Harvey's Smokehouse, Must Return

Last week, after attending Rothschild and Sons, I went with friends to Harvey's Smokehouse. Even though it was very windy and rainy outside, they did their best to warm us up. We were very lucky to get a perfect table without reservations. I guess Gd knew we needed a good meal.

Harvey's Smokehouse is a Bar & Grill · Barbecue Restaurant · American Style Meat Restaurant, strictly kosher, of course. It's on 7 Ben-Shetach Street, a couple of minutes' walk from Zion Square, 02-624-6444, opens 12 noon, Sunday-Thursday.

Because of the hour, we didn't order a real complete meat meal, their specialty. That's one of the reasons I must return.

I started with beer and was very happy that they offer on tap Shapiro's Israeli craft beer. There was a choice between Shapiro's IPA and Wheat beers. Since I wasn't sure which I wanted, I was brought both to taste. The wheat was pale and anemic both in looks and taste, but the Shapiro IPA didn't disappoint at all. My only mistake was getting a "third" rather than a "half."

One of my dinner companions ordered a fruity cocktail, which I tasted. It was absolutely perfect, too.

My companions ordered a couple of servings of meat chili, onion rings and one "cole slaw." I was offered tastes of them all. The chili and onion rings were fantastic, but I was so disappointed to see red cabbage masquerading as cole slaw I just couldn't touch any. Maybe it's the New Yorker in me, but when I hear cole slaw I expect to see white (green) cabbage and carrots. Anything else is sacrilegious, an abomination. The only one of us who tasted it insisted that the dressing was genuine, but then again, he wasn't raised in New York.

I ordered a salad that had bits of grilled chicken breast and their own "bacon bits." It was labeled as having "ranch dressing," but all I tasted was mayonnaise, and I don't like mayonnaise. When I mentioned this to the waiter, he quickly took away my plate and replaced it with a new salad, sans the guilty mayonnaise. There were simple dressings on the side, which were perfect.

We had been tempted by the lamb chops and other grilled meat, but having shared two portions each of the chili and onion rings, besides the big salad, we barely had room for a bit of dessert, chocolate mousse and apple pie for sharing.

Our driver perked himself up with some coffee, and then we drove back to Shiloh after a totally enjoyable evening in Jerusalem. Great food and company. I can't ask for more. But I really do want to return to Harvey's Smokehouse and try their meat, lamb... I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

Kosher for Passover Lunch in Mamilla, No Kitniyot

Today my husband and I "double-dated" with a couple we've been "double-dating" with for half a century. We spent the day in Jerusalem, and besides seeing the "Plugat Hakotel" museum in Jerusalem's Old City, we had lunch out.

Passover is a complicated time to eat out, or even food shop, for those of us who are Torah observant. And it's even more complicated for Ashkenazi Jews, those whose families are ethnically European. Not only do we need regular Kosher for Passover food, we refrain from eating kitniyot, legumes. I can't complain. It's not as difficult as it used to be to find food and restaurants. That's because there are so many religious Ashkenazi Jews who come to Israel, especially Jerusalem, for Passover, and restaurant owners have realized that it pays to go to the efforts to cater to our needs.

But still, from year to year, businesses change, and I like to know in advance what options we have. So, this year I asked on all sorts of facebook pages and got nowhere. But once we were in Jerusalem, I discovered that there are more and more restaurants, not only strictly and certified Kosher for Passover, but they are also "without a doubt free of kitniyot."

We ended up having an early lunch in Fresh Kitchen in the Mamilla Mall.

Fresh Coffee & Kitchen had an extensive Passover Menu, and even though the place was packed, the wait staff seemed on top of things. There are other branches around the country.

There was such a large selection of food in Fresh Kitchen's Passover Menu that I had trouble choosing what to eat. In the end I chose the Nicoise aka Tuna Salad, and the bowl was full. It was very tasty, too.

One of our group had a sandwich, which came with a nice salad. And the other two had the Halumi Salad. There were no complaints. We finished it all. Prices were reasonable, too.

I couldn't find a phone number for them, but click here for their facebook page, which does have a message option.

Bagel Café Breakfast, Also Lunch

I have some good friends I meet regularly for all sorts of enjoyable activities. Yesterday's plan was a festive breakfast "out."

