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Archive for Kosher

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

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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.
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You can see the rotating cylinder of Shawarma in the back right.1A0A1498

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

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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).

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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.

Click here to see more Eating Israel posts.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Jerusalem – Touro
  2. Eating Jerusalem – Hamotzi
  3. Eating Rosh Pina – Auberge Shulamit
  4. Eating Jerusalem – Pergamon
  5. Eating NY – 2nd Ave Deli
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Eating Golan, Eating Israel, Kosher, Meat, Shawarma

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:
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The Mahane Yehuda market.

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The street itself is closed to vehicle traffic (at least at night).
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The inside is fairly cute and two floors.
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The menu. The food is kosher meat, and a touch spicy too from it’s “south of the med” influences.
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A glass of kosher rose — a bit harsher than I’m used to.
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Chopped vegetable salad with lemon and olive oil.
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Super spicy beef handmade cigar. Basically taquitos. They were medium spicy to my taste, but still very tasty.
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Adir’s meatballs in rich tomato sauce.
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Spicy peas as a side — delicious. I ate at least a whole plate. Had cumin and some other spices mixed in.
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Roast potatoes.
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Kosher chicken tenders and fries.
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Cubes of beef with almonds and potatoes.
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Boulettes. Algerian meatballs in tomato sauce, cabbage, and onion.
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Spicy beef cheeks and chickpeas. Like spicy North African beef stew.
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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.

Click here to see more Eating Israel posts.

Afterward we went to see a light show in the ruins of David’s Citadel — pretty cool!1A0A0697

Related posts:

  1. Eating Jerusalem – Dolphin Yam
  2. Eating Jerusalem – Touro
  3. Eating Jerusalem – Inbal Breakfast
  4. Eating NY – 2nd Ave Deli
  5. Eating San Francisco – Absinthe
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Algerian cuisine, Eating Israel, Eating Jerusalem, Hamotzi, Jerusalem, Kosher, Middle Eastern Cuisine, North African Cuisine

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:

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Up to that is:

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Climbing the steps of Jerusalem stone, just outside the old city.
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We find this lovely windowed room.
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And the view across the valley to the old city.
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The menu. Touro is a modern Kosher Meat restaurant.
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Bread and spreads.
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Leek and Potato Patties on mustard aioli, dill, parsley, celery and onion. Fritters or croquette basically. Israeli flavors.
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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).
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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.
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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.
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Arayes. Lamb meat in pitta, tahini, harissa and piquant tomato salad. Really tasty meat “sandwiches”.
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Sea Fish Fillet on tomato risotto, spinach, and piquant pepper sauce.
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Simple pasta for the boy.
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Mushroom and Chestnut Risotto with sweet potato, almonds, peas and truffle vinaigrette.
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Tagliatelle Alfredo with champignon mushrooms, chestnuts, spinach, truffles and soy cream. Hardly even missed the cheese!
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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.

Click here to see more Eating Israel posts.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats – Hummus Bar
  2. Eating Siena – Trattoria Pepei
  3. Eating NY – 2nd Ave Deli
  4. Eating Poggibonsi – Osteria da Camillo
  5. Eating Montalcino – Le Potazzine
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
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.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Momed
  2. Quick Eats: Kreation Kafe
  3. Quick Eats: Sunnin
  4. Quick Eats: Taverna Tony
  5. Quick Eats: Caffe Delfini
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Hummus, Israeli Cuisine, kabob, Kosher, The Hummus Bar

Eating NY – 2nd Ave Deli

Aug25

Restaurant: 2nd Ave Deli

Location: 162 E 33rd St, New York, NY 10016.  (212) 689-9000

Date: July 4, 2017

Cuisine: (Kosher) New York Deli

Rating: 3 meat sandwich!

_

Most people gravitate toward the “tourist” delis like Katz, but if you want real New York Jewish food you have to go full kosher!

They used to be a couple blocks over last time I was here — actually on 2nd ave — now they are just down the street on 33rd.

The menu.

Dr. Brown’s Black Cherry — got to have it!

Slaw.

Pickles — two types.

Sweet peppers.

Chicken liver. The liver was good, but not sure what you do with the motley collection of veggies underneath.

Triple Bypass Sandwich. A 3 decker sandwich consisting of 3 large potato pancakes and everything but the kitchen sink: salami, pastrami, and corn beef. The pastrami is the best of course.

Fries.

Apple strudel. No butter obviously.

And a complementary shot of chocolate seltzer. I always find the acidity of this drink surprising.

Overall, some solid meat. I added the Russian dressing of course, but probably would have been even better with some cheese — haha. I normally bash Kosher restaurants as (at least in LA) they don’t seem to care a whit about quality. 2nd Ave is solid though for NY Deli — it is what it is.

