Meat Lover's Pizza @ Fresco, Haifa

Last Thursday I visited the city of Haifa, to attend a show by local band Ke$$ef, opening for the Italian trio Psychofagist.

After the sound-check we got quite hungry so we went about town, searching for a place to dine.

Since time was scarce, we stopped at the first open venue - a pizzeria called Fresco. 

Meat Lover's Pizza @ Fresco, Haifa : pepperoni. ham, bacon

Most of the other diners were vegetarian, however I really wanted the taste of death on my tongue so I ordered a pizza all for myself.

A pizza named "sausage pizza" caught my eye, bacon, ham and pepperoni seemed like a great idea for toppings so the choice wasn't difficult for me.

The pizza was quite greasy - but in an amazing pork-fat and bacon-juice way. This actually made up for the lacking tomato \ pizza sauce which I like so much, but as I said, it was juicy and delicious enough for me to not care.

The pizza itself was quite basic, simplistic even, by far not the most impressive I've had but still, somehow it was pretty good - must have been the hunger.

Bottom line:

Price: 38nis

Location: clean, well lit, nicely designed

Staff: courteous

Improvement points: not enough beverage options

Verdict: will gladly return

Click here to read this post in Hebrew

Hardcore Foodie Materials

Food porn show and tell continues:

(each segment's end is marked by a bunch of asterisks) 

This was the day Sriracha returned to the stores. I was so happy - words cannot describe.

Little did I know that the current batch was spicier than the last one, and not as easy on the stomach.

*****************************************************************

This is from a place in Petah Tikva called Pizza USA (or USA Pizza if you will). It's easily one of the best pizzas in town. Most of their local pizzas are crap, but some do have that 90's charm, when ingredients were simple and people didn't know any better.

The pizzerias in Petah Tikva have this weird fetish about their names, here's an example of several places' names - located on the same street: Pizza London, Pizza New York, Pizza Paris.

Get it?

*****************************************************************

Poppy seed bagel, spicy mustard, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, grilled eggplant, pinkish roast beef that was over heated and became a tad grey.

Delicious.

A take-away from Tal Bagelsת Karlibach 41, Cinemateque Qtr-Tel aviv.

*****************************************************************

Whole wheat noodles, pork, chicken, bacon, broccoli, sprouts, bok choy, cashews and crushed peanuts -  stir fried with a secret sauce.

Eaten at: Giraffe officer's club, 21 Ha'arbaa street, Tel-Aviv

*****************************************************************

Bought a sleeve of ice cream wafers, discovered they were randomly numbered.

*****************************************************************

Shimeji mushrooms, bleu cheese, balsamic vinegar and chestnuts. 

*****************************************************************

Bought a hard-ish avocado, got impatient and fried it, hoping that would make it go soft.

Apparently it was a horrible idea, the end product was bitter and only semi-edible.

*****************************************************************

Double-decker sandwich, a corned beef monstrosity.

Mustard and horseradish sauce, tomato and lettuce on wholewheat. Two gherkins and ten minutes of mouthgasms.

Eaten at: Ruben, Florentine 22, Tel-aviv (they have several venues).

*****************************************************************

A local store started selling Wonka Nerds. Oh happy days!

*****************************************************************

Got bored, squeezed juice from a grapefruit, orange, lemon and a clementine, although it might have been a tangerine or a mandarin.

*****************************************************************

My friends went for a vacation in the UK and all they got me was this amazing hot chipotle BBQ sauce from Bodean's BBQ.

*****************************************************************

Sambousek (also sambusak) with pizza sauce, cheese and olives, covered with a zaatar & sesame decoration.

Delicious, lovely and all the melting stringy cheese is complimented by the crisp of the exterior.

*****************************************************************

Dulce de leche doughnut, say no more.
(I have no idea where they are from, someone brought a box to the office and people gathered around it like hungry vultures, all was gone after less than a minute)

*****************************************************************

Ultra thin pizza that goes by 1/4's of a pie. So thin that it's just a bit thicker than an average tortilla.

So freaking delicious. They're called Agvania pizza, there are branches all over Tel-Aviv.

*****************************************************************

Chicken tikka, plain grilled chicken, rice, fried, couscous and steamed green beans.

Quite eclectic but very good. And a small tahini bowl on the side!

Eaten at: Tajine, Hamasger no.45, Tel-Aviv.

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!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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.

Pizza Bourekas with the works

Going out for a night on the town might make you quite hungry, especially after a few drinks.

This was a wonderful solutions: Pizza flavored bourekas with a hard-boiled egg, crushed tomatoes, pickles, tahini and a hot chilli pepper paste sauce thingy (skhug), along with a cold strawberry Schweppes.

This amount might not satisfy when very hungry, but it was more than enough since I ate a slice of pizza walking towards the place. Mama's Bourekas also serve malawach, jachnoon and other types of dough with cheese and stuff. They also have pretty cheap booze, which is also great if you want to keep on drinking and the food is just another stop on a long binge.

All dishes are served with a hard-boiled egg, tahini, pickles, crushed (grated actually) tomatoes and skhug - a (very) spicy red pepper paste.

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.

Food porn: all kinds of good

Lots of corned beef, a slice of aged goat gouda cheese, some BBQ sauce and a tad of sweet mustard. It was simple, delicious and since both the meat and cheese were at room temperature - they just melted in my mouth.

- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -------------- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -

Argentinian style rib area beef.

It was soft and juicy, with one side covered in fat that sort of melted upon touch but was also fun and crispy in some bites. You can see the rib bone on the bottom.

- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -------------- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -

Fava beans over white rice. They're cooked with crushed tomatoes and lots of confit garlic cloves. This was easy to make and a pleasure to eat.

- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -------------- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -

A slice of pizza I grabbed at some remote location. It was amazing, with this old-school flavor to the sauce, and the cheese was creamy and soft in a manner I've yet to encounter.

- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -------------- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -

Open pit asado style BBQ chicken. It was a smoky heavenly deliciousness. There was some rub involved but it wasn't really coated in a way that traditional American BBQ is.