My last day is Phillie and I know where I have to go. I return to the Reading Terminal Market. I say return because as a foodie, the first place I always go is the market, but with the choices as endless as they were delicious looking, I decided to wait for additional opinions before I dove in.
Not surprisingly, locals all pointed me to Denic’s and their roast port sandwich. Served on a baguette with provolone cheese, broccoli rahb or spinach, sweet and hot banana peppers and horseradish to taste, this gives the iconic cheese steak a run for its money. The pork was warm and leaner that I had imagined which is fine by me. The bread soaked in the juices while the sharp provolone acted as a poignant counterpoint to the pork. I love horseradish, which is most likely why I had some eye-watering nasal flares along the way.
My culinary journey ended in old city at Zahav, an Israeli restaurant I found highly suggested on open table (see previous post). As I walk in, I see the dining room was packed and the smell of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern spices filled the air. I sat down and was treated to a variety of olives, pickles, and pickled eggplant. In addition, there was a spice dish of harissa, hers, and a spicy pepper sauce, all of which were to be used throughout the meal as I found necessary.My waiter suggested that about two dishes from the mezze (appetizer) and one from the Al Ha’esh (grill) would be about enough, so I went for the Tayim tasting menu which allowed me to pick some of my favorites from the menu. What arrived first was my hummus hummus-foul (pronounced ‘fool’) which was chickpea hummus with lemon and fava beans added. The laffa, the crispy flatbread not unlike naan was fresh from the oven, and had I wanted more, my waiter was happy to accommodate.
My salatim came, which is a tower of the daily eight selections of salads. That day’s consisted of beets, grated, whose sweetness was countered by the bitter saltiness of tahini (sesame seed paste), a Japanese kabotcha mash, soft and light, picked radishes that were still firm and sour, a wilted spinach salad that was topped with pomegranate, some more picked seedless cucumber which was tinted with thyme and was slightly more acidic, and a baby eggplant mash that was bright red due to I don’t know what but was delicious anyway. I think I’m still missing a couple, but I ate them all, and every one of them was excellent.
My first selected mezze came next. The kibbe naya, which is a lamb tartar mixed with bulgar wheat, was served atop golden beets and was accompanied with black harissa. The lamb wasn’t gamey at all and melted in your mouth while the beets added a touch of sweetness that was countered pleasantly by the smoky black harissa.
Next came my bastilla, a crisp and crusty phillo dough that surrounded braised lamb neck, pistachio and apricot. The neck fell apart on my fork and dissolved into meaty sweetness in my mouth due to the fruit and nut that was seamlessly integrated into it.
To my surprise and delight, two additional mezze arrive. Sable (black cod) that has been smoked in house topped a challah (Jewish egg bread ) toast whose center was hollowed out and replaced with a fried egg and green garlic. The smoke truly came through on the firm fish. The crunchy toast was softened by the runny egg yolk. I want this for breakfast everyday.
A grilled lamb tongue came that sat above a bed of black eyed peas and eggplant. The peas still had a remnant of firmness to them that went well with the crisp tongue. “Crispy tongue?” I asked. Usually, tongue has to be cooked low and slow to prevent it from becoming meat leather, but Zahav brines it for three days before giving it the grill treatment to blacken the edges just enough to give it a slight bite of char.
At this point, I thought the night couldn’t get any better, until my duck kebab came. Many might be thinking of a skewer of duck, but no, this was more like a patty that sat on an almond and freekah (grain) square. The duck was mixed with foie gras and seared as to be slightly rare in the center leaving it tender and juicy. The result was a puck of duck that was delicious as f…well, you get the idea.
Dessert consisted of flakey cinnamon and anise rolls paired with a glass of pear reduction puree topped with foamed milk.
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