Zahav, Philadelphia

Reviewer: Foodnut.com Zahav 237 St James Pl Philadelphia, PA 19106 (215) 625-8800 Zahav Website

Forget about the cheese-steak! When you ask foodies in Philadelphia, Zahav often comes up as the must visit restaurant. We had to dine at this 4.5 Yelp rated stop. They serve Middle Eastern Israeli cuisine. We have nothing like this in the San Francisco Area.

You need to make reservation well in advance, otherwise line up before they open at 5pm for a seat at the bar or chef’s counter. We lined up at 440pm on a Sunday and got a spot easily.

This was easily the best meal of our trip. Unique offerings with a high level of cooking prowess. Be sure to give this try when you are in Philly.

Menu

Zahav has a variety of reasonably priced salatim, hummus, and mezzo small plates. Many entrees with lots of options for vegetarians and gluten free eaters.
They also have a tasting menu ($48) plus a special chefs tasting where they pick all dishes plus include a special entree. ($60) The entire table must order the special menu. Food quantities are really high with these set menus.

taste of zahav

salatim & hummus
with laffa
two mezze
one al ha’esh
dessert
$48 per person for the entire party

Service

Our server really knew her stuff, helped with suggestions, and was personable. Water and other tasks happened organically.

Food Picks

We ordered 2 tasting menus, which is a TON of food.

Lemonnana ($10) was like a spiked lemonade. Very nice on a hot n humid day.

Salatim ($16/$28) has 6 daily vegetable salads. A nice assortment of salads. Really liked the waxed beans and the beet salad. Interesting dish, but we could have sacrificed this to reduce quantities of food.

Hummus Classic ($9/13) served with Laffa baked in their wood burning oven. Sesame, garlic, lemon, olive oil, cumin, green regina. About the most smooth hummus we’ve had. Hot Laffa pita straight out of the oven. OMG!

Fried cauliflower ($10) labneh, garlic, mint, aleppo was also very well done. Crispy veggies with a sauce on the rim. Vegetarians rejoice!

Haloumi ($10) Strawberry, Rose, Pinenuts is a goat cheese based dish that is very rich but worthy. The cheese had a nice crust from the cooking.

Spring Onion ($10) English Peas, Feta, Verbena looked beautiful and proved also to be good.

Grilled duck hearts ($10) green garbanzos, carrot, pistachio wowed us. Did not expect to like it, but the chewy hearts were great.

Hanger steak ($14) ajvar, harissa was recommended by our server. Very well done. Their charcoal grill works it magic on this.

Eggplant ($14) lentils, silan is a great vegetarian entree. Also cooked on the grill, adding some char. The lentils topped this dish.

Chocolate sorbet ($9) Passionfruit, sesame was good but not as good as the custard. Eggless and gluten free.

Malabi Custard ($9) strawberry, almond, rose was our top dessert of the nice. Crunchy bits on a bed of not too sweet pudding like custard. Eggless and gluten free.

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