I was in this neighborhood a couple of months ago with one other person. We initially planned to go…read moreto Miriam next door, since the other person had been to the Upper West Side location and enjoyed it. Still, they were working on it, so we decided to go to their sister, more casual spot instead, with me, in hindsight, being happy because I liked this more than Miriam (at least the UWS location.) The place is casual, with a warm and inviting atmosphere, and I can see it being very popular for lunch or brunch. The service was friendly as well.
We both decided to get the Israeli Experience for $32 each, though they warned us it was a lot of food and we could split it. We did indeed take home some leftovers, and it was a terrific deal. Said experience is a comprehensive sampling of their menu, featuring two skewers, five salads, hummus, tahini, and two pitas, served with a choice of yellow rice or French fries, with the salads and skewers being our choice from the menu.
Since we were going to share a few cold mezzes/salads, we decided to get fries and rice. The fries were well portioned, with a light crisp, while some were a bit soft. I found the rice, as expected, to be a better accompaniment, as it's lighter and goes well with the sauces. The pita bread was warm but standard and presumably store-bought.
For the salads, our favorite of the bunch was probably the Spanish Eggplant, listed as fried eggplant tossed in tomato & pepper sauce. This was very similar (if not the same) as Turkish Soslu patlıcan, so I'm not sure why it's listed as Spanish unless they're Spanish eggplants or something. All naming aside, this was very tasty, with the eggplant both very garlicky and soft, but not too much that it lacked texture.
I also liked the Moroccan Carrot, listed as thinly sliced carrots cooked & marinated in Moroccan spices. I have seen this in a few Moroccan places, such as in Astoria, and this was good. The carrots were soft, and the spice blend had a slight tang among other flavors. I would also recommend this.
I am not usually the biggest fan of Israeli Salad, which is made here with chopped cucumber, tomatoes, scallions, parsley, and za'atar lemon vinaigrette, but this was good. I believe there was a bit of tahini or something similar in the dressing, which made it a bit more flavorful than the usual version, and all the vegetables are very fresh. This was better than expected and good.
The Hummus was pretty good. I like some other spots with thicker hummus or a bit more kick, but it was still tasty. The same can be applied to the Tahini, which was standard but good. More standard and tasty was the Purple Cabbage. Nothing particularly special, but it was good, and they appear to have updated since I had it last, adding beets and roasted sesame seeds, which sounds like a pleasant addition.
The Kale and Dried Apricot Salad with winter kale, dried apricots, and roasted almonds dressed with house vinaigrette was fine. I'm a bit biased here as I don't like kale, but there were plenty of crunchy almonds. However, I wish there were more apricots, and the dressing didn't mask the kale as much as I'd like.
I wasn't a fan of the Corn Salad with grilled corn, red pepper, and jalapenos. The dish should probably be served warm, since the cold grilled corn had an unappetizing texture and flavor when mixed with the pepper. It reminded me a bit of a dip gone wrong. This was easily my least favorite, and neither of us finished it.
The skewers were pretty good but more standard. In terms of options, each of us got a Harissa Salmon, he chose a Chicken Thigh, and I got a Ground Beef & Lamb Kofta. The fish was surprisingly tender, but I found the harissa to be only very mild, which was a bit surprising given how red the dish looked. He seemed to enjoy his chicken skewer, while the kofta was alright. I have had much more flavorful kofta before, but at least it wasn't dry, with the meat being pretty juicy.
The "experience" reminded me of a much better version of Kashkaval Garden in Hell's Kitchen, minus the fondue, of course. It's essentially the same price point as getting the salmon from there, but it has many pluses. The side dishes are much better and more varied, the skewers are smaller but much more tender and less overcooked, and the portion size is much larger. This doesn't even include the large portion of rice or salad, which isn't included there. I didn't love everything here, but it's hard to deny this deal, especially in this fancy neighborhood.