Zahav
237 St. James Place
Philadelphia, PA
19106
I had been dying to go to Zahav for sometime before finally
going with my girlfriend this fall. The owner, Michael Solomonov, has some
really fantastic dining destinations in the city. Zahav is the crown jewel of
his empire, an Israeli small plates restaurant unlike anything I have ever
experienced before.
I had a gift card, so I knew that we could get a really
great meal and not have to worry about spending too much money. They offered a
really great tasting menu option called the Tayim tasting. It offered up some
salatim(salads) and hummus with laffa bread, two choices each from the mezze(appetizer)
section, one from the Al Ha'esh(grilling) section and one from the dessert
section. Our choices were the hummus-foul, crispy haloumi, baked kibbe,
sweetbread schnitzel, crispy grape leaves, duck kebab, kofte, konafi, and
rugelach.
While we waited for the salatim and hummus to come out, we
got the drinks that we had ordered; the lemonnana, a drink with Jim Beam,
muddled mint, fresh lemon, and verbena as well as the marble rye, a drink with
pumpernickel and caraway infused beam rye and celery soda. The lemonnana was
pretty delicious. It was light and refreshing, and it contained the right
amount of alcohol as opposed to the marble rye I ordered. It had definitely
been over poured, because it tasted like I was sipping straight whiskey. I
didn’t get any taste of the pumpernickel or caraway or the celery soda for that
matter. It was the only flaw in an otherwise perfect meal.
Up first was the bounty of salads provided by the salatim
including salads made from beets, carrots, eggplant, cucumber and tomato, and
green beans. All were very tasty. They all had nice, clean flavors, and were a
really great way to start our meal. The dish of pickled veggies that they
brought to the table was refreshing as well. They filled it back up as soon as
it was empty, and it was empty fast. I am now obsessed with pickled veggies.
The hummus-foul was one of the four options of hummus to
choose from. This one contained fava beans. It was very delicious, right up
there with the best hummus I have ever had, and I had some good hummus when I
visited Bahrain. The laffa bread was a really different bread option; I have
never had such bread served with hummus in the past. It was unleavened bread
like a pita, but it was even thinner and brushed with garlic, oil, and spices.
It was really perfect to dip into the hummus.
Our appetizers or “mezze” came out next. I was completely
and utterly blown away by the haloumi cheese when it came to the table. Haloumi
cheese cooked on a grill or open flame is unlike anything you can get in most
other restaurants. It is thick and has unbelievable texture to it. It’s warm
and salty, and slightly crispy on the outside. It was amazing and it took me
right back to my visit to Bahrain, although dare I say that this haloumi was
better.
The next appetizer that came out was called baked kibbe. It
was bulgar wheat crusted on the outside, ground lamb with manouri cheese inside
and topped with pea shoots and julienned carrots. It was a very interesting
dish to me. I had never really had any of the ingredients before, but it was
very tasty. The wheat was very crunchy on the outside, and it revealed a creamy
cheese center when broken into. The grain, meat and the cheese melded together
nicely.
We had ordered stuffed grape leaves as another appetizer,
and they came stuffed with chicken liver mousse, rice, tomato and corn. My
girlfriend didn’t enjoy them very much, but she has her chicken issues. I
thought they tasted pretty good. The rice was a bit crunchier than I would have
liked, but other than that it was great.
Our last mezze course was the sweetbread schnitzel. They
were delightfully crispy, but remained very creamy and soft on the inside. I
have to say that I never in my life would have dreamed I’d be eating
sweetbreads, and now after having had them for the second time, I am definitely
a fan. Who ever thought I would be eating animal organs and enjoying them? I
know I never did.
The part of the meal that I was looking forward to most was
our main course; the duck kebab and the kofte. The duck kebab was phenomenal.
The duck was incredibly tender, and was brought to another level with the
additions of saffron and pistachios. I could have eaten plate after plate of
these delicious little morsels. Not to be outdone, the kofte disappeared just
as quickly as the duck kebabs had. The ground lamb and beef mixture was an
incredible consistency, and the cumin just pounded home that authentic Israeli flavor.
Lamb and cumin go together like spaghetti and meatballs. MMM!
Dessert was another adventure on this Israeli culinary
journey. The rugelach was the standout of the two for me. They were tiny little
cookies made of hazelnuts, and filled with date puree. To me it tasted like a
cookie version of Baklava. They were absolutely delectable. The konafi was shredded
phyllo dough with peaches inside and spices outside, and topped with a delicious
scoop of lebnah ice cream. The tang of the ice cream was amazing since it was
made from Greek yogurt. It was so tangy it tasted as it was made of citrus! The
crunchy phyllo dough mixed with the sweetness of the peaches was a really nice
way to end the meal.
Four and a half pints for Zahav. If it wasn’t for the poorly
executed drink and the crunchy rice in the grape leaves, this would have been a
five pinter. It is not very often that I am wowed by a restaurant experience in
the way that I was at Zahav. From start to finish, both the food and service
was outstanding. It completely lived up to the hype for me, and it has vaulted
itself into my top 10 for meals in my lifetime. A tip of the cap to you,
Michael Solomonov. You are doing amazing things in the culinary world here in
Philadelphia, and I hope that one day I will have the pleasure of meeting you.
Get out there and try Zahav as soon as you can because it is amazing! Cheers!
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