The Good and Bad of Jerusalem

The remainder of the time we spent in Jerusalem was truly magical, and was filled with many interesting adventures. Searching for interesting food finds, balanced with taking in the sights. As I’ve mentioned, I had been to Jerusalem many times, so this trip was about falling in love all over again with this great city. So much to offer, from the ancient to the modern. Food served on stone that has been walked on for over 2000 years? How can you beat that?

Not all meals are fantastic, but we focus on the good. We ate, the night before my nephew’s Bar Mitzvah, at a restaurant called Papagaio that serves Brazilian style BBQ. My sister was hard pressed to find a place that was reasonable, kosher, and would have space for our extended family so that we could all spend some quality time together eating, drinking, and catching up. The company was fabulous, and it was great to spend time with everyone. The food? It was just okay, but they did serve a killer chicken liver dish. There are many of these types of restaurants all over Israel, and they are quite popular, as it is an all-you-can-eat type of joint. Meat on skewers, and a red and green adorned instrument on your table to say "more, more, more", or "I’ve had enough and I can't possibly eat anymore".

Some salads to start

Kebab

Three kinds of hot condiments

Lovely chicken livers

Bots - an Israeli coffee that is a Turkish style, literally translates to "mud"

The Bar Mitzvah, the main reason why I was in Israel, was absolutely perfect. Kudos to my sister and brother in-law for organizing such a great couple of days for the entire family, both the imports and locals. I was really proud of the kid, he did a fantastic job, and everyone was really quite proud. The Wailing Wall is such a tremendous and emotional place, even if you aren't religious, or even Jewish for that matter. Great to be able to experience the eldest of my sisters' offspring and his transformation to an adult in the eyes of the Jewish community. Of course, I was in my usual form, being the good Jew I am.

The following morning, it was back to exploring and outside of the walls of the old city, at the new-ish Mamilla Centre, we found the most tantalizing treats at a Limonana and Iced Cafe that blew anything else we had on this trip out of the water. The cafe was called Roladin, and from what I understand, at Hanukah they make about 50 different kinds of sufganiot (traditional filled donuts). 50 kinds!! Wow.

The little balls on top of the Iced Cafe tasted like mini-kit kats!

Also, on this afternoon’s stroll, we decided to take a different route home from the old city and walk through the edge of the German Colony, where I found some local delights growing on the side of a pathway.

I was definitely in heaven, and this was one of the only times we encountered ripe fresh figs while wandering around Jerusalem. Also, when in the old city I came across some wild sage growing on the sides of the walls; and in certain areas of the city the boulevards are lined with hundreds upon hundreds of rosemary bushes.

Now I have the near impossible task of describing to you the experience we had at the restaurant I was most excited about eating at, Mahaneyuda. This is the hottest restaurant in Jerusalem, and some would argue, in the country. On the edge of the Mahane-Yehuda Market shuk), this hot spot boasts a Black Hoof-like fame and quite resembles my favourite spot at home as well. Two restaurants, owned by three chefs, right across the street from each other. One is a tapas bar, the other a restaurant. Starting to sound familiar? Well, the similarities don't stop there. A cutting edge, fresh and local focused rotating menu, with truly visionary food. An experience at Mahaneyude is just that - an experience.

The music is loud, and the staff young and beautiful. Just don't show up late for your table or someone will try to buy it from the hostess (true story). A specific song comes on and the girls stop serving and dance with each other in the middle of the restaurant. Hot. Another song comes on, and on cue, the kitchen staff grab pots and pans and bang them together marching through the tiny space, everyone on their feet cheering them on. They seemed to be taunting the guys across the street at the tapas bar, how much fun is that? What an environment to enjoy a meal.

We sat at the bar, and had a great view of the main floor of the restaurant, as there is a gallery upstairs where seats line a railing and you can watch the action from above. The open kitchen is great, and we had a view of the boys doing their thing during the three and a half hours we spent enjoying the vibe. I sampled some great white, and thanks to my lovely server Tal-El, also savoured a very special bottle of red that was created specifically for the restaurant, by top winery Susson Yam (Sea horse). You can read the story on the back of the bottle:

Let's talk about the food for a bit, shall we? Looking at the daily menu at Mahaneyuda makes it really hard to figure out what to order, especially with only two people and having only this one night to enjoy the food prepared by the talented crew in the kitchen. Paul and I worked hard, and Tal-El and the others were a big help in deciding, and here is what we chose: