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.