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From the city of the melting pot and beyond, this is my bird's eye view on food. As a foodie, my choice for discussion will always be food related; either through my own preparation; or restaurants that strike me for its: 1) taste, 2) presentation, 3) value or creativity. Food is beautiful. And sharing its beauty delights me. I hope that you enjoy and learn something new each time you view! Join me!
As we continue through my Pilgrimage in Israel, we drove north to explore the upper regions of Israel to the foot of Mount Hermon, overlooking Syria and the Road to Damascus. There was snow at the foot of Mount Hermon and here we stopped by a little place to eat.
As a foodie, I ordered something else other than a felafels for lunch. I forget what it's called but I opted for this crepe-like bread that's made in front of you which she stuffs with cream called labne, drizzle what I think is olive oil, and sprinkle it with some condiments and spices.
The crepe-like bread is crispy and contains the labne with spices and olive oil inside.
One is free to get some pickles and vegetables on the side. I ordered some dessert and they're tea.
This is where we stopped over to have our lunch at the foot of Mt. Hermon.
By the way, Mt. Hermon is north of Israel and where the spring water comes down to feed the River Jordan.
As I said in my previous blog, we went away for a Pilgrimage trip to Israel. As a foodie, I enjoy the food of various countries. But after having falafels for lunch and other Middle Eastern dishes, we decided to try an Italian Restaurant close to our hotel in Jerusalem suggested by our Italian tour guide.
We went to Cielo which was a small quiet and romantic little restaurant; pictured below.
The restaurant opened at 6PM and we asked to be seated then instead of 7:30 to give us time to go shopping at the Maimlla Mall nearby. On Saturdays, the mall is open till 11PM.
I wanted to order the special dishes that were not in the menu and some dishes that were in the menu.
These were the dishes we had:
We were first served an amuse bouche of tapenade on slices of baguette with what appeared to be home made soft rolls. The rolls were delicious.
This is one of the special dish for the night. It's actually a seafood soup. Underneath that green soup are pieces of squid and fish. This is a light and tasty soup. A great first course and something I've never had before. They should put this in menu as a regular choice!
The other appetizer we had was this scallop dish. It was delicately flavored and tender. It was another special dish for the evening.
The main course was fish cooked in a very light tomato broth served with mussels. The fish is fresh and well prepared.
We had to have the special prawns. It was cooked in garlic and the prawns were sweet.
Our dinner came with a side dish of vegetables: Sweet potato, sliced eggplant with tomatoes on top and mini squash. Very healthy indeed!
I always order something new. Above, I had some coffee cream with fresh strawberries and hazel nuts on top.
What Italian dinner be complete without Tiramisu. This was excellently prepared!
This Italian Restaurant is definitely more Northern than South. It was very good but a little pricey if you deviate from the regular menu like we did.
CIELO
Ben Sira 18, Jerusalem, Israel
Tel. 02-6251132
