Yesterday, two of my friends and I had dinner at Jerusalem Restaurant on 4777 Leslie Street. Jerusalem Restaurant is an all you can eat Middle-Eastern buffet. It’s $25 (tax and tip included) on a weekday. On a weekday there’s a belly-dancing performance. The decor reminds me of the Mediterranean area. My friends and I had a booth table. Prior to going there, I read the reviews online and it was very mixed so I was slightly apprehensive.
For my first plate, I had calamari, mussel in tomato sauce, sea bass fillet, imitation crab salad, saffron rice with meat, rice with chicken, BBQ zucchini and eggplant and half of a zucchini stuffed with meat and rice. I really liked the zucchini stuffed with meat and rice, it was quite delicious. The mussels, calamari and sea bass fillet were tasty and cooked perfectly. I didn’t like the imitation crab salad, it didn’t taste completely like imitation crab and it wasn’t well-made. The BBQ zucchini and eggplant just taste like BBQ vegetables while the saffron rice with meat and rice with chicken were ok.
For my second plate, I had baba ghanoush, hummus, labaneh, taheena, purple coleslaw, crispy shrimp, chickpeas with eggplant and chili, cous-cous and stuffed grape leaves with rice and herbs. Baba ghanoush is eggplant, taheena sauce, lemon, garlic and olive oil blended together. Hummus is chickpeas, garlic, lemon, taheena sauce and olive oil blended together. Labaneh is homemade strained yoghurt with olive oil. Taheena is sesame seed sauce mixed with lemon and garlic. The baba ghanoush, hummus and taheena were absolutely scrumptious. I’ve had better labaneh at Armenian Kitchen. The purple coleslaw, crispy shrimp and chickpeas with eggplant and chli were ok. The cous-cous and stuffed grape leaves with rice and herbs were delectable. The cous-cous was fluffy and light. I had stuffed grape leaves with rice and herbs at Rodeo Brazilian Steakhouse and it is just as delicious as the ones I had there.
For my third plate, I had lentil soup, chicken skewer, pieces of a lamb shank, kabab (kafta), hummus, babaghanoush and taheena. The lentil soup was tasty and enjoyable. I only had pieces of a lamb shank because one of my friends had an entire lamb shank for his second plate and he became very full from it. The portions of the lamb shank are very sizable and quite large. The lamb shank and kabab were tasty. I dipped it in hummus, babaghanoush and taheena which made it scrumptious. The chicken was ok but dipped in hummus, babaghanoush and taheena made it delicious. My other friend told me that anything with hummus and babaghanoush is absolutely delicious and she is correct.
My fourth plate was dessert and Jerusalem Restaurant has creme caramel/flan. It was absolutely delicious and mouthwatering. The last time I had creme caramel/flan, it was homemade by my high school friend a few years ago.
Overall, this restaurant is alright. It’s not as bad as I thought and it definitely has some delicious offerings. If you’re in the neighbourhood and want Middle Eastern cuisine rather than Asian cuisine, then I would recommend this place.
Travelling Foodtographer 