Zahav- Modern Israeli Cuisine

Getting fancy at Zahav (237 St. James Pl, Philadelphia, PA 19106). Zahav is an Israeli restaurant in Philadelphia. When we visited Zahav, we did the taste of Zahav. With that you get a salatim (daily selection of salads) and hummus with laffa to share. The each person gets to choose 2 mezzes (appetizers), 1 al ha'esh (entree), and 1 dessert.  May I say this was actually quite alot of food. Below are some of the foods we got. The menu changes seasonally/ periodically so some of the things I ate might not be on the menu anymore. 

Salatim

For the salatim, it was interesting. It came in 6 small bowls. I was expecting more of a big bowl with lettuce and other mixed greens. However, the Israeli salad was more of pickled vegetables than fresh/raw veggies. Above is a picture of some of each salad placed neatly on my plate. From right to left, there was eggplant, string beans, red pepper with onions, carrots, cabbage, and beets. The eggplant was tendered and tasty. It tasted like eggplant spreads they are offered as appetizers at Mediterranean restaurants. The string beans and the carrots had a similar pickled favor and had some kind of red oil on it. They were tangy sour. The red pepper with onions has a nice sweetness to it. The cabbage was sour tangy, too. The beets which were actually my favorite were tangy and creamy. Not sure, if it was because I am not used to these tastes, but I could not eat too much of any of the salads.

Hummus with Laffa

The hummus with laffa was very fresh. How the hummus was plated gave an illusion that there was more than there actually was. They basically creativity swirl some of the hummus around a flat plate and pour some oil over it. The hummus was very creamy and delicious. The oil on top really complement it. The laffa was warm, soft, and chewy. There were dried herbs sprinkled in the laffa which definitely added favor to it.

Roasted Carrot

The Roasted Carrots were caramelized and sweet. It came with this lemony yogurt sauce and crushed pistachio. I actually prefer the carrots by itself. I didn't think the yogurt sauce or crush pistachio go well with the carrots. I thought the carrots were very good on its own.

Zucchini

The zucchini was breaded and fried. It came with spicy marinara sauce and shaved goat cheese. It was quite tasty. I think everything in the place went well with each other. We actually finished this dish quite fast but then again there was only four pieces. 

House Smoked Sable

For the House Smoked Sable, there were shredded sable topped on a toasted challah. Inside the challah was a runny fried egg. When the waitress delivered the dish, she cutted the challah in half and the egg yolk came running out. The toasted challah was somewhat crispy and greasy. The challah as well as the egg yolk complemented the well seasoned sable. I would definitely recommend this dish if you like fish.

Eggplants

The Grilled Eggplants came with capers sauce on the bottom as well as some kind of green sauce on top. I am actually not a fan of capers and thought the eggplants were way to salty for me. Also, I didn't think the green sauce, which might have been pureed cilantro or parsley, add value to the dish. However, the texture of the eggplant was nice and tender, but because of the salty capers I really couldn't finish the eggplants. I wish it was seasoned some other way. I would have actually been happy if it was just lightly salted and grilled. 

Pineapple Sorbet

The pineapple sorbet was refreshing and light. It reminded me of breakfast. The pineapple sorbet was rich in pineapple flavor. It tasted somewhat like a creamy pureed pineapple. It came with yogurt, blueberries, and toasted shredded coconut. Everything well together. I can definitely see myself eating something like this for breakfast.

Coffee Custard

I got to taste my friend's coffee custard. It tasted like a coffee mousse. The coffee tasted really strong which I liked. Also, the blueberries sauce tasted went surprisingly well with the coffee custard. I actually prefer this even more than my already delicious pineapple sorbet. I would gave this dessert an A+. 

Overall, I really like the customer service and ambiance of the place; however, I thought there food was okay.  Some things I thought were spectacular, but then there were some that I thought was okay or just not for me. 

