Thursday, January 16, 2014

Yakota (Beersheba) 01/2014



Our incredibly friendly host, the chef owner of this Moroccan restaurant, Bebber, was delighted to be able to serve us. He was, he said “living my dream”. He goes to sleep with a smile on his face and wakes up with a smile on his face. 
 
The place is full of charming atmosphere.  Shapes of the doorways and columns and the decor
 including the light fittings and photo's of weddings a hundred years ago all add to this.
The menu is extraordinary. It is a meat restaurant and more ‘nose to tail’ than any we have previously encountered. It includes such items as turkey testicles and bulls feet. I would have loved to have tried these dishes but, out voted, we had the more standard Moroccan fare.
we were served about a dozen small dishes including a variety of presentations of egg plant, a spicy dish of pickled vegetables, a dish of boiled quince, what he called love fruit, orange and dates infused with rose water giving it a light and unique taste and a house specialty—humus, accompanied by Moroccan bread.
 
Shef Bebber, as he calls himself on his English card, then brought a small sweet appetizer 
followed by a series of tagines, steaming hot, to the table, all to share.
A cous cous, chick pea and root vegetable was served in a ceramic tagine
to be eaten with the slow cooked beef,
steaming hot lamb,

or veal is another house specialty.
 and one more meat dish
 
This was a substantial meal and we were ready to leave but our host insisted that tradition demanded that we finish the meal with tea and sweets.
A tiered tray arrived shortly after filled with a variety of quite delicate Moroccan delights.
The food here is as genuinely Moroccan and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience
After this it was going to very hard to manage another dinner at Hatracklin, a well known meat restaurant in Tel Aviv, only a few hours later.
  Score: 13.75/20

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