this sunny courtyard.

Gluten free station. The buffet lights always make everything warm and partially overexposed. Even fussing with it (briefly) in Lightroom I can’t quite resolve the two tone color (probably from the whiter natural light and the warm display lamps).

Pastries.

More pastries — like babka.

Pancake and waffle station.

Egg station.

Omelet bar.

Cured fish.

Veggies and cheese.

More cheese.

Cereal.

Salads.

More salds.

And more salads.

Fruits and nuts.

Halvah station. Yes, there is actually a halvah station. For those that don’t know, this is a sweet mix of sugar and sesame paste.

Fruits.

And more fruits.

Drinks.

Breads.

Espresso and smoothy bar.

This was an extensive breakfast buffet with high quality ingredients. Like most hotels in Jerusalem, the Inbal is Kosher so the buffet was dairy and absent of all meat. As I was trying to avoid (the yummy looking) carbs this made things a touch tougher, leaning me hard into the cheeses, eggs, and (a bit too salty) cured fish. Still, there was so much selection I ate way too much. Everything was very fresh.

They do operate on Saturday under quite peculiar sabbath rules that I don’t fully understand. The “make your own omelet” station and other things involving live cooking vanished, but dishes were still hot and being constantly replaced. Certain devices like the toaster oven were shut and covered. Still the employees are still “working” so go figure.

Overall, very solid effort.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Breakfast, breakfast buffet, Buffet, Eating Israel, Eating Jerusalem, Inbal Hotel, Jerusalem

Eating Jerusalem – Touro

Jul10

Restaurant: Touro

Location: S.U Nachon St | Mishkenot Sha’ananim, Jerusalem, Israel. +972 2-570-2189

Date: June 25, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Fabulous for kosher food

After 25+ hours on the plane and in airports our first tired evening in the Holy Land leads us to:

Up to that is:

Climbing the steps of Jerusalem stone, just outside the old city.

We find this lovely windowed room.

And the view across the valley to the old city.

The menu. Touro is a modern Kosher Meat restaurant.

Bread and spreads.

Leek and Potato Patties on mustard aioli, dill, parsley, celery and onion. Fritters or croquette basically. Israeli flavors.

Charred Eggplant with tahini, sumac, crushed tomato, hot pepper, radish, purple onion and oregano oil. This basic dish: eggplant with tahini, is a total staple in Israel, but this version was particularly excellent with great textures and tuned up flavors. The tahini was lively with a bit more acidity than some (probably lemon juice).

Chopped Liver with onion cream, date honey, cornichons, walnuts and bruschetta. Very nice version of chopped liver, paired nicely with the sweet flavors and crunchy textures. On the bread like this a cross between Jewish chopped liver and an Italian liver bruschetta.

Jerusalem Artichoke & Mushroom Burekas with tahini, cherry tomato, Kalamata olives, arugula, scallion, purple onion, hot pepper and cornichons. Burekas are like fried blinzes, and in this case like spring rolls.

Arayes. Lamb meat in pitta, tahini, harissa and piquant tomato salad. Really tasty meat “sandwiches”.

Sea Fish Fillet on tomato risotto, spinach, and piquant pepper sauce.

Simple pasta for the boy.

Mushroom and Chestnut Risotto with sweet potato, almonds, peas and truffle vinaigrette.

Tagliatelle Alfredo with champignon mushrooms, chestnuts, spinach, truffles and soy cream. Hardly even missed the cheese!

Goose Drumstick with seared onions, garlic, multicolored carrots, mushroom, chestnuts, green beans, and wine sauce. Like a goose confit. Nice and crispy and meaty. Quite delicious.

Overall, Touro was a nice start and certainly one of the best Kosher restaurants I’ve eaten at. Now this isn’t saying much as in LA Kosher places are just terrible. Beyond terrible. Expensive, dirty, sloppy, don’t care about the food at all kind of places. Touro, on the other hand, has modern cuisine, a good kitchen, and tasty Middle Eastern flavors. Yeah, it would be a bit better with dairy. The slight meat focus didn’t make me miss the shellfish. Besides, I just don’t associate shellfish with Middle Eastern cooking.

Nice view too.

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