We decided that the most convenient location would be the Hadar Mall in Talpiyot. The big problem was to choose which of the many restaurants there. Until just a few months ago, there wasn't much choice, but now they've opened what could be called a third "food court" by the main entrance of the building on Pierre Koenig Street.

Choosing where to eat wasn't easy with so many restaurants. I checked out some via the internet, and we ended up at the Bagel Café, which has a nice large section by the front door.

There's a rather daunting, large selection of food to choose from, special breakfasts and the regular menu. At first glance, it's not cheap, but then I realized that I could "kill two birds with one stone." Since many of the breakfast choices contain too much food, which is why my friends weren't interested, I ordered the Israeli Breakfast.

The above photo doesn't even show all the food served to me. There was also a cookie, which I should have trashed. In the right hand upper corner of the above picture you can see a bit of a bagel. The first thing I did was to make myself a sandwich, tuna, salad and some cream cheese. That was put aside, later packed for my lunch. The remaining food was delicious, filling and kept me going until I got home after 3pm. All I ate, just before a 12 noon class in Matan, was an apple and cup of water. So, even though I spent more than I had hoped for breakfast, I really got two filling meals from it.

The wait staff was polite, but not all that professional. First of all, they should have asked me if I wanted to start or end with my coffee. They started by bringing me coffee and the cookie. The cookie wasn't worth the calories, and I'm sorry I ate it. And my carrot juice wasn't brought with the rest of the food, besides the fact that it should have had been served, or offered, first. I had to remind the staff that it was part of the breakfast. One of my friends had very clearly requested that she get a salad without any tomatoes. But the salad had tomatoes, so she sent it back.

The food was much better than a recent lunch I had at the Emek Refaim branch. Maybe it was the processed fish, we had eaten that had an awful salty aftertaste. This time I ate none of that.

We were all happy with our breakfasts. It was a nice treat.

Bagel Café
Hadar Talpiot Mall, Jerusalem
Sun-Thu 6:30- 23:00
Friday 6:30 -14:00
One Hour After Shabbat Till 23:00
1-700-500-751

Japan-Japan, Do Japanese Really Eat That Sort of Food? Restaurant Review

The other night, I went with a friend to the Derech Hevron branch of the "Japanese style" chain of kosher restaurants, Japan-Japan. I'd heard about their restaurants from friends who like the food, especially since there's a branch in nearby Ariel, in the Rami Levy Mall.

I was hungry, since it had been a very long day in the middle of a busy week. As I understood, traditional Japanese food is served separated to show off color, texture etc. But in all honesty, I had never eaten in a Japanese restaurant or been served Japanese cuisine.

The Beit Hanatziv branch of Japan-Japan, 101 Derech Hebron is very attractive, and it wasn't too noisy. Noise can be an awful problem for me. The staff was attentive, and we got our hitech menus set up in English.

There was a large choice of foods on the menu, though most seemed pretty similar to my untrained eye. I decided to choose a cooked main dish, rather than a salad, hoping that there would be enough vegetables in it. We thought it rather funny that although the menu was on a tablet, the waiter had to write our order on a pad with a broken pen, that he had to replace.

Before our food arrived we were served complementary "chasers," which were appreciated, giving our dinner out a festive aura.

My doubts about the authenticity of the food started pretty quickly with our first course of chicken wings, which my friend and I shared. They had been given a Japanese sounding name, but were really just Asian style "buffalo wings" with jam, "soy sauce" and sesame seeds. I did enjoy the small lightly pickled salad on the side. It helped cut the sweetness of the sauce used on the wings. And since "buffalo wings" are a "finger food," we were given lots of napkins and wipes.

For a main course, I chose the Asian Mix which had both beef and chicken, while my friend chose something just with beef. When we were served them, it seemed to me that the waiter had mixed them up. So, we asked again, and were told that we had been given the correct dishes. It didn't take long for us to discover that our guesses had been correct, so we switched them. Yes, as you can see, both main courses are the same color. A careful look revealed the chicken and eggplant in mine. The advantage of this mistake was that we got to taste both, and the sauces were very similar. The sauces totally overpowered the vegetables, both color and taste-wise. But I must say that there was plenty of meat and chicken, and the beef was very tasty.

