From the people who brought you the Hanukka doughnuts review, now comes the Purim hamentashen review. This time, however, we didn't feel sick after. On the other hand, we anticipated doughnuts with greater excitement. Doughnuts are tasty, hamentashen are not. They are dry cookies filled with a vile poppy seed paste - or so we thought. Crisis of faith averted! Tati Loft in Givatayim sells large, amply filled hamentashen made of very tasty and crispy dough based on butter and sweet cream. The dates-filled and chocolate ganache-filled were the best (9/10). Of all the poppyseed-filled variety the ones with cooked-in citrus fruits were the best from all those sampled - but I still don't like them (says Asi; 7/10). Those who are into the poppy, loved it (8/10). NIS 9.2 for 100g. 53 Hashalom Rd., (03) 539-2500 The Cafeneto chain made a huge hamentashen filled with espresso and chocolate nougat for NIS 10 or NIS 21 with a cup of coffee. The dough was a little dry but the filling was delicious (8/10). cafeneto.co.il The boutique bakery Bellina offers tiny hamentashen with an enormous variety of fillings as well as tasty dough. My favorites (says Asi) were the chocolate and amaretto liqueur (8/10; alcohol in baked goods, always a great idea), halva and nuts (8/10); a surprisingly delicious bazooka-filled (8.5/10) and chocolate-filled with a peanut M&M on top (9.5/10). NIS 89 per kilo. 8 Herzl Rosenblum St., TA, (03) 699-6088 Having sampled Shemo Bakery's chocolate-filled offering (says Ari; 8/10), I was ready to proclaim their product tasty. But after their prune cooked in red wine filling I can safely say that these were out of this world (10/10). The dough was soft and lovely and I can only imagine that the Turkish Delight variety would equally rock my world. If you're on a diet, they also offer a sugar-free hamentashen. NIS 30-35 for 300g. shemo.co.il Neve Tzedek's Sinful Sweets shouldn't be so brazen with their hamentashen, though I fondly recalled their doughnuts (says Ari). Their dough was crisp with an odd crunch to it that felt unnatural between my teeth. This was most apparent with the chocolate-filled (6/10). Halva-filled was much more pleasant (7/10) and I'm a sucker for dates and nuts (8/10). NIS 29 for 300g. 67 Shabazi St., TA and available at AM:PM and Tiv Taam stores.

Hamentashen galore

From the people who brought you the Hanukka doughnuts review, now comes the Purim hamentashen review.