For several months now, I have been ordering and canceling my place at the Mahneyuda group's Jerusalem Tzemah restaurant, each time for a different reason. Until Itzik Ruham, the group's vice president in Israel and one of the partners, promised me a special tour, so I decided it is my time to get to the capital.
I arrived with Dolev, we met Itzik, he took us as promised to the tour to see the whole factory called Mahneyuda. We saw all the group's restaurants. We started at Mahneyuda, from there to Yudale which started as a waiting area for Mahneyuda, through the preparation area that operates all the restaurants behind the scenes and through which many cooks pass, we continued to Gigi Kobla who soon becomes kosher and makes a strong desire to eat some fat sandwich, we were also in Dekel 3, and just before the end we also saw where fascinating workshops on various specialization topics take place. That’s how we got to our end point, too, Tzemah.
So even before we even started eating anything, we already felt like we were amazed by everything that was going on around us. So we settled in Tzemah restaurant, headed by chef Assaf Serri. A vegetarian restaurant that started operating just before the Covid arrived. Not a simple challenge but she survived it and remained standing as she continually getting good reviews. From here also came of course my strong desire to get to the restaurant.
As I also recommended in the Mahneyuda restaurant, here too there is a chef bar, and if there is a chef bar in the restaurant then take advantage of it and book a place for it. I did sit at the table but no doubt I was a little jealous of everyone sitting at the bar. The place itself is generally beautiful, and the vibes are great. Of course we also chose a tasting meal (220 NIS per diner), because I love to eat and for me this is the way to happiness, to eat and a lot.
We started with a few small ones combined with one entree,
Eggplant Brula (32 NIS), with burnt butter, brown sugar, shatta and Atlantic salt. Break it down like the dessert creme brulee we know and underneath it hides a soft texture of eggplant that has got sweet flavors along with the salt that adds another fun interest to the mouth. Spicy (26 NIS), with hot pepper, mashed vine leaves and pickled substitutes. Scordelia (38 NIS), almond and garlic spread, tomato zest and roasted almonds. I realized that the only Scordelia that really tastes good to me is the one I taste in the group's restaurants. And of course, along with all this goodness came the Frenabon (NIS 28), with sour tehini and basil oil. #yammmmm
We also closed this part with a first course of Eggplant Tartare (44 NIS), with cucumbers and pistachios. Which was actually the best eggplant dish I have ever had to eat at a restaurant. We got delicate eggplant flavors with cubes of fresh cucumbers that blended into it ingeniously and there was also the pita crunch, if I am not wrong, which always blends in superbly and adds my favorite ingredient, the crunch. #yammmmm
We continued with the Polenta (56 NIS), with mushroom ragout, asparagus and truffle. A dish I have eaten so many times and is always delicious (sorry for the bad picture, it was so delicious I was blinded and took an old picture). #yammmmm
Labane Tortellini (74 NIS), with tarragon tomato cream, lime and chili. Three tortellini on a plate with an interesting taste that makes us explore what happens in our mouths from bite to bite. #yammmmm
Cuba Hamusta (72 NIS), with fennel, sour soup, chard and spinach and young zucchini. The soup was really sour. But the Cuba was a little weird in my mouth, I did not fully understand what I was eating. #yammmmm
From here we went back to a few more cold dishes.
Watermelon Sashimi (54 NIS), with cream, sweet soy, roasted sesame seeds and blueberries. A beautiful dish that comes with a combination of flavors that really reminded me of fish sashimi. #yammmmm
Pickled Kohlrabi Carpaccio (54 NIS), with apple salsa, chili, ginger, pistachios and goat cheese. Exactly the flavors I like. We have already talked about the fact that these days you can find lots of dishes of kohlrabi and cheese and there are some that are really tasty and there are some that are just a good. So this one was really tasty. The kohlrabi got the apple flavors and with each bite we took a slice of kohlrabi, some pistachios and cheese, which was just as salty as I needed. #yammmmm
Saigon (48 NIS), a Vietnamese dish of lettuce with sauerkraut, ginger, celery beans, vinaigrette and coconut yogurt. A dish with sour Asian flavors that I like and a special combination of ingredients. Dip it in the yogurt in every bite and it's yam. #yammmmm
Camembert Pastry (62 NIS), with fennel jam and gin and black pepper. A dish we got along with the desserts. She came with a very seductive look I must say, and was also looking very promising. But eventually we didn't like the taste after a bite or two. #yammmmm
We finished with 2 desserts, a Crack Pie style dessert and Indian Banufi (40 NIS), with milk jam cream, coconut streusel and caramelized banana. Both are sweet and delicious. #yammmmm
It's a #yammmmm