Israeli Cuisine :: All Things Andy Gavin

Archive for Israeli Cuisine

Eating Rosh Pina – Shiri Bistro

Aug09

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 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 – 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 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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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Israel, Israeli Cuisine, Jerusalem, Kosher, Middle Eastern Cuisine, Touro

Quick Eats – Hummus Bar

Apr13

Restaurant: The Hummus Bar

Location: 18743 Ventura Blvd, Tarzana, CA 91356. (818) 344-6606

Date: March 6, 2018

Cuisine: Isreali

Rating: Decent for what it is

Occasionally I’m stranded for solo meals in that culinary purgatory known as the Valley.

I needed something fast in Tarzana and ended up at The Hummus Bar and Grill.

Interior is.

There is actually a bar, which I sat at — it was kinda dirty.

The menu. I was surprised to find a lack of dairy (no lebneh) and Kosher Meat — but I asked, they aren’t actually fully kosher, just “sort of.”

Flat bread. Yum. Anyway, there was this option for $7.95 to add “bottomless salads” to an entree, which I did. It comes with all the below.

Dressing. Hmmm. Didn’t know what to do with this.

Pickles. Ok. It is a Jewish place.

Pickled Cabbage etc. This is more my style, I love pickled stuff like this.

Eggplant with tahini.

A different roasted eggplant

Baba ganoush. Aka eggplant paste!

Another dip that was sort of eggplanty.

Deadly chickpea dip.

Chopped Liver. I actually love chopped liver.

Tabouli. Not the best version ever, but ok.

Egg salad. Yeah, like a deli.

Roast Pepper dip. I ate a bunch of this, but I’ve had way better pepper dips.

Corn.

Beets.

Kefta kabob and lamb kabob. With tahini. Solid meats, if slightly chewy. I like tahini but I would have much preferred some lebneh.

Also comes with French Fries. I don’t like these rough cut ones.

And rice.

Hummus Bar doesn’t exactly execute on the food brilliantly, but it is a mega-deal. You get A LOT! The salads could have badly used some more balance — way too many eggplant varieties — and I would have liked lebneh. But it was an okay place.

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