Hamikdash - A Shrine for Meat Lovers: We'll meat again
Hamikdash in Kfar Saba, where meat reigns supreme and dining is not so much a meal out as a happening.
By GLORIA DEUTSCHHamikdash - A Shrine for Meat Lovers(photo credit: Courtesy)
After months of ordering food in, it was so great to be able to get dressed up, put on some make-up and actually go to a restaurant. And what better place than Hamikdash in Kfar Saba, where meat reigns supreme and dining is not so much a meal out as a happening.It’s run by a father and son duo: Liran Blue, a chef who spent time in Japan and imported several unusual methods of preparing and serving meat; and his father, David, known to all as Dudu, who likes to chat to the guests and relay some of the adventures he’s experienced on his daily jeep tours.The restaurant is situated in a mall at the east end of Kfar Saba, a town in which we lived for 42 years before moving to Netanya. Although it’s a shopping center, walking into Hamikdash transports one to another world. The décor is earthy with plenty of wood, rough parquet flooring and mirrors everywhere. The wooden tables and raffia chairs are comfortable, the waitresses are pleasant and helpful, and the menu looked very promising.A set meal of starter, main course and dessert costs NIS 169 per diner, so we decided to go for that. The typed menu is only in Hebrew at the moment, but Dudu was on hand to help with the translation. In any case we decided to be guided by him as to what we should sample.The two starters arrived at our table – a dish of smoked tongue enveloped in pink foam, and sliced Jerusalem artichokes that had been subjected to long slow cooking. As my regular readers know, I am not a fervent aficionado of foam, which I think should be in a bath, not on a plate. But the slow-roasted tongue served on a demi-glace sauce with brandy was delicious.The Jerusalem artichokes were thinly sliced and served on a garlic cream with Ras el Hanout spices. These can vary but almost always contain cinnamon, ground coriander and ginger. The flavor of this dish was outstanding. To add to its appeal, it is labeled vegan though I cannot imagine a vegan being happy in this self-labeled “shrine to meat.”For our main course Dudu brought us a hot stone, cuts of thin raw meat and a pair of tongs. The stone is heated to 600 degrees. The idea is that the diner does his own cooking. This is a great idea as some like it raw, some well done. It’s your decision. And it’s fun.There were paper-thin slices of flatiron steak, pieces of rib steak and a hot pan of asado meat. Dipping sauces, which Dudu assured us were homemade, were barbecue, mustard and chimichurri. Asado is a stringy meat but this was very soft, faintly sweet and smoked. We threw ourselves into the cooking process until we’d used up all the meat and were fairly replete.The urge for something sweet to end the meal materialized in the shape of two great sorbets – fruits of the forest and coconut – and a tapioca fruit pudding in a champagne glass. Two mint teas rounded off this incredible meal.Oh yes, the title of this article is a tribute to the great Vera Lynn who died recently, age 103.Hamikdash - A Shrine for Meat LoversThe Oshiland Mall, 1 Atir Yeda St., Kfar SabaPhone: 09-748-8824Kashrut: Rabbanut Kfar Saba HamikdashOpen Sun-Thur: 12 noon-10 p.m.Open 1 hour after Shabbat-10:30 pm. Closed Friday and Shabbat.The writer was a guest of the restaurant.
Related TagsKfar Saba
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