by Albert L. on Located below the Society Hill Towers, Zahav was a surprising addition to Old City since its space was occupied for many many years by Italian restaurant Sfizzos before abruptly closing its doors. Before the grand opening, the entire staff was flown to Israel to learn its customs and cuisine. Considered "high end Israeli cuisine, " my nose would soon lead me to their fried cauliflower. Ever a fan of hummus and chickpeas, I engaged in their sampling menu which is held ever Thursday evening. Seated in their private quarters, I felt a bit overdressed and wondered if I was experiencing life during the biblical times. From the flowing fountain to its candle lights, the urge to eat with your hands was overwhelming. As the server bought out a variety of fresh hummus and bread, I didn't feel anyone in my party would be ashamed of just "filling up on bread." Fortunately, we were able to wash it down and savor the flavors of Israel -chickpeas, grounded beets, fried cauliflower with two free hands and one hungry mouth.. What came next was far beyond my comprehension. Their "seafood" dish consisted of a single shrimp dressed in a light sauce which by any standards would be the largest piece of shrimp I have ever laid eyes on in 29 years. If only I could ask how many hormone injections were pumped into that prawn. Boy was it ever good! For our main course, lamb was our dish of choice served with such loving care that our meat melted the second it touched our mouths. Nothing says loving like 8 hours in the oven. Great atmosphere, great service and great food. Come enjoy a dinner and a movie. After all, the Ritz 5 is a mere stone throw away....
by l l. on Security and especially Sam fucked up this club. It's just like a Hollywood club with the security acting like they own the city. Get laid and relax sometimes or get a new day job. Paul you need to get fired already. You DO NOT know how to do your job properly you weasel.
by Irwin Eastburn on great food, but TERRIBLE management. I went with a group of 12, and aside from the fact that we had told the staff from the moment that we walked in that our group of 20 had dwindleddown to 12, they STILL wanted to charge us for 20 people's worth of empanadas, cheese, ham, grapes and Sangria. The manager's excuse was that he had ordered this food "especially" for 20 people and that it would go bad. Even after having a lengthy discussion with the manager, he would only give us 15% off, which was equivalent to 17 people, and then still tried to charge us a 20% gratuity off the total for 20 with tax. INCREDIBLE. We paid over $700 for some light appetizers and sangria. I will never go there again for a group (not ne you reserve in advance, if you ever want to do that, just show up, they'll find a way to seat you and they can't SCREW you with advanced reservation policies). Overall, not worth it. Too bad, b/c the food isn't half-bad.
