On the way to Eilat – Korenmehl Farm

Finally, Passover and all its food restrictions, is over.  Except for Matza bread (which we didn’t eat), Passover also means holiday – and this year we decided to explore the Negev and we took Adi and Tomer as hostages.

The Dead Sea

We started in the Dead Sea area and then we moved to Sde Boker. We had a quite long trip but this a food blog so we will only focus on the culinary, and coming to describe the culinary side, there was one restaurant that worth mentioning and stopping by – if you’re on your way to Eilat or around the Negev.

Sde Boker - Tzin Creek

Korenmehl Farm is located on road 40, just a bit after Tlalim Kibbutz. It is a lonely farm on a hill top with extraordinary view. The farm raises flock of sheep and serves food that is based on their milk. As such the restaurant is vegetarian. Fortunately, we sat at the best place in the restaurant observing the desert breathtaking view.

Goat Yogurt Drink with Sweet Syrup

We started with a special drink – Natural goat yogurt drink that was served alongside sweet syrup that gave it a nice twist. At this point we were very hungry and decided to share several courses: Tomme Katom – grated Tomme cheese served above Cherry Tomatoes and roasted red Pepper. Simple dish that respects the homemade cheese; Mini Red Peppers filed with soft cheese on top of cucumbers. The spiciness of the Mini Peppers rescued the dish from being mediocre.

Tomme Katom

Mini Red Peppers

Then, we were served a Plate of cheese with homemade bread (Passover Kosher). We wish we could share with you the name of the cheeses on the plate but unfortunately, this information wasn’t shared with us as well. We can only say that some of them were really good, especially the hard and spicy cheeses.

Plate of cheese

In addition to the above we also ordered Goat cheese Pizza (again Passover Kosher dough), that was surprisingly more tasty then our expectations and Hagar in the oven – Camembert cheese served on top of potatoes slices with yogurt & garlic sauce.  This dish was a bit 80’s like but the quality of the cheese gave it a special kick.

Pannna Cota

For dessert we took Goat Pannna Cota that was a thicker version of the Yael drink.

Overall and although the service was lacking, we were quite satisfied with the quality of the restaurant in the middle of the desert – which we defiantly didn’t expect to find. We will not go there especially, but on our way to Eilat we will definitely consider it.

The Check Please (4 people)
4 X Yael – 68 NIS
Tomme Katom – 33NIS
Mini Red Peppers  -21NIS
Cheese Plate – 57 NIS
Goat Cheese Pizza – 37
Hagar in the oven – 39 – NIS
Pannna Cota  – 21NIS

All in all 278NIS

Summary:

Food: Vegetarian – Goat cheeses
Price: Medium
Location: Negev (Road 40, Tlalim)

The Cizer-Kobrinsky Scale:

3.5 Forks

Contact Details: Korenmehl Goat Cheese Farm
Address:  Korenmehl Farm, Negev Highland, Northern Negev | Phone: 08-6555140 |
Daily 10:00-18:00 (but call to make sure it’s open)
http://kornmehlfarm.ramon.gonegev.co.il/english.asp

The Jaffa Escape – Yona

Some things seem simply inevitable. The sun will rise up in the morning; Messi will score in the next Barca match; A new restaurant with a lot of buzz, a predictable name and a perfect location will succeed. At least it was our assumption when we headed at another Thursday night to the new hot name at the vibrant Jaffa Port area – Yona (or Jonah).

Yona

Yona’s atmosphere is pretty cool. The combination between wooden furniture, high ceiling and the open kitchen creates a setting which you can’t ignore – some kind of urban-yet-welcoming feeling. Even though, we felt it a bit too processed and trying too hard to impress. But hey – it wasn’t as bad as the food.

Taboun Grilled Tomato salad & Haloumi Terracota

The starter we took was at least an attempt to create an original dish. The tomato salad Terracota and melting Halloumi cheese (cooked in the Taboun) isn’t something you’d normally see in a restaurant’s menu, but it lacked any real soul in it. The tomato salad was nothing more than a few chopped tomatoes without any kicking flavor. Too bad for the Halloumi, which definitely saw some better dishes next to it.

Bouillabaisse soup

The two main courses we took were a different story altogether – some kind of a horror story. Bouillabaisse soup is one of our all-time favorite sea food dishes. When the chef knows what he is doing, it can be marvelous (we recommend the neighboring Container for this one).  Unfortunately this one was lousy. The soup was served separated from the seafood (why? It is best to cook them together), which made the soup itself simply tasteless. The mediocre fish, as well as the mussels and the shrimps seemed as they don’t understand what had been poured on them as Inbar combined the two.

Hanger Steak Medallions

The other main course could have been a rescue for the dinner. The Hanger Steak medallions we ordered felt they had taken care of by someone who understands how to pick beef. Unfortunately, the dish, served along some tired Chard leaves, was simply cold. After asking for another round of heating for the beef we got it again. Cold. At this point there was no hope for the beef after taken out twice out of the pan. While waiting for it, at least we had some very successful oven potatoes that kept us from starving.

Oven Baked Potatoes - Kept us from starving

After that experience, we have decided we will act as the Hebrew prophet and flee outside to the beautiful Jaffa Port. Though it seems the restaurant is a success in terms of occupancy, it should definitely have deep thoughts about its chefs.

The Check Please (2 people)

Taboun Grilled Tomato salad & Haloumi Terracota – 32 NIS
Bouillabaisse soup – 99 NIS
Hanger Steak Medallions – 79 NIS
Oven Baked Potatoes – 14 NIS
Guinness 1/3 lt – 22 NIS
Weinsteffen 1/3 lt – 22 NIS
Perrier – 8 NIS

All in all: 276 NIS

Summary:

Food: Seafood & Taboun grilled food
Price: Medium-Expensive
Location: Jaffa Port

The Cizer-Kobrinsky Scale:

1.5 Forks

Contact Details: Yona (Jonah)
Address:  Hangar 1, Jaffa Port, Jaffa| Phone: 03-7742222 |
Daily 12:00-24:00
http://www.yona.be/en/