The Foodie Monster!: Philly Eats: Zahav...Great Israeli Food with the Best Lamb Dish I've Had!

Zahav is my favorite restaurant in Philly. The restaurant focuses on modernizing Israeli food, that is served tapas style, except for the centerpiece...the phenomenal roasted whole lamb shoulder as part of the tasting menu ($45 a person). We went as a group of four...and while you still get a lamb shoulder, with more people you get a bigger roast and even more appetizers.

As part of any tasting menu you get a selection of 8 daily salads/pickles, including cucumber salad, baba ganoush, pickled celery, pickled beets, etc.

You also get a side of pickles as well as seasonings to use with your meal...hot chilies, harissa (also spicy), and zaatar (a seasoning mix with cumin).

We also received the laffa with hummus...the texture of the hummus was so velvety!

Next came the tomato soup...not sure what herbs were used but it tasted smoky and delicious!

Their fried cauliflower dish with a mint and dill sauce was fried and seasoned well...crisp but just melts in

your mouth.

The heirloom tomato salad was just ok...the sauce was somewhat interesting but a fairly straightforward

dish...

The grape leaves salad was delicious the grape leaves just melts in your mouth

It's stuffed with barley and served with oyster mushrooms and vegetables.

Another winner was the grilled haloumi cheese with peaches, corn, and almonds. One of the best

small plates of the night.

Here is a smoked sable dish served on top of toast with an egg yolk inside. The flavors were excellent

but I wish the yolk was a little more runny.

We also received yet another salad...the watermelon/feta combo is now getting to be classic combo since I've seen in in more and more places but for good reason...it's good!

We also got to choose a selection of two grilled items...first was the roasted duck kebabs with

foie gras and pistachios. This was OK, but it was hard to taste the foie and pistachios.

The grilled sea bream with beans and a spicy tomato ragout was cooked

and seasoned well.

After that, it was time for the main even...the whole roasted lamb shoulder with pomegranate, chick peas, and

served on top of rice. OH MY GOD! Right from the first bite of lamb...this so far is the best thing I've eaten this year and the best lamb dish I've ever had. The lamb is so fatty, juicy, and flavorful. The outside of the shoulder is crispy while the inside remains succulent. This dish alone is worth going back to Philly for!

Here's a closeup of a piece of the lamb on my plate...you can see how juicy it looks!

We then received a selection of four desserts...first was a rugelah with a yummy apricot

sorbet on top of caramelized apricot.

Next up is the halvah mouse (on the right) with chickpea praline. On the left is a caramel semifredo with pistachio cookie...The halvah mouse was my favorite dessert but both were good!