Neither of us were interested in trying their sushi. If we had been guests of the restaurant, our experience would have been different, no doubt.  But I'm just an ordinary customer. The staff and management hadn't a clue that I'd be reviewing it.

The meal was filling, and not only was Japan-Japan full of seated diners, we could see that they do an amazing takeout business. Bags of cooked food kept leaving the kitchen area, both taken by customers and special delivery staff.

Neither the Japan-Japan site, nor facebook page seem to function in English. But, as I had mentioned earlier, they have an English menu and the staff seemed capable of serving English speaking customers.

We decided to pass on dessert; I couldn't bear the thought of more sugar. Later on we had some fresh fruit, which was perfect.

Avihail Cafe, Near Malcha, But Not in The Mall

Last week, my friend and I wanted to have dinner together before going to see Hidden-The Secret Jews of Spain. I "consulted" with facebook friends to find a restaurant not far from the theater. A number of people suggested the Avihail Cafe, which is in Malcha, but not in the Mall.

Avihail Cafe ended up being perfect for many ways. Besides being Kosher Mehadrin, we were able to completely avoid the traffic jams by Teddy Stadium, where there was a big game at the same time. The only problem with the location is the lack of a parking lot, or we just couldn't find one. After driving around a bit, we found a spot down the street. There are bus stops right outside the restaurant.

The food was good. My friend had what's called "Toast," which in Israel is a version of American Grilled Cheese. It came with a salad, that they assembled to order. I had the Pea Soup, which tasted homemade, though a bit salty to my "no salt, please" taste.

We sat in the enclosed area, and it was very pleasant, not noisy and a comfortable temperature. I would definitely recommend Avihail Cafe if you'd like a nice dairy or fish meal in that part of Jerusalem, but not in Malcha Mall.

More information:
02-6782979 / cafeavichail@gmail.com
כתובת: הדישון 21, מלחה ירושלים
21 Hadishon Street, Malcha, Jerusalem

Hours שעות פתיחה:
8:00-23:00 או עד אחרון הלקוחות, or until the last customer leaves
שישי- מ8:00 עד שעה לפני כניסת שבת Friday from 8am until an hour before Shabbat
מוצ״ש- שעה לאחר צאת השבת ועד חצות או עד אחרון הלקוחות
Opens an hour after Shabbat and closes when the last customer leaves

Celebrating at Tereza & Seeing The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

This week some of my friends took me out for a pre-Birthday Lunch at Tereza, Cinema City Jerusalem. Afterwards we saw The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, because we had read the book for our book club.

At first we had trouble choosing a restaurant in Cinema City; there are so many. But despite the fact that Tereza bills itself as a "Pasta Bar," we chose it. It looked more interesting, and was relatively quiet. Apparently it's a chain, and I couldn't find a phone number for the branch itself, 1-700-700-338. 

Tereza offers those popular lunch specials in which for the price of just the main course you get a starter and juice, bottled water or soda. We all chose different menu items, breakfast, fish and pasta.

My first course of grilled eggplant, which included salad and white cheese, was so large and filling, I had them pack it up for me to eat the following day for breakfast. I chose a fish which was delicious. The bones had all been removed, so it was easy to eat. As you can see, there was also a large green salad, which I chose from the side dish options. The others were all carbohydrates.

My friends ordered us a celebratory waffle with ice cream and whipped cream for my upcoming birthday. It was the perfect end to a birthday lunch with close friends. And for me, eating a quarter of such a treat was enough to satisfy my sugar cravings. On that we were split. Half of us said that we were glad to share it, while the other half would have been happier eating an entire portion.

We all agreed that Tereza was a great choice. We loved the food and the atmosphere. Service could have been a bit swifter, but we made it to the movie on time.

Being that it was a Tuesday afternoon, the senior tickets were reduced to NS14, if I remember correctly. We also enjoyed the movie and agreed that the screenwriter did a pretty good job adapting it. With the exception of the non-American actor playing the fiance, who had an awful fake accent, casting was on target. I love the fact that British actors have real faces, unlike Americans who look like they've come off an assembly line in a toy factory.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a movie suitable for all ages.

