Habima Neighborhood Café | Round three

So I took a day off; always a good idea.

I made (begged) my girlfriend come with me to a David Claerbout exhibition, and in return she made me go to Habima Neighborhood Café which is nearby - can't say I complained much as I wanted to explore it further.

This tiny place is a one story structure, four walls with several windows and one display wall with lots and lots of sandwiches.

Sliced hard-boiled egg, asparagus and arugula; herring, sour cream and green onions, egg salad, truffles and spinach, grilled cheese with tomatoes and butter, grilled cheese with artichoke, grilled emmental cheese with ham, butter and tomato slices; several cold cut variations and a wonderful combo of spicy turkey and cheese with sun dried tomato paste along with fresh pesto.
Also, don't forget the jambon sandwich I covered earlier.

The missus ordered  the hot turkey and cheese (with pesto and sun-dried tomato paste). It was pretty good, I know cos I helped her finish it. The tomato paste was rich and very sweet, the pesto was very fresh and did not lose its flavors after the heating of the sandwich. The stringy cheese and the moist turkey were a great combo.

My grilled cheese with ham and and butter (and a few tomato slices) wasn't that bad either, but it lacked some depth.

The side of olives wasn't much help as I hate most olives (too bitter) and these weren't exceptional.
The fact they use string and paper to prevent the sandwich from falling apart and later to protect it while grilling it was a nice touch to both preparation and decoration.

All and all it was really a great experience; such mad variety of sandwiches is always appreciated and I was told that they're experimenting with more new sandwiches, depending on the ingredients, mood and day of the week. Such an approach can't be bad.

Also great: hot pretzels.
We took several to go - we had a long day ahead of us (we actually took several bites when they were still warm - delicious!).

Beef & Turkey Pastrami Sandwich

I've dedicated two whole posts to Ruben's sandwiches, not to mention at least a handful of random images.

They make great sandwiches, simple yet delicious, juicy, tender, with the option to enlarge the sandwich into monstrosity with is always great.

This post is a bit special, keep that in mind.

If you're not a regular reader (or a follower on Instagram) you might not be aware that I'm trying to go low on meat consumption, maintaining mostly a vegetarian and vegan diet.

This is hard to gather from the meat stacked sandwiches, but there are other meals, some less photogenic, still delicious though.

As promised - this post is different.

I want to tell you mostly about the guilt that comes along with this change in nutrition.

Once you realize how horrible the meat industry is - it's hard to turn back to the ways of old. Sort of like waking up from the matrix.

Meat doesn't look as good once you flip that switch in your head. It looks more like dead animals.

This is why every relapse to meat needs to be worth it.

You can't just eat meat products if they're not amazing, I can't that is. If I go our and eat something dead - I need its death to have a meaning. You can't just kill a cow and a turkey for a mediocre sandwich, it makes no sense.

If you eat meat once a week or twice a month, that meat needs to be meaningful, flavorful and it seriously needs to be good enough to justify its consumption.

Now, you all now that not every meal is a party in your mouth, not every steak gives you a foodgasm and not every sandwich features the pastrami of a lifetime.

This makes things even harder.

The sandwich in the photo above was okay. I can't say it was mediocre but I also can't say that I didn't feel bad for wasting my "meat ticket" on it.

It disappointing me in a whole new way. A way that is rather new to me and as such stings even more.

This sandwich was the the unjustified death of two animals. I don't need that on my conscience.

If I'm going to eat meat every now and then - I need it to be great. I need it to be so good that I won't mind all the horrible stuff that comes with the territory of meat eating.

I wish I had some magical conclusion I could share, a notion about vegetarianism or veganism, it's just a different way of thinking, even for a borderline enthusiast such as myself.

Consciousness is unpleasant, that's what you can walk away with, that and a picture of a beef and turkey sandwich, with mustard, horseradish sauce, tomato and lettuce.

Don't be fooled by this post; it's not that easy to turn a life around, the next post is going to be about a corned beef sandwich, an amazing one, luckily.

The Search for Tel-Aviv's Perfect Sandwich: Ruben

Ruben is a place that you can easily get addicted to its produce. They have several branches yet they're able to keep the original ma & pa look and feel, kind service and most importantly - incredible sandwiches.
Ruben, which sounds like Reuben and kinda looks like it too - is not your classic Reuben.

The pictures below were taken in the Carlebach \Yehuda Halevi branch, it's the closest one to where I live and I ate quite a few sandwiches there. You can smell the cured meats outside the store, and when you walk in the serving counter is right in front of you, there are bar stools to sit on and look out the huge windows. There's a second floor, with more stools and windows, and even a balcony.

Juicy, moist, thinly sliced corned beef, sauces, gherkins, a frosty Dr. Pepper

The menu is quite simple. Three sandwich sizes, two types of sliced bread, there's beef, there's turkey, sauces and vegetables, just name your ingredients and it's made in front of you while you drool. You might even get a few slices of meat to snack while you wait. Each sandwich gets a side of two delicious, crispy gherkins.

The fridge is packed with all the usual drinks, plus Dr. Pepper and several types of Dr. Brown's. There are also  two taps of beer (and pitchers if you're that thirsty).

Now for the sauces: there's a superb horseradish sauce, mustard, mustard cut with date syrup, herb aioli, and a hot sauce. The vegetables are pretty basic: tomatoes, lettuce, onions and pickled cabbage with onions.

A perfect corned beef sandwich

The sandwiches are of the kind that makes you come back again and again. Tender, smoked, moist meats, fresh and delicious everything, it's a foodies wet dream. The prices are reasonable and there's always good music playing in the background.

The only bad thing I can think of would be the opening hours, this place should operate 24/7.

If you're a fan of sandwiches - Ruben is a place that you must visit.

Food porn: pizza and meats

I gladly present four dishes I'd love to eat each and every day + one I don't ever want to see again.

Enjoy!

A new place called Kababa - a word play on kabab (kebab an Arab word for skewed meat) and baba (father) is now serving chicken shawarma alongside veal doner and a variety of skewers. All of the above might sound very old-school and hardcore but the place is operated like a McDonald's, with trays, brand paper cups and lots of employees to take your order and put it into a touch screen computer. Also: the meat is cut by a robot!

8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8

Thin crust pizza with pineapple, corn and eggplants. It was awesome when it was hot but half an hour later it became tasteless. Seriously, it went from being a great pizza into cardboard just like that.

8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8

This never came near my mouth but I just had to take a photo. I'm not a fan of meatballs or minced stuff in general. It sure smelled good but still - I feel bad just looking at it.

8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8

A slice from a nearby Sbarro with a side of grape drink. This is a personal favorite that goes back to childhood. This specific branch was closed several weeks after I took the photo :(

8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8

These gherkins alone are amazing but that whole meal is just mind-blowing. Turkey pastrami, corned beef, mustard cut with date syrup, it was like a miracle in my mouth. All that and an ice cold can of Dr Pepper.