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.

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.

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.

Corned beef sandwich for lunch

A bun with a baguette-like crust made the perfect bed for hot corned beef, served with tomatoes, cucumber slices, a dressing of mustard and tahini, at Rothschild Cafe.

Add some friends from work and a cold soda (carbonated water) with slices of lime, and you get a fun break in the midst of an unpleasant day.

Although in a perfect world this sandwich would offer more meat, I found it to be quite satisfying and just in the right amount to make my hunger magically disappear - yet not leaving me bloated and sleepy.

The original sandwich was supposed to have sauerkraut in it, and mayo instead of the tahini, but I made my choices. This composition seemed somewhat better, and I was right.

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.

Trancio: a whole lotta pizza

I'm gonna make a list to create some order in my thoughts. It's really hard to think after this meal.

• Thick soft crust, tons mozzarella, that's the exclusive cheese at Trancio.
• The sauce is crushed tomatoes, some basil, and according to the staff there's some garlic too but apparently not enough to my taste.
• The slices are huge and there's an option to get a slice and a half which is way better value for money.
• There are absolutely no toppings or variations. No other dishes, just this.
• The place is absolutely new.
• They claim that the recipe is an original from south Italy.
• I gotta admit that this is an unusual pizza, not the best one I've had but it has really specific texture and flavors that make you wanna come back (I've been there twice already). 

As I've said, it's a huge slice, it's about 300 grams when an average slice is about 80.
The cheese and dough quickly settle in your stomach like a huge tasty rock and you just want to sleep.
Luckily they're placed not that far from where I live so I can get to bad fast enough.

Corned beef sandwich

Just for a moment, try to ignore this amazing sandwich.
Look at those gherkins. They tasted better than you imagine.

Now, the sandwich.
Woeber's Sandwich Pal horseradish sauce, spicy mustard, date syrup, lettuce, tomatoes, 400 grams of juicy corned beef.
All served between two slices of super fresh rye bread.

Again, you read the letters, you make words in your head, your imagination starts working overtime.
Yet again, you can't even imagine how amazing this sandwich was.

Food porn? YES.
Me being a tease? Well, no. I'm dying for one of these right now and I'm at work, pretty far away, it's scorching hot outside, this place discontinued their delivery service and I'm as miserable as you probably are.

Food thoughts: Italian stuff and sandwiches

Something is terribly wrong with the way Domino's make cheesy bread around here. It's dry, not cheesy enough and the dips are not that great either. At first I hoped it was a one time thing but after a few orders I realized this is just the way they prepare it and that sucks.

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I was stuck at work and hungry as hell. Someone said they're ordering from a place I hate - there was not choice, it was either that or starving. I went for the pasta deal, hoping it will suck less than the other stuff I've tried. To my surprise it was pretty good, the salad was fresh and its vinaigrette sauce was heavenly; the pasta was cooked to perfection with a sauce that resembled a home made sauce with rich flavors of fresh tomatoes; there was freshly bottled lemonade, a bun that came in handy for the sauce that was left, some butter and a lemon muffin for desert. The grated parmesan was fresh and rich in flavor (I used it on both the pasta and the salad), and there was even a stick of butter that also complimented the bun. As if that wasn't enough, it wasn't even expensive!

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Pesto and mustard, corned beef, in a sweet sesame roll. There were bits of kabanos (Polish smoked dry sausage) on the side, and some disgusting olives. The sandwich was okay but I was promised this places is incredible. It wasn't. 

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Just some roast beef in a baguette with tomatoes and mustard. Nothing special to look at but sure felt good in my mouth.

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This pizza was dry, with a taste of burned even. The roquette and arugula mix was not fresh at all, it might have been just old or overheated in the oven. This pizza was an epic fail.

Food porn: sandwiches, hummus, noodles

People looking from the outside might think that I keep eating variations of the same foods all over again. Sure, some veggies, a sandwich, hummus, meat, noodles. Yeah, I guess that's about right.

Are not all foods are variations on a limited amount of ingredients?

Is music not a variation on the same 7 notes all over again?

This is from a new place called Mikveh Sandwich Bar. They close up even before I get off work so this was on my day off. I tried two sandwiches and they were pretty good. Not the best ever but they are singled out by the fact that MSB bake their own bread which is a Moroccan semi flat mini loaf and it's wonderful. They also make most of the sauces, cure all of the meats and make the most amazing spicy home-fries.

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Just a lil' something I made at home. Cherry tomatoes in balsamic vinegar over sprouts. The meat in the sandwich is from a deli and the bread is also bought but the I did create the bell pepper spread inside it.

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A great plate by Assaf, I've previously mentioned it - it is wonderful.

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A corned beef sandwich that really deserves respect ad appreciation. Just look at it!

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This is called The Imperial New Dish: whole flour egg noodles, chicken, pork, bacon, green veggies, spicy sauce and cashew nuts. I also added shredded peanuts on top and there was a party in my mouth and belly.

Food porn: pizza and stuff

Back with another batch!

I'm kinda hungry cos I've yet eaten today and it's past lunch time. These pictures are killing me so I'll get this over with and run out to grab something.

Enjoy!

Grilled cheese bagel with pesto sauce, tomatoes, corn and fried eggplants. It was better than one might imagine.

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Just a plate of hummus from a place called Assaf (the name of the owner). They're really great and are easily  on the top of my favorite hummus places. There are two types of hot sauce on the table, complimentary falafel balls and relay sweet pickled cabbage that's served the moment you sit down. Their pitas are puffy and really soft.

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An amazing pastrami sandwich by Ruben. It resembles a reuben sandwich but lacks the cheese. The meat is actually somewhere between pastrami and corned-beef and it's kept in a warm humidor. It's packed with overwhelming flavor. I ordered mine with mustard, horseradish sauce, lettuce and tomatoes. They also have a pretty good turkey pastrami.

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This was actually one of the first places around to have Sriracha sauce. The pizza is so good you don't even need the sauce but still... The service is horrible but the quality of the pizza justifies a visit. This pizza is so good that it tastes amazing even after a night in the fridge - no heating.

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A new pizza place I tried offered free toppings so it was hard to refuse. The pizza itself was pretty much okay but the cherry tomatoes and the mushrooms were pretty great. I will order the hell out of this pizza.