We got there on a cool night, having walked through Maalot Street. This time it wasn't for the food, but to check out the new beers the restaurant is launching these days
Maalot restaurant's experience is not as long as other restaurants' in Jerusalem. This might be the reason why it is still innovative, coming up with new ideas such as molecular gastronomy, although it does still follow the ancient Jerusalem cooking traditions, all led by chefs Israel Bachar and Gad Yaari.
We got there on a cool night, having walked through Maalot Street. This time it wasn't for the food, but to check out the new beers the restaurant is launching these days. The homemade alcoholic line is consistent with the restaurant's cooking concept – here everything is made on the premises.
As we entered the launching event, we were received by a singer escorted by an acoustic guitar, who played beautiful classic tunes all night long. Then we saw the beer table that we came for. Soon enough we started tasting everything, smiling all the way through the end of our drinks that had no less than 10% alcohol concentration.
Maalot has 2 homemade beers now. One is Maalot Argaman (purple) which is branded Belgian, it goes well with fish, has tastes of flowers and caramel, and a fruit fragrance. The second beer is Maalot Ofir which is branded British and goes well with meat dishes, it is darker and therefor sweeter, has roasted tastes and aroma, with hints of raisins, caramel and vanilla.
Next to the beer, smiling waitresses were carrying Maalot's well-known tapas: salmon mousse with grilled vegetables on a crispy bruschetta; eggplant soup made with veal stock and red wine; sirloin kebabs on a cream of asparagus that was served creatively on a personal spoon; shitake mushrooms stuffed with meat, almonds and tomato tahini; duck breast on a sweet tanzeya; stuffed mushrooms with sundried tomatoes and olives, and last but not least – salmon and sea-bass fish kebab with red tahini and pickled lemon. Any curiosity we had was met with a new record.
Maalot restaurant is about a combination of tradition and modernity, and it will not be long before this new beer becomes an icon. Regular and new clients are welcome to try the prestigious food for a fair price, especially at lunch time when a variety of deals is offered.
