Lechem Basar

We were a party of 6 adults, showed up starving for an early dinner/late lunch. Luckily for us, there is a business menu which is valid until 5 pm. We hurried and placed our orders with minutes to spare. The business menu allows you to order many of the main dishes from the regular menu for less money and includes an appetizer. We had a blast ordering- trying out 6 appetizers and a bunch of different main dishes. The bread made at this restaurant is very fresh and delicious. Mostly the appetizers feature this bread and not the mains. We ordered 3 appetizers which featured the bread- the focaccia with roasted veggies and techina= yum, the focaccia with a beef ragout- I didn't even get to try that- too many teenage boys at the table, and a roasted eggplant dish that was perfectly lemony and had a small crescent of bread on the platter. We also ordered the lachmagine which is bread filled with meat and very fragrant and yummy. We also ordered two salads to pretend like we are healthy (a chopped one with kohlrabi which was pretty standard and a house salad with caramelized onions which was very good). Three of the boys ordered the entrecôte steak. One ordered the 450 gram one (which is not on the business menu) and the other two somehow ended up ordering the 250 gram steak which was on the business menu. No one complained at the end of the meal that they were still hungry. I ordered a very solid and flavorful hamburger, my husband enjoyed his spring chicken (pargit) cooked in a sauce, and my oldest son ordered the sinaya which was like a shepherd's pie made with ground lamb, covered in dough and baked in a skillet. He said that it was very good and he enjoyed the zahatar, cumin and other sefardic- style seasonings. A word about the Kashrut of the restaurant. The hechsher is from Rav Machfud right now which is a wonderful hechsher. Some of the things on the menu may not be appropriate for people who follow ashkenazi customs. The restaurant offers a few dishes featuring sirloin steak, offers fillet mignon and some other meat dishes that could be problematic. I asked our waitress about this when we were ordering and she said that the entrecôte steak (rib eye) is fine for Ashkenazim but none of the other steaks. If these kinds of things worry you, check out the menu in advance and either call the mashgiach or your local orthodox rabbi (or both). Just giving you a heads up. In general, the waitresses and waiters were very polite, helpful, spoke english (always a help for us) and friendly. We somehow had room for dessert and embarrassed my husband, er I mean, treated him for his birthday to the chocolate party dessert and the "Galaxy" dessert which was a chocolate ball filled with some sort of lotus flavored mousse. Both were amazing. Overall we had a wonderful meal. We were there at an off time which means we had the pick of where to sit- we chose to sit outside. When we first got there, the sun was kind of shining too strongly on our guests. But, after about 10 minutes, the sun set behind the hotel nearby and it was perfectly comfortable to sit where we were. We had many waiters and waitresses helping us. Some were eating at a table nearby, preparing I would imagine for the onslaught of customers who seem to come each night. Tables are reserved by time slot. So when we called to make a reservation, they told us right away that we would have our table for 2 hours. We ended up having such a good time and lingering at the table longer than that but no one bothered us. I think the restaurant would be quite busy and loud at night, especially if you want to sit inside. It's a bit pricy I think, but, the food was very nice, the portions fair and the location, excellent. Go and enjoy.