There are more and more proper restaurants opening in Jerusalem's Machane Yehuda open market, the "shuq/shuk." Last week my friend and I tried out one that claims to have Lebanese food.
I'm definitely not a culinary expert and can't tell you if this place really serves authentic Lebanese food. It's right in the middle on the shuq on the main closed "street." If I'm reading the name properly, it's מן הוא בשוק Min Hu b'Shuk, From the Market.
My friend and I ordered two main courses to split. One was meatballs on rice with okra, and the other was the mezza, mid-eastern salad selection, which included cooked eggplant, of course.
The salads were pretty good, very fresh. The staff didn't replenish the salads, though. We could have eaten a bit more, but honestly, there was enough left over so that I was able to use one of the two pittot we were served to make myself a sandwich to bring to work for dinner. Nothing was too salty for me, meaning that those who like very salty food would have to add salt. But this is the way it should be, because otherwise those who either don't like salt or are forbidden salt can have a good meal.
If I remember correctly our split meal, including the tip cost us ns50- each, which isn't all that bad, especially considering that I was able to make my dinner from the leftovers. This isn't a grilled meat joint. So if you want a lot of animal protein, you don't have to look far. But the food was very tasty, and as I already wrote, the salads really were excellent.
I was with the same dining partner who has been going to meat restaurants with me for quite a while. We find them a better buy than the dairy ones, if your budget is limited and you don't want a meal based on carbohydrates. Though davka this meal did have too much rice with the meatballs, which we didn't finish. The grilled meat joints are best for low-carb meals if you ignore the pittot and substitute salad for chips aka French Fries.
I didn't take down contact numbers for it, but if you're in the shuq you shouldn't have any trouble finding it.
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ReplyDeleteI love lebenese food!! It is one of the most delicious cuisines out there. I also agree about going for meat versus dairy. Although I love my vegeterian meals I do find that meat is great for the afternoon because then you don't feel too heavy at night.
ReplyDeletethanks for an awesome post.
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