Silly- it’s DECKS, of course! How could we be in Israel and not eat at Decks? So we did what most Israelis would consider to be nuts. We left J’lem at 4:00pm and headed North. We got to Decks at 6:30, left at 8:45, and were back home in Rechavia by 11:15pm. Was it worth the trip? You betcha!

As always, we were greeted like long lost family when we got there. Beautiful waitress Efrat was off for the day, so we were served by Liz Hurley look alike Elena. The very beautiful and talented manager, Yaara, took us to the VIP table and promised us a most special evening. And it was, indeed, quite special. There are new items on the menu, so we settled down for a real gourmet experience.

We started with onion loaf and salad. Next came the foie gras. Seared on the outside, soft on the inside, it was just the way we like it. We knew it was good- daughter Tali was making mewing sounds as she ate it!

Our next course was a rear quarter piece of filet. They brought a large filet (on a fire tray) to the table, sliced it and then finished it to our individual tastes. The meat was perfectly aged, and tender as could be. It was truly the best piece of meat we have had in Israel. Son in law Yoav said, “Dad, you gotta admit- rear quarter meat is a real treat!”

Our next course was a whole rack of lamb. Once again, they brought it on a fire tray and the cutter, cut the rack into individual lamb chops and finished them to individual taste. The lamb comes from Ariel Sharon’s farm, and is grown for Decks.

Next came the Mullard duck, again finished at the table to individual tastes. The sauce on the duck was outrageously good! And the duck was delectable.

Along with the meats, we had parsley garlic fries and grilled mushrooms and onions. The mushrooms were both portobello and smaller, regular ’shrooms.

Dessert was an apple crepe and chocolate mousse. Drinks with dinner included a really superlative Israeli Beaujolais.

Yoav and Tali had never eaten at Decks. In addition, Yoav is a gourmet cook and afficionado of good food. The “kids” were mightily impressed. Tali said that now she understood our total fixation with Decks.

Dinner was not cheap. We ate a lot of food and it was very much worth the cost of the evening. Our biggest problem was that we had to drive back to J’lem that night. Had we been able to stay over in Tiberias, dinner would have easily been a good hour longer than it was. Nonetheless, an evening at Decks is always worth the trip. A Kosher Nexus Five Forks award!

Too far to drive to Tiberias from J’lem just for dinner? No way! Decks is always worth the trip!

Motzei Shabbat we went out rather late. Son in law Yoav took us to a rather industrial section of Talpiot to get some amazing pizza pockets and a drink called Sahlab (the “h” is pronounced like a chet).

We had never had sahlab before. It was totally beyond anything we had ever tasted. It was subtle. It was creamy. It was mysterious. It was seductive.

Sahlab is the dried root of orchis mascula, used to make a beverage of subtle flavor and consistency enjoyed throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. The powdered root can be found at Middle Eastern specialty shops.

Total time 10 minutes

8 cups milk, in all
1 heaping tbsp. sahlab powder
2 tbsp. finely chopped pistachios
Cinnamon

Combine the sahlab powder with 1/4 cup milk and mix well. Gently heat 7-3/4 cups of milk, then whisk the sahlab into the pot. Stir constantly for 5-10 minutes until it thickens.

Pour the sahlab into cups, and garnish with chopped pistachios and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
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Tnuva makes Sahlab powder. Look for it in a kosher store near you. Good luck. O, and when you make it, make sure the kids are asleep for the night!

We quickly discovered that most American ex-pats living in Israel celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday night. So, we set off for Efrat and had a most wonderful Thanksgiving Shabbat dinner at the home of Amy and Nat. Amy used to be a very successful caterer back in the States, and her kitchen is renowned for the goodness that flows from it. Huge crowds there are the norm. We once enjoyed a Friday night dinner there with over 30 people. This time it was a small crowd- only 15!

We began, of course with shalom aleichem, eishet chayil for the wives, birkat banim for the kids and all the rest of the usual Friday night ritual. Nat spoke about Thanksgiving and how we as Jews give thanks every single day of our lives. He said that we live Thanksgiving, but that it was good to recall the American holiday. We got into a large discussion of wheter or not Thanksgiving was truly an American, secular holiday or, in its roots, a Protestant holiday. We concluded that either way, we were going to enjoy a most wonderfu dinner- and we did. The meal was memorable.