For more New York dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating NY – Eat
  2. Eating NY – Laboratorio del Gelato
  3. Eating NY – Cosme
  4. Eating NY – Sarabeth’s
  5. Eating NY – Marea
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: 2nd Ave Deli, Deli, eating_new_york, Kosher, New York

Friday Night Heights – Shabbat Dinner

Sep06

On Friday, September 2, we hosted a small Shabbat dinner party. This was a non-dairy (meat) kosher meal, which can be well done if you care (and most kosher restaurants don’t). As usual with our events everything was homemade. Almost all produce came from the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market.


For appetizers we served fruits and nuts. There was also some homemade humus and eggplant dip (that one of our guests generously brought), but I forgot to snap a photo.


Wine is one area where we go normal. Kosher wines are uniformly awful. Hideous. Wretched.

Parker gives this silky Rosso 90. “The 2009 Rosso di Montalcino is totally beautiful and elegant in its expressive bouquet, silky fruit and understated, harmonious personality. This is a wonderful, impeccable Rosso from Le Potazzine. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2017.” I’d rate it perhaps 91-92, with a little boost for understated style.


And the sweet option. Parker 91. “Donnhoff‘s 2009 Oberhauser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett – ultra-delicate at only 9% alcohol and with considerably more overt sweetness than its Krotenpfuhl counterpart – is scented with buddleia, white peach, toasted almond, and a fusil note of crushed stone, and offers subtle creaminess, lusciously juicy refreshment, and minerally interactive persistence. This illustrates slate as a sort of sounding board as well as support structure for fruit such as one also encounters in the best residually sweet Mosel Rieslings. Donnhoff routinely expresses acute awareness of a duty to make something truly special out of the cooler ‘wrong-side-of-the-river’ Oberhauser vineyards that until the latter part of his father’s era constituted almost the entirety of his family’s acreage. That duty has here once again been deliciously discharged.”


What would Shabbat be without Challah. Raison Challah to be exact.

After going to Spain last year I’ve been on a bit of a Gazpacho kick, despite my general aversion to raw tomatoes (which I’ve been overcoming). And then about 5-6 weeks ago we went to Jose Andres’ Tres for brunch where they have a wonderful Gazpacho bar. So afterward I dug up his recipe on the internet and we tried it.

When I get into cooking certain dishes I like to perfect them. I’ve been working on this with my Ultimate Pizzas, my Spanish Eggs, and my Margaritas. This is our second stab at Gazpacho. It tasted great the first time but the texture was too chunky, so in this instance we whipped the living bleep out of it in the ever-reliable Blendtec. This batch is made with heirloom tomatoes and cucumbers from the SMFM and premium Spanish extra-virgin olive oil.


But first the garnish. This is a bowl prepped. The basic approach is to do this, and then to ladle in the soup itself table side, then dress it with a bit of premium Spanish olive oil. This garnish is croutons, cucumbers, heirloom tomatoes, spring onions, and chives.


The olive oil is on the left. On the right are homemade croutons. These are rustic bread fried (by hand) in olive oil and garlic, and seasoned with a bit of parsley.


Some of the gorgeous tomatoes used as garnish. Other cool looking ones are in the soup itself.


Chopped chives.


I’m kicking myself, but I forgot to photo a finished bowl with the soup. This one is three-quarters eaten 🙁 It was darn good though.


For the main course we made a homemade Morrocan Basteeya. This is prior to baking. This is a savory pie of chicken and spices, slightly sweet.


Out of the oven.


You can see into it here.


One of our guests brought this lovely salad.


We also made this baked Israeli-style eggplant, with tomatoes, onions, garlic, and peppers (all from the SMFM too).


Here it is baked.


And my mother’s amazing fruit crumble. This one had SMFM peaches, blackberries, and apples. With a sweet crust and pecan topping. Due to the fact that my mother was on the other side of the country, and the written recipe a tad cryptic, the crust turned out a bit “different” than her more crumbly variant.


Still, it tasted great after baking!


And some farmer’s market fruit to finish.

For more home cooked meals look at the bottom of the food page.

Related posts:

  1. Fraiche – Ultimo Wine Dinner
  2. Dinner and Drinks at Tavern
  3. Dinner Party – It all starts with Cheese
  4. Eating Tuscany – Villa Dinner
  5. Ultimate Pizza – New Years
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Blendtec, Cooking, Dessert, Dinner, Donnhoff, Food, Friday Night, Gazpacho, Home, Judaism, Kashrut, Kosher, Olive oil, Shabbat, Wine
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