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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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Posted in: Food

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 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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Posted in: Food

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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