Tasty Vegan Cafe in the Shuq

Yesterday I had a lunch date with my favorite vegan and decided to look for a very special venue. Of course, being that we were meeting in Machane Yehuda aka the Shuq/Shuk there were plenty of the usual Israeli falafel and hummus joints to choose from. But I wanted something that felt cleaner, more refreshing and even, if you'll excuse the expression,  female.

Suddenly I remembered that I had once heard that the Natural Choice Bakery on the corner of Agrippas and Shiloh Streets, which I had happily patronized before going "low carb," had opened a "coffee shop." I hadn't a clue of what the menu was or if it even still existed. So, I entered the bakery, looked around and didn't see any sign of a cafe. So I asked and was told that it was nextdoor. And then I found it, the Natural Choice Cafe.

It's a lovely cool, serene oasis in the hectic shuq. I chose a table and waited for my "date" to arrive. While waiting I read the menu. If you click the photos of the menu, you can enlarge them for easy reading. As you can see there's a large variety of foods and drinks to choose from.

When she arrived we ordered two of the salads, the Chopped and the Nourishing and shared them.

Both salads were delicious and very filling, even though they don't look all that big.

Since we had time and wanted the meal to be extra festive we also shared dessert. Of course it was all vegan, including the "milk" in the coffee and the "cheesecake" made with cashews.

The Natural Choice Cafe is located at 111 Agripas Street, right next door to the Natural Choice Bakery, 02-622-3229. Hours 7:30AM - 9:00PM.

You don't have to be vegan to enjoy the food served in the Natural Choice Cafe. You can take my word for it!

Fish Meal in the "Shuk"

During the "Nine Days," those traditional days of mourning the destruction of the Holy Temples, many Jews do not eat meat or poultry. It was davka that week when I went out with one of my children for dinner. She recommended a fish restaurant in Jerusalem's Machane Yehuda Open Market. I've eaten in a couple of the meat restaurants, but hadn't tried the fish one.

Michmoret, Fish Restaurant in the Shuk

מכמורת Michmoret, just a minute's walk from Agripas Street, 4 Hatute Street, offers a meal very similar to the ones you can get in the meat places. They start with salads and bread, and then you get the meal/fish of your choice with either cooked vegetables or french fries.   There was a nice selection of fish. I took my usual salmon and also ordered beer.

Everything seems to be cooked to order and nicely presented. 

You can sit inside, outside or at the bar. 

The biggest challenge is the stairs to the WC, so if you need easily accessible restrooms, it may not be your spot; though there may be some nearby. 

I was extra lucky to discover an electric outlet next to my seat for recharging my phone. And our table for two just inside was comfortably quiet enough for us to talk. Considering that the market transforms into a busy night spot after dark, we were afraid that we would suffer from the noise. We were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was.

It's strictly kosher and open Sunday to Thursday 12-24.00, Friday 12-16.00. Our meal for two including a large beer and glass of wine cost NS200, which is considered very reasonable. Of course without the drinks it would have been much less. And being in the shuk there is lots of buses and the lightrail to get there. We enjoyed ourselves and recommend it.

Revisiting MODERN, the Meat Restaurant in the Israel Museum

Not all that long ago I ended up going twice to the perfect Meat restaurant in the Israel Museum MODERN. I had been there once before in the winter.

It was the location of my birthday parties this year. I first went with some friends and then with one of my children. The food is delicious and creative, even when they prepare something as "ordinary" as an Israeli "Jerusalem Mixed Grill."

One thing I love about it is the pleasant music, which stays in the background and doesn't overpower the conversations around the tables. I really appreciate it. Also the tables are comfortably spread apart so you don't feel like you're in a crowded lunchroom. It is one of the most pleasant places I've ever eaten in, and prices aren't out of sight.

Yes, I definitely recommend going there for a meal, even if you don't have time to enter the Israel Museum. Their menu changes with the seasons. You don't have to pay museum admission to enter. you just have to go through security. Museum parking is free, and there are frequent buses from various parts of the city.


MODERN
Ruppin Rd. 11
Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Phone: 02-6480862, fax: 02-6480863
Hours of Operation:
LUNCH - Sunday to Thursday 12:00 - 17.00
DINNER- 12.00 - -23.00 for dinner