As the first middle-eastern restaurant in the city of Toronto, the Jerusalem Restaurant has a lot to live up to. Upon entering the restaurant, I had to wait for a good minute or two before anyone noticed us and take us to our tables. After getting settled down and picking out what we wanted from the menu, we had to wait even longer after getting the attention of the waiter to get our order. But enough nitpicking, while not spectacular, the atmosphere of the restaurant was very fitting for the type of food being served.
There was a lunch menu which I believe to range from around $3.99 from some light snacks to $10.99 for 2 lamb chops that came with rice/pita and or salad, once again I forgot to take note of it so I am possibly wrong on what the lunch menu comes with. I did not order from the lunch menu, but opted to go for the dinner combination for 2 for $36.
First came the baba ghanoush, hummus, mixed pickles and pita bread. Personally I love hummus a lot, I would often get a small tub of hummus and finish it with pita all in one or two sitting, but sadly I think I enjoyed the hummus from the small middle-eastern grocery store more than the one I have tasted today.
Next up was the falafel, never having it before, I was pleasantly surprised by its great taste. It was served some kind of white sauce, not sure what it was, but it might be tahini or maybe just sour cream or something.
This has got to be my favorite dish from the meal, fried eggplant. I have had eggplant made in many different ways but this one has got to be the best.
The tabbouleh salad was a great dish too, but it tasted a little bit too minty for my taste.
The main course, shish kabab and rice. We had the choice between beef, lamb, chicken, liver and kafta but of course I chose all lamb, my favorite meat. I was pretty disappointed that there was nothing really special about the shish kabab, I think I prefer the taste of skewered grilled lamb from Chinese cuisine a lot more. Other than that the rice had a really wonderful smell and tasted great too!
I know I complained a bit about the service in the beginning but after that, the waitress serving our table was really friendly and attentive to our needs. Although I don't think my emptied glass of water was ever filled, this should really be just standard service.
We paid $45 after tips for 2 people, overall it was a pretty good experience, I would recommend anyone that haven't had middle-eastern cuisine to definitely give it a try but other than that, I probably will not make another visit because nothing really stood out to make the long trip worth it. I also wanted to try some special drinks but sadly their menu didn't show anything that I haven't had before.
+ Portions were just right
- Below average service
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- It won't let me link to the restaurant directly for the map, this will have to do for now.
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