Grilled Cheese Sandwich @ QuickCafé Tel-Aviv

While going out for a much needed work brunch yesterday, a friend suggested we try the food at a nearby QuickCafé branch.

Surprised by the fact they offer actual food (a variety of noodles, rice based dishes, poultry, pasta and fish) and not just the sandwiches and pastry displayed on the counter, I decided a grilled cheese sandwich with tomatoes would suffice, especially since there was an additional salad.

Grilled cheese sandwich, and a freshly chopped cucumber, tomato, cabbage and carrot salad

The food was delicious, and there was an additional mini-dipping-bowl of mustard based vinaigrette that suited both the salad and the sandwich. I also asked for some tahini and they brought it in a shot glass which I found kinda funny.

The priced seemed a bit high at first, but when I got the plate I realized that it wasn't your ordinary panini.

All and all - a positive experience.

Bottom line:
Location: clean, well lit, nicely designed, but quite loud - being on a main road intersection.

Staff: courteous and helpful.

Verdict: will gladly return.

Read this post in Hebrew

10 Sheqel Falafel | HaMasger 73, Tel Aviv

Before I start, allow me to do the math for you:

10nis (New Israeli Sheqel) are the equivalent of 2.77 US Dollars.

Mind you, $2.77 is a great price for any kind of food, especially for a falafel sandwich.

The price range in Israel shifts between 15 and 20nis, with the exception of a handful of places that are trying to brake the market with 6-10nis falafels.

That said, it doesn't matter what you pay if the falafel sucks.

This falafel didn't suck.

We came in at about 15:00; at such a point of the day a good falafel has either ran out of most things fresh, or currently having everything prepared for the second or even third time that day.

And indeed, some of the food ran out already, some of the salads too; and they were prepearing new salads and falafel as we came in, upon order.

The pita was fresh and warm, quite an achievement for three in the afternoon.

I was told that they buy from nearby bakery, so they have fresh inventory at all times.

My falafel was great, crispy and flavorful.

With fresh and pickled cabbage, tomato \ cucumber \ pepper salad, tahini and amba - it was wonderful.

The amba was a reall bouns, when it's good - it's great; Amba is a mango based condiment  it's sweet, sour, tangy, a bit spicy, not unlike chutney, but introduced to Israel by Iraqi Jews.

It's mostly found in falafel \ shawarma places.

Bottom line: I will gladly eat there again (also - very friendly service).

Food Porn: The Little Things

Can't quite recall why was it that I stopped doing compilation posts, but here's a comeback!

A digest of various meals, dishes and stories.

Descriptions below each image, just like I used to do.

Hope you like it, drop a line if you do, drop a line even if you don't, I've been getting mostly spam comments for several weeks now, it's quite disappointing to find bot generated nonsense each time I expect something real, don't people have opinions anymore?

Come on, ask me something, it's getting lonely here!

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people from Kurdistan and with Kurd genes can't eat green fava beans cos they lack the G6PD enzyme so they can die

Just some of my home cooking.

Fresh green fava beans, cooked in crushed tomatoes, with cumin, paprika, garlic, black pepper, date syrup and mustard seeds.

The rice has some garam masala in it, and sumac too. And also some mustard seeds, I was adding them to everything that evening. It was delicious.

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mushroom pizza with sriracha

I had several horrible experiences with Pizza Seret and was glad to see they returned to their marvelous norm. All it took was a bite from this slice with mushrooms and a bit of sriracha, I was in pizza heaven again.

It's bad when good places turn wrong, but it's great when they relapse.

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pizza flavored bourekas with a hard-boiled egg, crushed tomatoes, pickles, tahini and a hot chilli pepper paste

Pizza bourekas with the works. I had the exact same post a while ago, but it wasn't the same bourekas.

This was after an early Halloween party this Friday, it was also a housewarming party for a couple of friends.

We walked the streets, slightly drunk, looking craving for a pizza. Mama's Bourekas was the only thing open in the immediate area. It was pretty good. 

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soft smelly cheese

Lately I've started purchasing funky cheeses. I mean moldy, smelly, pungent, soft, covered in weird colors, the kinds that make your fridge and pee smell weird.

They're delicious.

Here's me enjoying them on a walnut rye. Good times.

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eggplant and tahini ciabatta

Ciabatta, with a big chunk of eggplant baked into its top, and lovely thick tahini hiding beneath the layer of eggplant. A touch of coriander was the garnish added to it by the baker, I added some coarse salt when I got home and ate it like a madman, not stopping for a second, completely disregarding my surroundings.

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pickled cabbage

Hummus Asaf which is my favorite hummus got their pickled cabbage recipe back. Their last few batches were unlike the amazing sweet and savory cabbage strings I used to devour, but like I said, they recreated the original recipe after a few mediocre months.

It's worth a visit even if you hate hummus, just order anything, you'll get the cabbage anyhow.

Forget that, just walk in and ask for a tiny bowl to go, they're good people.

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chicken selects, McDonalds

A two image feature.

Lunch at McDonald's, indeed one of the simple joys. I don't eat burgers, prefer to avoid ground meat and generally dislike what McDonald's represent and do, but every once in a long while I eat a chicken meal.

The ultimate junk food, but still, I'm lovin' it (and feeling guilty about it).

McDonalds: fries, ketchup, BBQ sauce, sweet n sour sauce

And that's it for now.
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Also, if and when you do, please add an animal that starts with a C, just for fun.