by Ivory Leukhardt on I would give this place negative 5 stars if I could. It's amazing how unnecessarily pretentious this place is. It amazes me that people who work for the front door have an ego as if they own the place and talk to people who actually are coming to spend money. First off, the two oversized door men who were clearly angry at the world for having such a crappy job and being obese, were jerks. They immediately said I couldn't get in because of my shoes, which were in fact typical boots that get me into almost everywhere, and when I proceeded to tell him that I've never had a problem, he said well those places are in Hollywood. He said it as if this dark alley in the middle of crapola Downtown was something to really be proud of. I was fine with not being allowed in, it was the lack of courtesy and the terrible service of the people at the front. How places like this make money for the way they treat people is astonishing, especially when me and my friends would've definitely thrown down some change. It's even worse when the lowest of the chain workers are the ones being the snooty ones. Ah well, places like this always disappear and I'm sure if they continue the prissy pretentious attitude, it will be sooner than later.
by Ben Stefanick on I really want to like this place. I don't think I was drunk enough for it... My beautiful boys payed for me and we went on some... latin night or something. I think as I walked up the stairs to the dance floor I was inner-twinned with at LEAST 3 groups' drama. Goddamnit someone get me an AMF! Down the drinks, tasty, but not enough alcohol (Can one say that about an AMF???)... 2 shots of patron after... I'm feeling ok. A little stuffy and hot but I'm dancing with beautiful brown latin gay men. Helloo. I turn and see a man kissing one of the go-go dancers. Aww so cu-...what?! Why is this man giving him an almost-blow job. Not drunk enough for this... One tokyo tea. Yes... thanks.. Wait where are my friends? Oh they're getting their mack on in the smoking area.. cool.. SO I find me some cuties to dance with. Blergh everyone is singing to this pop spanish song ... I dont know spanish.. (I'm such a disgrace to my country)... whatever I'll keep dancing. ... all in all a good 3 stars for the experience. I guess I'll give this place another chance... someday..
by Nat P. on Journey to Zahav for a modern twist on Israeli middle eastern cuisine! I heard the buzz about this place a while ago and checked it out last week to get the low down first hand. At first the address to the place is very deceiving. It's near the Society Hill Towers or easier yet...if you know where the Ritz 5 is in Old City, you know where this place is. It's across the street and up the stairs from the theatre. Entering the restaurant, you see a very sexy, modern decor. The lovely wood bar is closest to the main entrance, and it's very long and lots of seating there. The dining area is adequate in size. Tables closest to the window can be somewhat awkward since they are rather close to each other, but it's all good, this gives you few of what other people are ordering. I swear this one table close to us, order the exact same shit we did. The drink menu was very decent, it had interesting cocktails like 6th Borough, which is made with Arak, a liquor sorta like Greek Ouzo, and there was the Lemonanna, which had bourbon, mint and lemon. I had both. I loved the Lemonanna, it was very refreshing, you could drink a bunch of those its so good. The other cocktail was a little to overpowering for me. If you like the licorice like taste, you will love this cocktail. It's rather strong as well. The menu had a lot of selections to choose from. These are small plates so about 3 or so plates to share per person I think is good. We ordered the Fried Kibbe (ground beef with bulgar wheat), the Monsieur Merguez (spicy lamb sausage), The Bulgarian (ground beef and lamb), Crispy Haloumi (sheeps milk cheese)i, Balkan style Mackerel. All of the plates were exceptionally prepared and presented. But the highlights had to be the Haloumi and the Merguez. The Haloumi was just perfectly done and tasty. I was skeptical about getting a cheese plate but after eating this, I could have had it for a meal. The cheese was not as pungent as some, and not too mild either. It was cooked just right with a nice crispy exterior. The Merguez was just tasty, fully seasoned and down right delicious. I would have rathered it be a little more spicy though. After all that, I was wondering what else could top that, but the dessert was wicked good. I had the Honey cake which was moist and so damn good. I'm not a dessert person but I finished this with no effort. We also had the New School, made with Konafi, Kumquats and Labaneh ice cream. I love labaneh yogurt, so this was a treat. Service was excellent. Our waiter was very knowledgeable and gave great explanations of everything on the menu, with awesome suggestions. I thoroughly enjoyed my dinner. The well thought out menu is very well executed. Anyone who enjoys middle eastern cuisine will enjoy this place.