Tattooed Mom- $3 Veggie Burger Wednesday

My friend has wanted to try Tattooed Mom (530 South Street) for a while. Finally, a Happy Hour get together was set up for one Wednesday. From the yelp pictures, I thought this would be a grungy looking place with graffiti all over the place. But it was not grungy at all. The walls were painted bright green. It was actually kind of cozy and had a nice ambience to it. I think the couch that was toward the wall in the middle of the room contributed to the nice somewhat relaxing atmosphere. On Wednesdays, the happy hour special are $3 hamburgers or veggie burgers and half off all drafts. For the special, they handed each of us to a paper to check off what burger we want, with what topping, and also if we wanted a side of tater tots or waffle fries.

Veggie Burger

I got the veggie burger with mayo, lettuce, raw onion, pickles, and tomato and tater tots. The veggie burger had two patties and was a pretty decent side, which I was not expecting at all. The burger was just a regular veggie bean burger but tasted good and was definitely worth the $3. The burger had a good texture.  I was hungry and ate the delicious burger very quickly. Tater tots are typical sides you can find in many places but the crispiness of Tattooed Mom made it awesome. I enjoy my dinner very much. On the table, there was a paper advertising their Meatless Monday...half off veggie menu. You know I will be back for this alone. 

Tater Tots

Best Vegan Pizza Ever!- Blackbird Pizzeria

Based on the yelp reviews and the one dollar money sign, my friend suggested we go eat at Blackbird Pizzeria since we were around the area. Food-wise, I think it was one of the best decisions we ever made. It was also crowded, which was good because that meant it must be good. I would estimate about 20 to 30 seating. It was also crowded, which was good because that meant it must be good. It was actually so crowded that we had to ask a couple if we could share their table. So basically at this place, you order and pay at the front. You give them your name and then someone brings it out the food to you when it is done. Also, there is a pitcher of ice water near the register and you self serve yourself water.  Half of us got in line and the other half of us got seated. While we were in line we didn’t know what to get so we referred to the menu written on the chalk board behind the counter and also looked behind the glass counter to see the kind of pizza they had. We were going to order a whole pizza for the table. I wanted to make sure we didn’t get anything with meat on it. Then, the girl in front of us, who overheard us, informed us this establishment is vegan. Score! That means I should be able to eat everything on the menu. It seems kind of silly that we didn’t know it was a vegan place before coming here but you know sometimes that's how we roll. Sometimes we just only look at the stars and $ sign on yelp. Fortunately, yelp has not disappointed me yet.

Also we as we got closer to the register there was a menu. We decided to get the veggie supreme pizza and cheese fries. So apparently, they use daiya cheese for their cheese. I had no clue what that was so I researched it. It is basically vegan cheese that is no made with any soy, gluten, or  diary which can irritate people who have food allergy.  See below of my review.

Vegan Cheese Fries

The cheese fries were fresh. It wasn’t crispy but it was thick and tasty. The daiya cheese tasted awesome. It reminded me of whiz cheese which I like. I got to say I thought the cheese tasted better than real cheese. I also think this is the best cheese fries ever. A plus was that the cheese didn't taste heavy. 

Vegan Viggie Supreme Pizza

The pizza took awhile to come out because they had to make it. On the pizza, was fresh tomato sauce, daiya, and a number of vegetable- pickled artichoke, fresh green peper, onions, olive, and mushrooms. The pizza was very fresh and I think they make their own crust. The crust was thin and somewhat crispy yet some what chewy at the same time. The tomato sauce tasted fresh and had that mildy sour tomato taste. I thought the sour taste of the tomato and the sweetness of the fresh vegetable topping really went well together. I can say I devoured two slice very fast and was constantly praising how good the pizza was. It was one great delicious pizza. I am definitely going to come back for more. I feel like I am going to have dreams and cravings for this pizza and cheese fries. That was how good they were. My non vegetarian friends also enjoy the pizza and fries very much.