Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Dueling Restaurants: Touro and Colony in Jerusalem


Friday 28 June
Today Dvorah took us, Kathy, and her cousins the Medveds on a guided tour of her late husband Ehud Netzer's triumphal last work, the exhibition "Herod the Great: the King's Final Journey" at the Israel Museum.  It was a beautiful, emotional, draining experience.  So it was very kind, and much needed, that Jonathan took us all out to lunch afterwards at the lovely Touro Restaurant, part of the new Jerusalem Press Club, in Mishkenot Sha'anim.

We really enjoyed the abundant appetizers like beef carpaccio, Jerusalem eggplant (split and roasted, with a drizzle of tahini), artichokes, olives, tomato salad, and bread with olive and tomato tapanades.  And the wines, mainly local rosés, kept on flowing.

They serve the main dishes in metal pans, which we shared as usual: grey mullet (buri) in spicy sauce; and lamb mince with spices.
The meal ended with amazing desserts: fruit sherbet with coconut, hot chocolate mousse in a cup, and yogurt with pomegranate seeds and nuts.

But of course, this blog is not titled "What Holt and Barbara had for Lunch," so that evening, we all went out to dinner with Rona at a Shabbat hot spot, Colony

Along with a pretty good Pelter Trio 2011 red wine, we ordered a new fish, drumfish (apparently a sea fish, Umbrina cirrosa, not a fresh water fish as in the States) as a ceviche; a plate of sautéed mushrooms in crisp shells; a leafy salad enhanced with matchsticks of duck bacon; gnocchi with porcini and chestnuts in a creamy sauce; and eggplant yogurt (not as good as Touro's, unfortunately).

But the dessert, Alfajores open - a version of a beloved Spanish/Israeli shortbread cookie - was an absolute winner, even with Touro as competition.

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