A Trip an Irish Pub in the Heart of Jerusalem

I usually spend every Sunday night in the center of town in Jerusalem, and finally tried out O’Connell. They serve over 40 types of Irish whisky there so it was pretty impressive when it came to the drink menu. But the reason I was there with friends was to try out the food. Everyone I had asked had told me that the food is legit, heck I even recommended about it in my post to theculturetrip.com. And well everyone the trip was worth it.

The food was legit. Pricey, but legit. We ordered a couple of different dishes to the table and they were all spot on. I personally ordered a hamburger medium, a fishn’chips, a chicken salad and a steak sandwich. The service took a while and a bit slow during the service itself but the food really made up for it.

The hamburger was cooked to a perfect temp and full of flavor. the char was perfect and the bun was toasted as well. But i still hate that when I order a burger they give you the vegetables on the side and I need to compile my burger. That wasn’t the case here though. A solid burger full flavor and fries to go with it. The fishn’chips, the fish was flaky and the coating was crunchy just like it should be. A bit pricey but worth the investment. The chicken salad was seasoned right, and the salad had a nice vinnagrette to compliment the salad. The steak sandwich was a bit disappointing though.  It needed like a sauce to give it another element but it was lacking, otherwise it could be a great sandwich.

All in all, a great way to spend the night out with a group of friends with some great food, on a street that is overloaded with restaurants as well.

 

Ras-el-Hanut Phyllo Dough Meat Pockets

One of my favorite spice blends is definitely Ras-el-Hanut. A Moroccan spice blend composed from 30 different spices that are full of body and flavor that will give any protein you use a very cool and different flavor your palate is used to. You can pick it up at any fresh spices store or packaged in certain shops. So here is a recipe that I came up with, how to use this spice blend to the max, and keep it simple as well:

Ingredients

• 1\2 Kilo ground beef or lamb or chicken
• 1 Onion Diced small
• 2 Cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 tbls minced corriander
• 1-3 tsp of Ras-el-Hanut spice blend depends on how strong you like it
• Salt&Pepper for flavor
• 1 Package of Phyllo Dough
• oil for frying
• 1 egg for coating
• topping of choice: Dried parsley, sesame seeds,

Recipe

1. Place a frying pan on a high heat and saute the onions and garlic until translucent and add the ground meat and brown.
2. Add the spices and herbs to the meat mixture and drain the excess liquid from the pan and fix the seasoning if necessary.
3. While the meat mixture cools down, turn your oven on 175c.
4. Take the phyllo out of the package and follow the instructions on the package on how to fold the dough into the shape you’d like your pastry.
5. Brush and seal the dough with the egg wash, then coat the dough with the egg and add topping of choice.
6. Bake until golden brown.

Serve hot with a tahini dipping sauce. Enjoy!