Jerusalem
Restaurant is located at 4777 Leslie Ave., about midway between
Sheppard and Finch Avenues in North York, Toronto's northern
district. Jersualem has a striking interior with a skylight with
indoor tree, Roman columns and large semicircular booths reminiscent
of Cynthia's Paradise; it's quite elegant. We went for weekend lunch.
AYCD pop is also available for $1.99.
Lentil soup was
delicious, rich in cumin. Mishy did not like the falafel, but I did
although it was a bit dry. Crab salad was good but could have used a
bit more flavor. Tabbouleh was excellent and fresh, well seasoned.
Stuffed chicken was very good and flavorful. Stuffed crêpe with
cheese and spinach was delicious and the stuffing was nicely
cheese-flavored. Mishy loved it. There was an entire roast lamb, head
and all... I think this is why the Sunday brunch was significantly
more expensive than Saturday, and if so I definitely would have given
it a miss. Ozra pasta it was good, but I wished it had no lamb in it…
I don't like lamb both for the ethical issue of slaughtering a baby
animal (I avoid veal for the same reason) and it also has a gamey flavour
I find unappetizing. One of the staff there managed to put some of
the roasted lamb on my plate while I stared at it; well, if you're a fan it
was definitely flavourful, just not one I personally enjoy.
Stuffed zucchini
very good, normally not into zucchini but the spicing overpowered the
blandness. Beef kabob was very good in a nice gravy, rather like a
Middle Eastern meatball. Rice with chicken is a nice pilaf. Chicken
kebab very good nicely spiced and not overdone. Grilled basa filet
was good but needed some lemon. Happily, the nearby lemon potatoes
were able to lend their flavour. Lemon potatoes themselves were good;
the two flavors unexpectedly go well together. Hummus was excellent
and very good on the falafels. Couscous was good and tasted
authentic. Chickpeas were tasty but were dry. Mixed vegetables were
all right but a bit short on zest and flavour. The green beans still
had stems on them.
For dessert,
there was no ice cream but that wasn't an issue there were plenty of
other options. Halva is a delicious bittersweet confection. Macaroons
were good, but I think they got them out of a box. Date squares were
very good. Baklava was quite good as well, and tasted it as if it was
made on premises. Namoora was very good with a nice flavor wheaty
flavour ... it's made with wheat farina aka Cream of Wheat. Turkish
delight was the best I've ever had, with rosewater, mint and lemon
flavours rather than just the usual rosewater. Rice pudding was very
good, though a little more cinnamon would not have been unwelcome.
Mahalabiya (Lebanese custard) was very good with a wonderful subtle
flavour. Panna cotta custard was very good with a drop of mango in
the centre. However the caramel custard had a burnt flavour, Mishy
and I both noticed and neither liked it much and we certainly did at
other locations (such as Genghis Khan Mongolian Grill.)
Lunch is $24.95
lunch on Sunday, even though it is $17.95 on Saturdays; as noted this
is probably due to the entire lamb which I didn't want anyway. We
weren't able to go on Saturday as we wanted to, and were foolish enough to assume that
day's price also applied, so I can't really fault the establishment
on this and will rate as though we went on Saturday and disregard the
lamb as a personal preference. In this case, most of the items
available were quite good although there were a few shortcomings,
plus we loved the atmosphere and ended up having quite a long and
relaxed lunch there which certainly held us over until the next day.
As well, almost all of the offerings at Jerusalem are unique among
AYCE restaurants. Thus $17.95 would be quite a good value,
especially with the AYCD soft drinks as noted.
Rating: 8-8.5/10
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