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

My girlfriend made me a sandwich.

Long story short:

I was dying on the living room sofa one evening,  all of a sudden the missus offers me a sandwich.

As if I'm going to say no to that!!!

Off to the kitchen she went, and this is what she came back with:

A huge chunk of sweet challah (one side was slightly pan seared for a nice crisp), juicy corned beef, soft-ripened goat cheese, lettuce, roquette, arugula, beet leafs, cucumber and sriracha.

Visible in the background: one jealous dog.

Bottom line: she really should cook more often.

Vegan Adventrures: Seitan Schnitzel Sandwich

Experimenting with new foods and with my own perceptions can often be fun.

I'm not quite the adventurous type - but I have my moments.

If you add that desire for new flavors to the fact that meat started to gross me out (not all the time, but I lack the desire that I used to have for it, in general) you'll see that it's a good time for a new type of sandwich.

So, long story short: this happened:

Whole wheat bun, vegan cream cheese spread, lettuce, tomato, mustard, seitan patty - crumbed and deep-fried.

It wasn't bad, it was good even.

Since the menu read "cheese" I was expecting a sheet of cheese substitute, but it actually was cream cheese or somewhat like a more liquid cottage cheese.

The seitan is unlike your ordinary chicken schnitzel. I guess that when you add the right spices and throw in that breadcrumb batter - most things will (and do) taste good.

To me that was in some way superior to actual chicken: there are no bones, no cartilage, no blood, fat or red dots, no dark meat and so on.

There are no dead animals being eaten thus less suffering, pollution, all that jazz. Your typical reasons for veganism. 

I'm not preaching, not as long as I'm eating corned beef sandwiches and writing blog posts about it - but it's a good alternative and a good option in general, and for the equivalent of about $7US.

Not bad.

The place is called Buddha Burgers, you might want to give them a shot.

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!).

Tel-Aviv's Sandwich Bonanza | Habima Neighborhood Café

Sometimes you just feel like you've hit the jackpot.

Continuing my coverage of Habima Neighborhood Café, I tried one of their grilled cheese sandwiches.

This variation is quite simple, but extremely delicious.

Just look at it!

Two huge slices of white bread, fresh pesto with whole pine-nuts thrown in the mix,  cheese and thinly sliced tomato halves. Simplistic yet amazingly interesting to taste.

Since it's really is huge, one can order only half, for what at that point seemed like a reasonable price but now I can't recall. 

The only negative note from this visit was that they were out of carbonated water.

They have many more sandwiches to cover so I will return for them, but for this one as well as it is well worth it.

Habima Neighborhood Café

I'm not a big fan of coffee shops, nor am I a fan of hipster infested places, venues packed with people aching  to be seen or just trendy spots.

Eating is something I rather do without people staring at me and talking loudly around me.

I also dislike long queues. 

All of the above are a great reason to avoid Habima Neighborhood Café, but they have so much amazing sandwiches that I just couldn't.

The sandwiches change on a daily basis, but follow a similar line. There are "bite" sizes (cheap and still big enough), grilled cheese sandwiches with meats and vegetables, all sorts of cheeses and cuts, salads and other interesting twists.

The ingredients vary depending on availability and creativity of the staff.

I'll try to cover as much sandwiches as possible, but until then, here's a starter:

.Jambon, cheese, mustard, mayo and arugula

I took my chance with this one since I'm not a big fan of mayo, it was really worth it.

The sandwich was on the cold side (Cafe Habima have three temperature levels: fresh, cold and grilled), but still, the flavors were amazing and the temperature was just right.

The cheese was of a Swiss variety (they usually indicate what cheese is used but not this time), and the jambon was crispy and flavorful. Fresh leaves and just enough spreads to keep the sandwich moist but to not wet the sweet bun. A great experience.

A moment of honesty: I took the sandwich and ate it on a very remote bench.

Amazing sandwiches are still not a good enough reason for me to suffer while eating.

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More to follow soon.

Lunch, same as yesterday: Caponata Tortellone

Today's lunch was tortellone pasta with stuffed with  various cheeses and porcini mushrooms  with caponata sauce (containing tiny bits of eggplant),  along with basil and feta cheese chunks.

It was pretty much the same lunch as I had yesterday, (i.e. same dish, at the same location - Laboratorio Di Pasta) but I'm still gonna talk some more about that one, the previous, just below the following image.

TODAY

Yesterday's pasta got to our table faster, and was hotter, burn your mouth kind of hot.

On the other hand one of the people I sat with got her pasta 10 minutes after us all, and it seemed to be a smaller amount than everyone else. She insisted that I point that out.

Happy?

YESTERDAY

Anyhow, today I was the one to get my food last.

It was just as delicious as yesterday, but I had to eat it real quick cos I had an appointment with a doctor who was about to tell me my tests showed I have a high sugar count in my blood and that it's time to visit a nutrition expert.

Also: low on vitamin D.

That would be all for now.

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.
Don't forget to write!
Also, if and when you do, please add an animal that starts with a C, just for fun.

