Donkey: Taco Quality Assurance

Lunching at trustworthy places is always fun.

Luckily - you have me to suffer so you won't have to.

This time I returned to Donkey, just to see how things are (and to munch on some tacos).

Shall we? I wanna finish this post already cos the picture is making me really hungry.

 Three pulled beef tacos, black beans, cheddar, lettuce, cilantro, hot salsa and a frosty Dr Pepper

The post is called "quality assurance" because Donkey disappointing me several times (they stopped making their coriander sauce and their amazing pineapple BBQ sauce, and the food was too soggy and bland on my last visits). This was their chance to claim back the throne.

The watery delivery persisted - the beans and pulled beef were too wet for the tacos to withstand.
The flavors were partially back. Not complete blandness, but some improvement was needed still.

A new issue arose: apparently Donkey now have lunch deals, but we weren't offered any, although later as we sat down we notices people coming in after us were.
I realized it was due to the guy taking our orders being new; but still.
Not pleasant, but I didn't make a fuss.

Bottom line: more room for improvement; be visiting again soon.

Donkey: Tex-Mex Heaven in Tel-Aviv

At a rather young age I realized I'm missing several things that judging by my TV watching habits seemed common and reasonable. Taco Bell was one. It was hard to grasp how things some considered mundane were in fact a rare delicacy. Along with the now locally defunct KFC and Dunkin' Donuts - some brands just don't do well overseas.

But now, for this taco hungry writer the earth begins to shake.

Don't get me wrong, Israel has a handful of Mexican or rather Tex-Mex (i.e. Texas-Mexican) dining venues. In the last fifteen years there has been a notable change in how we perceive food. More cooking shows, finer materials and ingredients, fancier restaurants and a variety of new cuisines that are becoming more mainstream. The Israeli palate has evolved greatly.

If until now the "Mexican" options were places offering an American menu with a token tortilla wrap dish, or a specializing Mexican restaurant that serves only minced beef dishes along pizzas, now there's a new sheriff in town.

And now for the reason we have all gathered: Donkey.

91 Hahashmonaim St, Tel-Aviv, remember this address. That is where you'll need to go for a good burrito, taco, casadia and quesadilla, altough the latter is not officially on the menu.

Don't get me wrong, I know there are dishes that are missing from the list. This is by far not the whole dream menu I had in mind, but the fact the have pulled beef, pulled pork and even pulled chicken speaks highly i their praise; allow me to explain. mincing meat is easy, mostly machine work. Cooking minced meat is faster, thus you save both time, work (the chopping and mincing part) and one might even use cheaper cuts of meat since it can go unnoticeable.

On the other hand, slow-cooking large quality cuts and then breaking them down into individual pieces in the right size and proportion - that's an indication of effort put into food. Add great taste, interesting sauces (the cilantro is amazing even if you're not a fan), quality cheese, fresh ingredients and amazing black beans, you get the picture. 

There's even a vegetarian option in the form of sauteed peppers and onions as a meat substitute. Also to be found are salads and burrito bowls. The owners assure that crispy tacos will be added soon.

Please step towards the cash register. Right below it there's the beverage refrigerator, stacked with drinks that will make you feel as if you are really in the United States of America, there's the variety of Arizona iced teas, Dr Pepper, common sodas, exotic juices and several types of beer.

Three tacos and a can of Dr Pepper will set you back nis50 (approx. $12.5), not the cheapest of meals, but it will definitively satisfy your hunger along with thirst for innovation and Tex-Mex desires.

The only negative thing I can add to this review is that their menu lacks tortas, which is a shame since their delicious meats deserve to be placed in a heavenly sandwich.

Donkey is well worth a visit, even if you're not a fan of this sort of cuisine. It's a breath of fresh air and as for personal taste goes you might just discover they're your new favorite.

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: 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Stir fried vegetables on white rice

Check out this yummy goodness:

What you see is white rice, but above that rice is a pile of amazing flavors, string at me, waiting to be eaten, and all I do is take pictures while I drool.

Zucchinis, mushrooms, shavings of ginger, carrots, bits of red bell peppers, stir fried with freshly ground black pepper and whole cloves of garlic, with some mustard grains and grainy mustard, and then stir fried further with date syrup for that extra sweetness and a touch caramel flavor \ color.

I sometimes add various curry pastes to the mix, every paste has a different flavor and behaves differently upon frying so it's always interesting to experiment taste and explore.

This is a great side dish but is also good enough for a vegetarian main course (also vegan if you use the right ingredients). 

Food porn: all things that are good

The city offers too many temptations.

I try to resist but I really love these good times out and about with friends and food.

This is another chapter in my diary, hope you like it.

A hot plate of goulash stew over white rice. I was really sick  that day and had very little ability to taste. The only thing I really recall is that I felt there wasn't enough meat.

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A lovely plate of deep fried cauliflower. I actuallyate a pretty good steak afterwards but this was the dish to remember. The dip was an aioli based on pickled lemons. A real delight.

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Just a pepperoni pizza from Domino's, simple and delicious. The pepperoni was spicy and crispy, there was lots and lots of cheese on the pizza and it wasn't dry (nor too wet with sauce).

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This is from one of the controversial places in the area. They're too cheap to be real, but there are plenty of disadvantages. The place operates like so: You choose whatever meat you wish and pay for it. You take the raw skewers and go to the BBQ area where you give your food to a person that prepares it for you.
In the meanwhile you can go and buy fries, hummus, a jar of homemade spicy pickles, a variety of breads (the most popular is laffa), and some other stuff. Some of the sauces are free and there's a huge container of salad that is free. The place is minimally designed - like you would imagine a warehouse. It's not really clean (but the dishes are) and no one bothers to be nice. This is quite an experience.

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Stir fried beef with eggplants in a sweet and spicy sauce over white rice with egg drops. It was pretty good.

Food porn: lots of chicken

Part of a raid on an all you an eat Indian buffet. You should be able to spot a curry chickpea dish, some tikka chicken, vegetables, colorful rice and on top there are several vegetables deep fried in batter (pakoras).

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A baguette with some pieces of chicken schnitzel, salad and tahini sauce, with fries on the side. On non nom.

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Hummus by Youness, it's pretty good but there's very little of in on the plate. No refills with this one and as of late they are having a streak of bad day regarding their service and quality of food.

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Chicken skewers and beans over white rice. The beans came in some tomato based sauce which was so natural it was almost tasteless.

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Spicy chicken noodles with coconut sauce and crushed peanuts on top. This was not my order - I traded mine for this since I didn't like mine and the person that ate with me didn't like his. We both were really satisfied after the trade.