"...a spectacular Mediterranean dish that I believe any biker would appreciate after a long ascent through the twisting hills." Yuval Blankovsky visits this known spot for Jerusalem area bikers to take a rest for a tune-up and an espresso.
Kadence Bar Café is a unique combination of bike center and coffee shop. The idea came about in the brain of Shimon, a biker that was searching for a place for riders to meet up to organize long and difficult rides. The area of the Sataf is considered "the Mecca for bikers," and all of the riders in the center of the country find the trails to be beautiful and challenging with ascents and twists that take you around the area of the Sataf, Mevaserett and Ein Karem.
Kadence offers a combination coffee bar and professional cycling store, as well as a café and dairy restaurant. The view from the wide windows at Kadence is the beautiful green expanse of the Jerusalem hills. The place is spacious and the store is filled with a large selection of professional bikes and accessories, sparkling, clean and inviting. Even an inexperienced rider can begin to consider the depths of riding in such a place.
The second part of Kadence houses the restaurant. Here you have the option to sit at the small bar or at one of the more spacious tables. Kadence Bar Café also features a small porch, partially made from the natural rock wall next door. It is beautiful. No doubt that on cold days, this is the best place to sit next to a warn heater and feel the pastoral atmosphere.
It is easy to get to Kadence Bar Café, located next to the old memorial in the Castel area. If you get to the roundabout in the Castel and you see two metal statues of colorful bicycles, you will know you have come to the right place. The meaning of the name Kadence, for those who are not professionals, is the number of tire revolutions per minute, giving a sense of the pace and quality of a ride.
We began our visit at Kadence with goat cheese stuffed pastries served with chopped vegetables. They were warm and flaky, the cheese was aromatic and melted in our mouths. The vegetables were various and quite fresh! This dish was quite a large portion and, despite the modest price, can easily be considered an entrée. We also ordered onion soup. The onion had been sautéed until turning clear, the soup was rich, thick and filled with flavor. Served with cheese toasts in it, this soup warmed us up; definitely the right choice for a cold winter day.
From here we moved on to our entrées. We ordered the four cheese ravioli with pesto sauce. This dish was also a generous portion. The raviolis were stuffed with a rich cheese mixture and served in a sauce made from olive oil, chopped basil and pine nuts. A small dish of grated parmesan complimented the meal. The freshness of the ingredients in this dish was apparent in the taste, as is the case with all of the dishes at Kadence, made on premises.
We also ordered the Kadence special dish, fried barbunia filet. A dozen of these little fish are fried in house. The flesh was light and flaky, served with a delicious tehini sauce and a fresh chopped vegetable salad. This is a spectacular Mediterranean dish that I believe any biker would appreciate after a long ascent through the twisting hills.
We finished our meal and skipped dessert, going right to hot drinks - herbal tea and an espresso, bitter and well pulled. Kadence Bar Café is a place perfect for bicyclers or large groups of tourists in the area that are looking for space to enjoy a delicious restaurant. Parking is available.