Food Porn: Fries, Bacon, Cheese

So simple yet so delicious, three magical ingredients that make everything awesome - combined into one superb dish, served in a bowl. All you need is a fork and some room in your belly.

Pornolicious.

Fries, cheese, bacon

So yeah, I guess you're scratching your head now if you're aware that this blog reviews Israeli food (or food found in Israel) cos bacon is not that kosher, nor is mixing meats with dairy products, but that's just your being prejudice, Israel offers all sorts of foods, and is also the home of secular people that eat all sorts of shit. There are also other religions here: Muslims - that also obtain similar culinary laws, Christians, Druse, and other minorities such as Atheists, Baha'i and even Scientologists.

This is also a country of many immigrants, from all over the world, so culinary wise we have a wide spectrum of possibilities.

But forget about religion and politics, this is a food blog so let's talk food.

This lovely bowl of awesome belongs to the Mike's Place chain, I ate it at the Ramat Ha'Hayal branch, a  noisy pub that serves a greasy spoon menu, along with pizzas and Mexican staples.

It was rather packed, there was an annoying cover band, the service was shitty but hey - I ate two of these along with three bottles of Savanna dry cider. The cider was painfully overpriced but I already sat down and wasn't about to go elsewhere cos it was really late. I deserved it.

Anyhow, a bowl of fries, with grilled cheese and bits of bacon, it's as good as you think it is.

Consistency is god: 100 Chicos fail to deliver

I wish this was a happy tale, but instead I bring disappointments.

The story is quite simple: I visited 100 Chicos again, ordered the same sandwiches I had last time and was served something something similar, only it wasn't the same product.

Left to right: beef short rib, chicken satay, Moroccan style eggplants, fries

Beef short rib asado: this time the meat wasn't pulled, nor there were there large chunks, and there were no charred and smoked "ends", just thin slices. But that wasn't the deal breaker. In the past the sandwich contained sweet gravy. Several times it was served dry, but that was okay since the meat was fatty and juicy, and there were vegetables to moisten things up - this time mustard was added, a great condiment but it wasn't a good combination.

Chicken satay: the meat was thinly sliced, almost like shawarma, unlike the big bite size nuggets of past.

Morrocan eggplant: the ingredients were all minced together to a coarse paste, where previously there were bits and slices and pieces. To me it was an unpleasant surprise since the texture snuck up on me while I was expecting a chew-able bite, but the flavors were still the same. 

Some might say I'm just like to complain, others might suggest that they're still working on the sandwiches, adjusting the menu - which was what I was told by the owner, but personally I find it very important for foods to stay the same. It prevents unpleasant surprises and customers sending their dishes back (which I didn't). 

The owner is a nice guy so I had the chance to talk to him about this freely, and he wasn't defensive at all, he said that at this point they're still trying new stuff, taking notes and adjusting according to customer's input.

I really appreciated the fact he was so open, and that they truly care for other people's opinions instead of just forcing the creative vision of the person behind the menu.

I left feeling pleased, which I discovered is actually better than just being a hater and walking home angry.

All well that ends well.

Yesterday's lunch and dinner: noodles \ salad

Yesterday was just another day, work, shopping for groceries, a short stroll outside to stretch and get some air but mostly to feed the neighborhood cats. Then a shower and lots of TV. Just another day.

But that ordinary day produced two great photographs and a story to tell.

An annoyed delivery person brought me my noodles.

Wide, whole wheat egg noodles, pork, chicken, smoked bacon, bok choy, broccoli, green string beans, cashew nuts and peanuts, stir fried. Oh, and there were thin slices of fresh red chili peppers too.

I ordered it from Giraffe, hoping their streak of good food will go on forever. This time was a bit worse, some of the port was chewy and she noodles were a bit dry - which might resulted from a very long trip on the delivery scooter.

After shopping for fresh vegetables you kinda have to use them otherwise they're not fresh, so I made a quick salad for dinner, along with vegetarian cocktail wieners, but they're not the main story here.

The salad ingredients were: various sprouted lentils, radish sprouts, mushrooms, thin zucchini slices, chestnuts, soft young goat cheese, aged and ripe goat cheese, balsamic vinegar, cranberry juice concentrate, olive oil, black and white mustard seeds, coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

We ate it with fresh rolls, and it was so amazing that I can't even describe it with words.

That's it.

The Search for Tel-Aviv's Perfect Sandwich: 100 Chicos

100 Chicos is a new conceptual sandwich place that opened a month ago instead of  Mikoni, another concept restaurant. While Mikoni claimed to fuse Brazilian and Japanese cuisines and place every type of dish into a sushi like roll or a plain roll or a bowl - 100 Chicos simply offer one hundred sandwiches.
Now think it over a bit, some places offer one great sandwich, other offer several good or mediocre ones, some places just serve horrible food. A hundred sandwiches are a lot to live up to.

Top to bottom: short rib, chicken satay, roast beef

Located at the corner of Ibn Gabirol and Kaplan makes the place's potential clientele pretty obvious, during the day the area is a hot spot for hundreds of soldiers looking for a lunch, people from nearby offices and stores and the people walking the busy street.
During the night the area is filled with party goers, drunk clubbers and again - people roaming the area.
I've visited the place quite a few times and it's never empty.

