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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