We walked into David Citadel Hotel on a Thursday evening, a time when the hotel would normally be packed with tourists, to find the lobby completely empty. A single lamp showed a clerk standing behind the reception desk. In truth, it was a little sad.
The clerk directed us one floor up to the Veranda restaurant. The large room with a stunning view of the walls of the Old City is the breakfast room in the morning. There were about five other tables when we arrived, although a few other parties came as we ate.
The lingua franca was English, and most of the diners were Americans who had made aliyah with their families and were wearing black kippot and white shirts. The table next to us was a young couple, Andrew and Rina Alter, and Rina’s parents, who were visiting from the US. Her mother, Brenda Amsterdam, and I are members of the same large Facebook group with 90,000 members called Great Kosher Restaurant Foodies.
“I am a foodie and I’m from Brooklyn so I know good kosher restaurants,” she told me. “And the food here is as good as anything you can get in NY.”
A reopening after closing for the Israel-Hamas war
The hotel and the restaurant reopened just two weeks ago, after closing when the war began. The menu is limited to four appetizers and seven main courses but everyone, including vegans, will find something here. I personally prefer a limited menu that is well-made rather than an extensive menu that tries to do too much.
Our waiter, Zayn, was excellent. He seemed to really care about our experience and suggested we start with cocktails, which we happily did. My husband had a strawberry gin drink, and I had a mango passion fruit concoction. Both were delicious.
For the appetizer, my husband tried the house specialty, the asado croissant (NIS 75), which was smoked asado served in a salty croissant with smoked pepper aioli and pickled lemon. It was a full-size croissant that would have left me too full for a main course. I tried the beef sashimi (NIS 95), a generous portion of cold smoked veal with mushroom vinegar, shallots, and portobello mushrooms. It was served with a unique garlic bread and was tender and delicious.
For the main course, Zayn recommended the Seoul Smoked Lamb (NIS 85 per 100 grams) that is soaked in a citrus brine for 48 hours and then smoked with apple charcoal for 12 hours. Most of the cuts of lamb are at least a kilo, and the dish is meant for sharing. Truthfully, all of my Ladies Who Drink could probably have shared this dish and even had leftovers!
It is served with small bao buns and a variety of sauces, including spicy mayonnaise, sweet soy sauce, and chimichurri. Zayn deftly removed the bone from the lamb and, using two forks, pulled it apart into a huge pile of shredded meat. I managed only one bao bun and my husband two, leaving us ample leftovers that our soldier sons devoured the next day.
The lamb was soft and a little smoky and was simply a pleasure to eat. I also like food that I can play with and customize. It really was a unique dish that I was happy to have tried.
I was too full for dessert, but my husband had some kind of chocolate peanut butter concoction that he enjoyed.
- Veranda
- David Citadel Hotel,
- King David Street 7, Jerusalem
- Hours: Sun-Thu, 6 p.m.-10:30 p.m.
- Kashrut: Meat approved by Rav Rubin and Rav Landau. Shmitta Lechumra
- The writer and her husband were guests of the restaurant.