Three types of beef and one type of chicken

The menu holds what the name suggests, 100 sandwiches. All served in an almost bite size but (white or whole wheat) with meats (cold cuts, grilled dishes, meat curries, meatballs hot dogs), fish, dairy, egg dishes, vegetables and even dessert sandwiches. It's pretty safe to say there's something for everyone, even vegan options. There are also salads and fries, and all in a reasonable price. One can easily get a complete meal with drinks and side dishes for under 50nis (sandwiches cost between 7-13nis). I don't know how you eat your food, but a 100 Chicos sandwich is about 2-6 bites, the bun being usually around 13 centimeters (about 5.2  inches). 

Beef short rib asado sandwiches

I'm far from trying the whole menu, but my personal favorites so far were the asado short rib sandwich, the chicken satay, eggplant and smoked cheese, roast beef,  salami, spicy eggplants and several schnitzel variations. I have to point out that there wasn't one bad sandwich, there were good ones and several great ones. The ultimate favorites would be the satay with it's amazing peanut sauce and grilled chicken  and the beef short rib with it's juicy meat, glazed with wonderful gravy, finger licking good.

Grilled eggplant, smoked cheese, fresh basil leaves

The service is quick and the employees seem genuinely happy. There are two taps - one with beer and one with *hold for it* lambrusco! The design is modern, simplistic and clean. You'd be a fool not going in to sample those cheap delicious sandwiches. Just look at the roasted eggplant and peppers sandwich below!

Drilled peppers and eggplants sandwich with a side of fries

The only bad thing I can think of was the fact that several sandwiches varied from time to time. An order should taste and look the same each time, that's a basic. Having said that, I do realize that the staff was just learning to make each dish, the place is brand new and they haven't completely reached the formation and the formulas they seek for. I'll give them some time, but the current product is still great.

Rib meat on the left and I can't recall what on the right

So as I've said, cheap delicious mini sandwiches? Hell yes! You might even find your perfect sandwich right here, hiding in the vast menu. Don't forget to try the lambrusco, it goes great with everything.

Pasta Melanzane

A simple lunch, delivered to my office door in 30 minutes. An interesting shape of corkscrew pasta, spicy tomato sauce, big chunks of eggplants, mozzarella melting nicely in the middle, some fresh pesto on top. Grated parmesan was sprinkled moments after I took the photo.

Pasta melanzane by Olive

Olive do great deliveries and they're also a good enough place to eat at. Most branches are spacious, the menu is quite vast and the service is good enough (the prices are the real deal). When ever I'm too lazy to cook my own delicious pasta dishes or to go someplace fancy, Olive is my go to place.
The fact that they're open late at night makes them a gathering place for people about town on the weekend, if you don't mind the drunkenly - Olive could be a great spot to much after a binge.

A gallery of local pizza (I ate)

 I don't always  take pictures of pizzas I eat - well, that's a lie, I tend to take pictures of most stuff I eat but my point was that when I bother with picking out the good ones and uploading - then I also love sharing (i.e. making people jealous).

Don't be shy, drool away!

Pepperoni with BBQ sauce on the right, eggplants on the left

Super thin crust pizza, topped with green olives

Tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, basil leafs, fresh rustic mozzarella

Two slices of pizza with olives, one with mushrooms, lots of dry galic powder

Huge olds chool slice, incredibly rich with sauce and cheese

This pizza was amazing while it was how, but then all of a sudded it went bad on us

Mushrooms and NY hot pastrami

Corn, pineapple and eggplants are all great pizza toppings

A slice of Sbarro is a slice of life

A thin crust pizza with arugula as a topping and then more cheese over the arugula

Pepperoni Dominos, a true classic when delivered properly 

Two slices of USA pizza, one of the true old timers in this area, amazing taste

Portabello mushrooms make an excellent pizza topping and a good sustitute for meat

All pepperoni and half corn with extra cheese - It's hard to say no to free toppings

A non triangular pizza but it was the biggest slice on the tray so I took it

MOAR pepperoni with BBQ sauce, cos it's just that good

Cherry tomatoes, green olives and mushrooms

Double cheese pepperoni with corn again, cos when I'm offered more - I accept

Mushrooms, tons of garlic, middle of the night

 Dominos pepperoni pizza from the fridge I took to another level with double pepperoni & triple cheese & Sriracha on top

Hope you enjoyed this little pizza gallery, I sure did.

All of the images and pizzas originate in Israel, mostly in Tel-Aviv (but not all), if you're traveling the area and in need for some pizza or just random food tips - you can contact me via the comments.

Anyhow, I'm off to grab a bite, all these pics made me a tad peckish.

Worth mentioning:

The last slice, the one I personally upgraded - the second layer of pepperoni was veal with a black & white pepper crust, and the other cheese was goat gouda.

Also, I really love how Sriracha sauce loses some of the bite when it's heated and goes kinda smoky and sweet even.