Andy Gavin's Blog, page 67
August 7, 2019
Eating the Golan – Shawarma
Restaurant: Shawarma
Location: Somewhere in the golan
Date: July 2, 2019
Cuisine: Kosher Shawarma, Falafel etc
Rating: ok, but not amazing
_While driving around the Golan Heights we stopped at:
This authentic kosher Shawarma place. I have no idea where or what it’s actually called.
The inside is very casual. Very. There was substantial authentic Israeli salesmanship going on in dragging us inside. Many of the customers were young army soldiers.
You can see the rotating cylinder of Shaw...
August 5, 2019
Eating Rosh Pina – Auberge Shulamit
Restaurant: Auberge Shulamit
Location: 34, Rosh Pina 12000, Israel. +972 4-693-1485
Date: July 1, 2019
Cuisine: Israeli
Rating: A little old fashioned, but good
_After our stay in Jerusalem we moved up north to the Galilee (named after the large and famous lake in the region). And more specifically we stayed in the small town of Rosh Pina.
Auberge Shulamit was recommended to us by our guide and was located in this building atop the hill.
For obvious reasons the position led to an excellen...
August 2, 2019
Eating Jerusalem – Mona
Restaurant: Mona
Location: 12 Shmu’el ha-Nagid, Jerusalem 9459212, Israel. +972 2-622-2283
Date: June 30, 2019
Cuisine: Israeli
Rating: best place we ate in Jerusalem
_I really wanted to go to Machneyuda but I didn’t get my butt in gear early enough to make a reservation, so I ended up making one at Mona (owned by the same people, I think) instead. Turned out to be a great choice.
More gratuitous tourist shots: David’s Citadel.
Mona is located in the Artists House, an older and attractive...
July 31, 2019
Eating Jerusalem – Pergamon
Restaurant: Pergamon
Location: 7 Heleni ha-Malka, Jerusalem 94221, Israel. +972 50-684-3988
Date: June 29, 2019
Cuisine: Israeli
Rating: Very good, particularly for vegetarian
_When I made a reservation at Pergamon, which was very well reviewed, I didn’t even realize it was vegetarian. Not a big deal, but it’s not typical for me to hone into the meatless domain — but in Jerusalem with the prevalence of kosher rules this is one way for them to be dairy.
Gratuitous city shot.
Pergamon is loc...
July 29, 2019
Không Tên – Brunch
Restaurant: Không Tên LA [1, 2]
Location: 11520 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064. (424) 832-7000
Date: June 16, 2019
Cuisine: Vietnamese Fusion
Rating: Really tasty, great place
_For father’s day brunch I and the family venture back to my friend Kim Vu’s Vietnamese Fusion place, Không Tên.
Coincidently too, my old kitchen lead from RnR, who I’m also still friendly with, sometimes moonlights here.
The location is on a busy stretch of Pico just west of the 405, close to Sawtelle.
The brun...
July 26, 2019
Eating Israel – Aroma Cafe
Restaurant: Aroma Cafe
Location: all over Israel
Date: June 29, 2019
Cuisine: Israeli
Rating: Not impressed
_Aroma Cafe is a chain that’s all over Israel. As far as I can tell, it’s not in any way related to the LA Aroma Sunset Bar & Grills (which is vaguely Israeli).
The Israeli chain itself is kinda like Au Bon Pain Israeli style, salads and sandwiches. They are everywhere (in Israel).
The menu.
An iced coffee.
Chocolate croissant.
To get simple pasta we had to order a more complex pa...
July 24, 2019
Eating Jerusalem – Hamotzi
Restaurant: Hamotzi
Location: Rehov Yaffo 113, Jerusalem 9434227, Israel. +972 2-631-0050
Date: June 27, 2019
Cuisine: North African Israeli
Rating: spicy!
_Tonight’s spot is Israeli with North African influences and located right next to:
The Mahane Yehuda market.
The street itself is closed to vehicle traffic (at least at night).
The inside is fairly cute and two floors.
The menu. The food is kosher meat, and a touch spicy too from it’s “south of the med” influences.
A glass of kosher...
July 22, 2019
Bistro Na Birthday
Restaurant: Bistro Na’s [1, 2]
Location: 9055 E Las Tunas Dr #105, Temple City, CA 91780. (626) 286-1999
Date: June 15, 2019
Cuisine: Chinese
Rating: Upscale Chinese, solid kitchen
_Chinese Restaurants in the SGV are slowly going more upscale in a way that’s different than the Cantonese palaces of Monterey Park of yesterday. In any case, I wanted an interesting place for my now 3rd annual SGV birthday dinner and so I’d thought I’d return (for a third time) to Na’s.
And one of the latest is B...
July 19, 2019
Eating Jerusalem – Dolphin Yam
Restaurant: Dolphin Yam
Location: 9 Shimon Ben Shetach str., Jerusalem 9362909, Israel. +972 2-623-2272
Date: June 26, 2019
Cuisine: Israeli
Rating: Israeli Banchan!
_Our second night brings us to:
Dolphin Yam, or Sea Dolphin.
It’s street side on a popular pedestrian street, and not kosher per-se, although like most Israel restaurants no pork etc.
The menu.
We ordered this passable Sauv Blanc. While fine, I noticed during my trip that Israeli wines are usually 2-3X the price of European...
July 17, 2019
Eating Jerusalem – Inbal Breakfast
Restaurant: The Inbal Jerusalem
Location: Jabotinsky Street 3 Jerusalem 92145. 02-675-6666
Date: June 26 – July 1, 2019
Cuisine: Israeli Breakfast
Rating: solid buffet, although one could ask, “where’s the bacon?”
_During the Jerusalem section of our trip we stayed in the Inbal, which was a lovely and newish medium sized hotel just outside of the old city.
The Temple Mount, Western Wall, and the Dome of the Rock — where the binding of Isaac is said to have occurred! Well, and several thousa...
