Philadelphia has something called Restaurant week I'm pretty sure three times a year. It runs for two weeks at a time (not including Saturday nights) One in September, one in January/February, and then I've heard there is one in the summer. It is where restaurants all over the city provide a 4 course meal for $35. It's a pretty rad deal. This was the first time I participated in Restaurant week. It's the first time I'd really heard of it. My good friend, Dustin, convinced me to come down to Philly and enjoy restaurant week with him. I told him that he can choose the restaurant because He has lived in Philly for 6 years. He chose a restaurant called Zahav. He told me it was middle eastern.
We got all fancied up and went to Zahav. 237 Saint James Place, part of old city. We walked up the cobblestone roads up the stairs and were seated right away. The menu stated that it was not middle eastern that Dustin told me, but it is Modern Israeli. How wonderfully specific.
Our waiter, Renshaw, was pretty awesome. He was incredibly knowledgeable on not only the menu but the wine list. Dustin a few months ago had come to this restaurant and had a wine that he fell in love with. It wasn't on the menu and when we asked Renshaw about it (just in case) he looked through the wine list describing all the wines realizing that none were like the wine Dustin had wanted. However, he knew about all of the wines.
We had to choose 2 appetizers, one main and one dessert for our meals and it all had to be ordered at once. While we were deciding, they brought out Hummus with Laffa and Salatim (a selection of 8 different spreads/salads including pickled beetroot, cucumber, carrots, kale and other things). Let me tell you. I would have been happy with just that as my meal. the Laffa bread was straight out of the oven, soft warm and fluffy. The hummus was incredibly balanced and creamy with olive oil to mix with. All of the salads were wildly delicious and their flavors were bold and fresh.
After devouring one and a half of the Laffa breads and eating almost all of the salads, the first appetizer came out. My favorite thing about enjoying a restaurant with another foodie is that they want to share dishes. Although I only got 2 appetizers, Dustin got two so I tried 4 dishes. The first to come out was the Fried Sweetbreads with chickpeas, green chiles, and garlic. I would have to say this, while good, was probably my least favorite. I know it said fried, but I didn't realize that meant deep fried. So it came breaded and fried. I didn't like it because it was very small portions and I didn't really get any taste of the sweetbreads, or any of it. I tried two and seriously didn't get any of the sweetbreads texture or flavor. Here it is.
Next to come out, oh man. Most people in the USA have never even heard of Haloumi cheese. With that being said, even this blogger site is showing a red squiggly line underneath it saying I've misspelled it. Nope. Haloumi. I once found about 400g of Haloumi in the Giant grocery store for $10. One day, I'll be craving it badly enough to purchase it. The French introduced us to it in Australia and I'm in love with it. It is cheese that is so firm that you fry it on the stove to get most of the flavor. I was like a kid in a candy store when I saw it on the menu and then when it came out on the plate. Crispy Haloumi with walnuts, date spread, apples, and squash. My heart literally lept for joy when taking the first bite of Haloumi. (Sometimes I'm sure I was a chef in a previous life). Here is my amazing dazzling dish. I am in love (but not like the weird lady who is married to the Eiffel Tower.)
Part of the reason I love fancy restaurants is because they serve things that you don't find on normal menus. With that being said, most of my dishes are pretty wild. I didn't choose the potato latkes or the fried cauliflower, but instead the first I'd like to discuss is the Kibbe Naya. Raw lamb, bulgur, and lentils. The idea of raw lamb is strange. How would it come out? as a small steak is what I assumed. It actually came out as little ball sorts of ground lamb. Legitimately raw. However, the flavors blended together so well and the texture wasn't was strange as I thought it would be. The raw lamb tasted like cooked lamb and was still just as soft.
Next was the Grilled Duck hearts with a carrot-turnip salad and onion puree. I've always been a fan of heart. When I was a small child and my grandma would make thanksgiving she would always eat the turkey heart and I imagine I was the only brave one to try it so I always got half of the turkey heart. It is just like the rest of the meat but a little fattier and usually a little smoother. Duck heart is no different. It was grilled to perfection keeping all of its natural flavors and also was incredibly moist. For the photo, the back is the Kibbe Naya and the front is the duck hearts.
Unfortunately, the next dish isn't on the menu anymore. Even though it was only last Sunday that I went, they've taken it off so I will only have memory to tell you what it is. The dish that I chose was Lamb Tongue. It had the wild texture of what you could imagine a tongue to taste like. While the tongue is the strongest muscle in the body, it is the softest when it's not alive. Just such a strange texture. But the way Zahav made the dish it was wildly delicious. I can't even explain how every dish was just something beautiful and delicious. Here we go.
Next was the Crispy Branzino. Black eye peas, celery root, apples, and dill. The fish in this meal is from Northern Italy and also called European bass. The fish skin was crispy and grilled perfectly to enhance the flavor of the fish. I was so full at this point that while I enjoyed it, I wish I could have eaten more. Nom nom nom.
For dessert, we ordered two things. Unfortunately, by the time the dessert came the chocolate sorbet in one of the dishes we ordered was not set and he told us it would be about 30 minutes. Being past 11pm anyway, we decided to just order another dessert. I made a small 'joke' that he should just bring us the rest of the desserts he had (just one left that we hadn't ordered or tried to order) and then ordered the last dessert. He, in turn, brought us all 3 desserts instead of our two. SCOREEEEEEE.
The milk chocolate baklava with peanuts, hazelnuts, and pumpkin ice cream was so tasty. I loved the filo dough with the firmness of the milk chocolate. The sorbet was really full bodied and delicious.
Next is the dessert that we didn't order but Renshaw brought out anyway. Hazelnut-date Rugelach, (a pastry) with turkish coffee ice cream. The pastry was firm on the outside and very soft on the inside. The date was so subtle but just enough to really pull the pasty together. The ice cream tasted exactly like turkish coffee. No holding back. It wasn't sweet at all like ice cream, it was actually bitter. I loved the fact that even though it was home made ice cream it didn't lose the turkish coffee flavor.
Last but actually the best of the desserts. It's not on the menu but it is chocolate deliciousness wrapped in shredded filo dough with a mango ice cream on top. The chocolate was a super extra dark chocolate but somehow made to be incredibly soft and smooth. My mouth had fireworks.
I am in love with this restaurant and I recommend that it goes on every person's bucket list. Thank you again, Dustin, for sharing this amazing and beautiful experience with me.
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