At Morgens, you can have a great breakfast any style morning, noon or night.
By RACHEL F. WANETIKThe most important meal of the day – all day(photo credit: Courtesy)
Breakfast is my favorite essential meal of the day, with second breakfast and brunch winning the silver and bronze medals, respectively. Is second breakfast another name for brunch? No matter. Breakfast/brunch options are available all day at Morgens (Mornings), a new restaurant in Jerusalem on Rahel Imenu, close to the intersection of Emek Refaim.To best serve the community, the restaurant opens bright and early at 7:30 a.m., which is perfect for those who need to be elsewhere by 9:00. And there is free Wi-Fi.For the vacationing tourist, business traveler or those who work jobs in other time zones, in addition to the locals who run on Jerusalem Standard Time, this eatery boasts some international examples of the great start of your day, whenever that may be.My dining partner and I traveled to Greece with the Greek green shakshuka (NIS 44), to Mexico with the breakfast burrito (NIS 39) and up the coast to California with the trusty granola and fruit salad yogurt combo (NIS 37). In addition, we sampled the stuffed mushrooms appetizer (NIS 23), the salmon sandwich (NIS 44) and the garlicky tabouleh with fish kebabs (NIS 46). Everything tasted fresh and delicious.Another great feature is the menu itself is that at Morgens, the breakfast-anytime options are listed on one page, and the beverages are on the back. I appreciate the simple and easy.The young chef behind the menu is Shlomo Weinglass, a Michlelet Hadassah graduate who has worked in several Jerusalem kosher kitchens. Personally I love fish, but I hate preparing it. Chef Weinglass has done the work for me, and at the right price. At Morgens, choose from the crispy- coated red mullet fish and chips (NIS 55), the tasty tilapia quiche (NIS 49) or my new favorite Niçoise salad made with seared tuna (NIS 49).For the Israeli breakfast (NIS 49/90), you can choose the accompanying spreads instead of getting items you don’t like – no tuna salad for me and no olive tapenade for my dining partner. This is a fabulous idea because at most other establishments, I either don’t know which variety of white cheese is put in front of me or what the ingredients are of the other items unless I taste test them first.Take your pick of three of the following spreads: the highly recommended pickled lemon spread (which we tried with the fish and chips), tahini, homemade jam (we had the delish forest berries), Bulgarian cheese, pesto, sun-dried tomato spread, cream cheese, labane, goat’s cheese and halva.If you want a protein pick-me- up, go for the black lentil-based vegan Elizabeth salad (NIS 46) topped with crispy beet chips. If you like it cheesy, have the four- cheese pizza (NIS 40).Desserts are abundant, and the coffee is perfectly roasted.At Morgens, you can make food substitutions, as dishes are made to order; or leave items out to make certain meals vegan-friendly if you desire. Morning, noon and night, there is something for every diner in your party.The writer was a guest of the restaurant.Morgens Kosher 5 Rahel Imeinu, Jerusalem Tel: (02) 582-1330 Sunday–Thursday 7:30 a.m.– 8:30 p.m. Until 2 p.m. on Fridays. Closed on Shabbat.