After kiddush and motzi, the first course was a magnificent pumpkin soup served with your choice of mini mandel or croutons. The soup was so good, it actually got quiet at the table as we all shlurped our soup.

Dinner was turkey that defined the terms moist and tender. There was corn pudding (to die for, by the way), which was a first for us. It was really, really good. There were mashed sweet potatoes, home made cranberry sauce, baked onions in gravy, home-made (and served warm) challah, and Brussel sprouts. Yes, Brussel sprouts. Apparently, unlike in the USA where Brussel sprouts are considered a contagion of bugs, in Israel the bugs have been removed! There was salad (of course there was salad- it’s Israel). There was home made pumpkin pie and pareve whipped cream. The pumpkin pie was just right- slightly tangy and sweet at the same time.

Amy is an amazing cook and nothing puts a bigger smile on her face than to see people eating her food! Nat gave a dvar torah and then there were a few more divrei torah by various guests. It was a perfect shabbat night. We sang zmirot. We sang Amy’s and Nat’s praises. We told Nat that when we return in January, please God, we will show up for a few meals, for sure!

Thank you Nat and Amy for giving us a wonderful Thanksgiving away from America.
(RJR)

Readers of the Kosher Nexus as well as this blog know that when we are in Israel, there are two restaurants that we make sure to visit. One of them is in Jerusalem and is called Misadat Pinati. The place is about as small as a place can be and still call itself a restaurant (as opposed to someone’s private kitchen). They make the best schnitzel in all of Israel.

The restaurant does a very brisk morning trade as it serves the best chummus and ful, too. Daughter Tali is definately not a chummus eater, yet she asked for more to be brought to the table. She had a field day telling us how much she doesn’t usually like chummus and how this was the best chummus she ever had. Owner Moti stood by and smiled like a proud Jewish papa as she ate the chummus with gusto. When she asked for more, you would have thought that Moti would plotz from the sheer joy of bringing it!

We both had schnitzel with lemon and salad. Taam Gan Eden! According to Moti the secret of their schnitzel is that they use the chickens within 24 hours of shechitah. We also had fries, marinated tomatoes, tehina, pickles and onions. Moti would have brought more, but we ran out of room on the table.

We love eating at Misadat Pinati. The families who own the place are all incredible menschen. They know many of their customers by name and they know just how you like your meal. I usually go there for lunch, but once went for dinner. As Moti brought me my meal, he said “Adoni, you look hungry so I brought some extra.”

You gotta love it! We eat there quite often and each time the food is delicious. Plus, if you sit at an outside table, you get to watch half of Israel walk by!

Go there and enjoy! You will thank us.

There are two restaurants called JOY. One is a regular restaurant and the other is more of a takeout place with about six tables and a counter. The second place is called Express Joy. We ate there last night, and it was super! No, it’s clearly not haute cuisine, but the food was excellent!

One strange thing about the place- they love to put mayo on all of their sandwiches. Not so strange you say? Well, how about this sandwich: Grilled pastrami with spicy mayo, tomato, red onion and pickled cucumber? Or how about the Roastbeef sandwich with garlic mayo, onion jam, lettuce cores and pickled cucumber?

Daughter Tali and I each had the King Joy sandwich which, like all of the sandwiches there, by the way, were huge. The contents of that masterpiece were entrecote, chicken breast, Cornish hen with spicy mayo and tomato. We were not too sure when we ordered it, but we were positive when we ate it- it was totally delish!

Along with the sandwich, we ordered a side of sweet potato potato chips with maple syrup. They fry their own potato chips and serve them in a bowl with the syrup poured on top. Whoda thunk it? It was really quite good! Plus, we had never had hot potato chips before- that was neat.

We also ordered a bowl (more like a kitchen sink in size) of noodles with chicken. The mix was spaghetti noodles, chicken, spices, peanuts, carrots, stem vegetables in an “Asian” sauce. It was wonderful- hot, tasty, and filling.

Son in law Yoav had a super burger, and it was a huge sandwich, too. He ordered it with portobello mushrooms on it. His only complaint was that he expected a whole mushroom on top of his burger and instead they put slices on it. O well.

All in all, it was a super dinner. We had a super good meal, they played Beatles music in the background, and they had extreme biking playing on the TV in the back of the place. All in all, we had a great time.

Express Joy is located at 34 Jaffe Street in Jerusalem.