Shanty

TL;DR version: a must-try! A home-run as far as we were concerned. My wife and I booked this place on a Friday night for our anniversary. We hadn't been out in AGES due to Covid, so this was the first in a long time. We were slightly apprehensive in terms of expectations, as the pandemic pretty much reset everything to zero worldwide and we didn't know whether we could trust reviews from early 2020. That said, we were intent on going somewhere we hadn't been before, so we decided to give this a shot. On a chilly Friday night the restaurant was quite full. There aren't too many tables though, so you don't get a feeling of being too crowded. The tables are responsibly distanced from each other, although being indoors I wouldn't really count on that if you are very skittish regarding Covid. However, they do make sure to check your "Green Pass" (Covid vaccination certificate / recovery certificate if you had Covid) and they do make sure that it's up to date. Stav, the manager, was gracious and patient. Didn't hold us at the door asking us for our passes, but rather sat us down first and then came back when we were settled down to check them. The atmosphere in the place is great for couples or a quiet dinner with friends. It is located in what feels like a mid-19th century or early-20th century structure right in the middle of downtown Jerusalem (but it is inside a quiet walk-thru street so no noise -especially not on a Friday night!). The music level was just right - not too loud so that you have to shout to hear yourself, but just loud enough so that you don't hear other couples chatting. That was a great plus. Menus are disposable paper (felt like bio-degradable, but I can't say for sure), since with Covid restrictions they can't have multi-use menus. The menu is concise with about 6-7 starters, and 6-7 mains. We started with the Focaccia and dips. The bread was excellent - crispy, not too thin, and delicious. The dips were also good - I'm assuming that they would rotate them occasionally but the ones we got were really tasty. We then ordered a special of the day - chicken breast in mushroom-cream sauce (comes with a side of baked or mashed potatoes), and shrimp in white wine, butter garlic and herbs. Both dishes were spectacular, though the portion size of the shrimps was slightly disappointing. My only nitpick was that they should probably serve it with rice to soak up all that delicious sauce! The chicken breast was juicy, tender and not at all dry - and the cream sauce was AMAZING. Service was also top-notch. Solange, our waitress, was patient, not pushy. And after a mixup with our order (my wife ordered mashed potatoes and received baked instead), they didn't blink! Apologized humbly and made us the mashed potatoes, no questions asked! (which is certainly not a given in Israel!). The upside was we got to sample both kinds of potatoes - and both were awesome. The baked potato was crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside. And the mashed potatoes, while not 100% smooth (which is a subjective choice I guess) - were not too lumpy and the texture was great (and they use real butter, also not a given!). As I mentioned the size of my shrimp portion was slightly disappointing, so I decided to order chicken wings (also a staple special not written on the menu). We were a bit undecided about the choice of sauce offered (spicy teriyaki), so Solange winked and told us a "house secret" - you can order them in a lemon-garlic sauce as well! The wings were also fantastic - full of flavor and done just right. We also had some sauce left over from our main dishes, which Solange noticed - she brought us some delicious challah-style bread to mop up the leftovers! We skipped dessert as we had other plans, but we were told that the creme brulee and the chocolate cake are made in-house. Stav then brought us a complimentary chaser of their house liqueur - you have to try it if you're into spiced drinks - slightly lemony with cinnamon, cloves and a hint of saffron. Our bill was entirely reasonable - although we did not have wine or dessert. Still, even with wine, dessert and service you can have a delicious meal for two at a very fair price. To sum up, the experience was outstanding and we will 100% be back.