Good food

The food in Israel seems better than ever. Went to a Chinese restaurant (Mandarin by name) on Ben-Yehuda street our last night in Jerusalem. I was a bit concerned, because Israel does not strike me as a good place for Chinese food, but I was proved wrong. I had Ma Po tofu and it was about the best I have ever had. The vegetables were fresh, and not overcooked, the sauce was spicy but not overbearing (is it too obvious that I saw "Sideways"?). Anyway it was really good, and you should go.

Last night I visited my cousin here in Tel Aviv. They ordered in some Indian food, which also turned out to be very good. The papadams were perfect, the fish dish was lightly spiced but very tasty, and the eggplant and the spinach were also good.

Every hotel puts on a major spread for breakfast, including several kinds of fish, cheese, salads, breads, pastries, hot dishes including eggs, potatos, quiche, and yogurts, puddings, fresh fruit and so on. One of the guides was explaining that Israelis are often disappointed when they travel and are presented with "continental" breakfast. Things are a lot different from the days on a Kibbutz when the joke was "Q: What is the difference between breakfast and dinner? Ans: Which side of the room the sun is on."

The one exception to the excellent meals I have been eating was yesterday, when due to time limitations I had snacks for lunch, including sunflower seeds, hotel chocolates left over from the Citadel's "turn-down" service (Parve, and thus dark, and thus delicious), a fruit bar from the flight to London I had deposited in my backpack as "emergency rations" (like the powerbars in the trunk of my car at home) and from the snack bar at the Ayalon Institute some cone-shaped corn chips and a hazelnut filled chocolate bar. Fortunately I did not become ill, and I was actually hungry for dinner, which was a nice change from the fattened goose feeling I had had for a few days.

Now I am getting hungry again, and thinking about the little felafel shop I passed by on the way here ...