As we were worn out from two long days of touring in the north of Israel, we woke up late, had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel (the food is definitely not as tasty here as the food in the Arthur in Jerusalem) and then took a walk to the beach, about two blocks from here. Easy walk and we enjoyed going toward Jaffa on the beautiful promenade that was filled with walkers, joggers, hikers, bikers and scooters. Everyone was out because the weather was sunny and about 69 degrees, couldn’t have been much nicer! Upon returning to our hotel which is in an absolutely wonderful location in the center of Tel Aviv near shops, restaurants and cafes, we had a lovely lunch at the Jenia, not far from our hotel. We ate fried eggs with warm eggplant and artichoke hearts, tapas-size fried cod with pea puree, and sautéed mushrooms over warm goat cheese. It was delicious and we had fun people-watching. There are tons of babies and pregnant women here which speaks to a hopefulness among young people, in spite of the political instability.
Dinner Saturday night was at a well-known Turkish restaurant called Onza where we enjoyed a fabulous meal. We started with “simit” which is a Turkish bread with sesame, then eggplant puree, fennel said with dried blueberries and pecans. Next we had something called “pide” which is a bread boat filled with bits of chopped bacon, lamb and shrimps mixed with some sort of greens. Then we had a seafood stew in a cream base with squid, shrimp and mussels. The dessert was amazing – we had knaiffee which is a flaky pastry made with nuts and honey over sweetened, warm mozzarrella/goat cheese. It sounds a bit strange but was heavenly. We also shared a rice pudding seasoned with cardamom and served with caramelized bananas and toffee pieces. We were stuffed!
