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Monday, June 26, 2023

Kiko, New Meat Restaurant in Armon Hanatziv near Arnona



Kiko Meat Restaurant, 
15 Daniel Yanovsky St, Armon Hanatziv, Jerusalem, 
Tel: 0778836883 Kashrut: Rabbanut Yerushalayim Mehadrin


Last week my friend and I decided to eat out, and she had recently read Eluna email and noticed a write-up about a new meat restaurant not far from where where we were. Yes, Kiko is the restaurant. It's right next to the Armon Hanatziv Promenade (the Tayelet), a major tourist destination in Jerusalem.

As we walked over, we decided that if it didn't look acceptable, then we'd go someplace else.

Lucky for all, Kiko seemed clean and comfortable, plus the prices were reasonable.

We went over the menu, Hebrew only, though the guy working here insisted that he could explain it in English if needed. 
 
There's a nice variety and choice of foods and presentations, sandwiches in different breads, platters and salads. 

We both ordered salads with meat. Mine was the kabob salad. After ordering, our meat portions were put up to cook. 

We were very pleasantly surprised to discover that we could have our bowl filled with whichever salad ingredients and dressings we wanted, like at a salad bar. All we had to do was to indicate to the young man working there what we wanted.

Once the salad bowls were full, we waited for our meat to finish cooking, and then we were called to get our dinners. We brought them to the table and ate. Both meals were perfect. We weren't offered any pittot or bread, which was fine with us.  Yes, we look forward to returning.

Friday, June 16, 2023

Rosh Chodesh Tamuz Women's Prayers

 תפילת ראש חודש נשים בשילה הקדומה בתל שילה



Join us at Ancient Shiloh, Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh the same location mentioned in the Bible. Yes, it's the place where the Mishkan Tabernacle stood for 369 years, Chana Hannah prayed for a son and later brought her precious son, Shmuel Samuel to be trained for leadership. Today there's a wonderful archeological site with activities and explanations for all ages to enjoy. Contact 02-578-9111, visit@telshilo.org.il. Accessible by public transportation.

Wednesday, June 07, 2023

Beer Tasting, Four Different Beers


The "Beer Tasters" got together early last week to try out four beers that Doug the Beer Maven had received for reviewing.

These are what we drank in the following order:
1- Alexander's Fest 
2- Schnitt in a joint production with Lervig of Norway,  How's- It Hanging -- 
3- Shikma's HaMishteh, which used traces of  3,000 year-old yeast. This is a special edition, which can't be purchased in stores.
4- BeerBazaar Brewery's OMG Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout from 2019 

The format and atmosphere of this tasting session were very relaxing; we sat around a dining room table instead of wandering in a noisy festival. 

Unlike our tastings at festivals, here we had the bottles, and the one can from Schnitt, with us to examine, so we were able to check out things not usually known to us. We discovered a connection between the alcoholic content and the calories per 100 ml. They were amazingly (for the ignoramus -like me-) similar. I wasn't all that happy in discovering that. Apparently there is a need for more sugars/carbohydrates to produce alcohol. So if you're concerned about calories and carbohydrates, the alcohol content is easier to discover than the calories on the bottles; the print is usually larger. 


We started off by sharing the bottle of Alexander's Fest Lager, which we all agreed was pleasant, fruity and light. It's the beer you can drink socializing on a summer evening without eating a real meal. Only afterwards did we discover that it had the least alcohol and calories.

After the Alexander, we tried het collaborative effort, a beer by Schnitt and Lervig of Norway, which we all enjoyed. It had a stronger aroma and taste than Alexander's Fest. Plus it has more alcohol and calories. Now that I've become aware that the more alcoholic kick the more weight it adds, I'm not very happy, but this beer was worth it.

We suggest more of a meal or snack with the Schnitt-Lervig beer.

Shikma's HaMishteh had more flavor and darker color, as you can see, than Schnitt-Lervig though it has the same alcohol and calorie contents. Combining ancient and modern technology there are traces of  3,000 year-old yeast. Ancient yeast is more like the natural yeast of sourdough bread. Yeast is needed for fermentation which turns the hops and other vegetation into alcohol/beer.

HaMishteh is definitely recommended with some food. 

So far, we agreed that we enjoyed the first three beers we had tasted. Now, would the fourth be better or worse?

Then Oh My Gd

We finished our tasting session with BeerBazaar Brewery's OMG Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout from 2019! It was like drinking a sweet chocolate-coffee syrup with the kick of a strong beer. We almost fought over the last drops; it was that good. For those who like coffee and/or chocolate liquor, you'll probably like BeerBazaar Brewery's OMG. It's more an adult drink than the sweet liquors, and nobody would expect you to limit yourself to a shot glass. It's beer! And, yes, it does have more alcohol and calories than the others, but it's worth every last one.

To summarize, all four beers were good, pleasant to drink and flavorful. Thanks to Doug for inviting me to the tasting and looking forward to the next one.