Ephraim is a young and very bright do-it-yourself entrepreneur who made aliya from New York. He learned to become a professional beer brewer by reading the 50 some odd books in his library and by lots and lots of experimentation. Even today, Ephraim says he’s constantly trying out new tweaks to his various brews, that goes for his sausage sandwiches as well. But I’ll describe all the culinary stuff more in detail below.

Ephraim Greenblatt, master beer maker, beer judge and smiley host

Ambiance

As my wife and I strolled down HaEgoz St. in Mahane Yehuda looking for Hatch, we walked slowly past staring at the place, thinking to ourselves, “Nope, that can’t be it.” At the time, the restaurant had no signs and kind of looked like a work-in-progress hang out. Ephraim noticed our bewildered looks and gestured and I told him we were looking for Hatch and he said “You’ve arrived.”

When we arrived, Hatch was only 3 weeks old so it truly was still in the work-in-progress stage.

In any case, Hatch is a brewpub that serves street food so don’t go there wearing your tux (if you have one).

Both secular & religious beer lovers come to Hatch

Hatch draws Haredi clientele as well

Hatch’s home-brewed beer & home-made sausages

Cuisine:

While we looked forward to partaking of some exquisite beers during our visit, we came to have a meal while we were at it. And have a meal we did.

House-Made Sausage Sandwiches

We started off with the Louisana-style Po Boy sandwich which includes a house-baked bun and garlic sausage, lettuce, tomatoe, red onion, tartar sauce and a mildly spicy tomato salsa. The combination of the garlic sauage with all the other ingredients was superb.

Po Boy Sausage sandwich with tartar sauce & spicy salsa

The BBQ chip sandwich is filled with a smokey sausage, potatoes, pickles, caper, a bbq spice and mustard and barbecue chips. Yum.

BBQ Sausage Sandwich – smokey sausage with delcious extras in a house-baked roll

The Weisswurst sandwich is a mouthwatering combination of Weisswurst sausage, lettuce, parsley, lemon zest and a honey mustard sauce.

Hatch’s Weisswurst sausage sandwich with honey mustard sauce

And last but not least is the Tunis sandwich. The sausage’s meat is seasoned with harissa, cumin, caraway, and coriander seeds, and although you might think that with all those Mediterranean spices the sausage might be spicy – it isn’t. As you can see in the photo below, the sausage is accompanied by fresh kohlrabi and coriander which make it a true Mediterranean delicacy.

Tunis sausage sandwich with kohlrabi and coriander

Hatch’s Micro-Brewed Beer

I never had any knowledge of the beer brewing process or the different types of beers. After my visit to Hatch, I am still uneducated about beer, but I not longer consider myself completely ignorant. For Ephraim Greenblatt, beer brewing is not just a business, it’s first and foremost a hobby, maybe even an art, and he gladly fielded all of my uneducated questions.

Taking the beginners course Beer brewing 101 would make you aware of the fact that beer is made using four basic ingredients: barley, hops, yeast and water. Beer brewers can create a beer with a particular flavor by altering the types and relative quantities of the various ingredients.

On the evening of our visit, Hatch had three distinctly different beer offerings. I say on that evening, because Ephraim is constantly updating his brews and his sausage sandwiches and so what you taste on one visit may not be what your find on your next visit. That’s part of the creative atmosphere at Hatch.

In any case, these are the beers we tasted:

• Belgium Tripel beer: has 7.5% alcohol (most over-the-counter beers have 5%) and boasts a rich, fruity flavor due to the Belgium yeast in the brew. This was my favorite both because of the marvelous taste and the elevated joy factor caused by the higher alcohol level.
• American Amber:  a slightly more bitter beer because the flavor of the yeast is a bit more dominant (5.5% alcohol).
• Double IPA – of the three beers I tasted, this one had with the highest level of yeast, but the malt balanced it out and it was quite tasty.

Service:

The service at Hatch was superb – quick, super friendly and professional.

A Humorous Kosher Moment

In the video clip below, taken from the security camera at his restaurant, Ephraim can be seen giving a lecture to 20 mashgichim (kosher supervisors) who came to Hatch the week before my visit to understand how beer is brewed. Ephraim quipped that with so many supervisors at his restaurant at the same time it was the most kosher restaurant in the world.

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Restaurant details:

Name of restaurant: Hatch Brewpub
Address: 28 HaEgoz St., Jerusalem
Phone: 052-221-4443
Hours: Sun-Thurs 1PM-Midnight | Fri & Motzei Shabbat seasonal hours
Kashrut: Jerusalem Rabbinate Mehadrin, Chatam Sofer, the meat is Badatz Kehillot
It is always recommended to check the kashrut certificate and the expiration date

Menu:

Hatch’s constantly updating menu

Directions:

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See the list of all mehadrin restaurants in Jerusalem

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Urbun Cafe, the same youthful spirit, but it’s mehadrin

The owner and operator of Urbun Cafe, Josh Admon, grew up in a secular Jewish family in Westwood, LA. That’s not far from Pacific Palisades where I grew up. Josh decided to drop out of college and enroll in culinary school to follow his dream of learning to become a chef. After several years of working in restaurants in the US, he decided to come on a trip to Israel, and here he got turned onto his Jewish roots at Aish HaTorah and he now lives with his growing family in a Jerusalem suburb.

Urbun Ambiance

Urbun Cafe is a two minute walk from Mahane Yehuda. It’s located on a small side street together with several other ethic and alternative-type restaurants. Seating is cafe style and the restaurant boasts indoor seating for those who want a bit more privacy and outdoor tables for those who like people-watching and enjoying the fresh, outdoor air.

There’s soft music playing in the background which provides a pleasant, relaxing atmosphere.

Cuisine

Urbun’s menu offers a variety of hot buns with toppings and a selection of coffees and other beverages.

The buns are prepared by the house and can be ordered with different scrumptious toppings. Some of the toppings include blueberry bliss, pecan pleasure (peach jam with fresh ginger with crushed lotus cookies) & peanut better cup (warm peanut butter sauce and bitter-sweet chocolate chips) to name a few. See the complete menu below.

Blueberry bliss – a hot bun topped with blueberry jelly and espresso sauce

Service

The service at Urbun is friendly and fast. Josh makes sure everything is running smoothly and is always happy to respond to customers questions or to help out.

I would highly recommend Urbun for the food and the other plusses I mentioned above and also to support this young entrepreneur who wants to provide an outstanding cafe experience to Jerusalemites while maintaining high kashrut standards.

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Restaurant Details

Name of restaurant: Urbun
Address: 5 Ha-Shikma St
Phone: 054-292-0932
Hours: Sun-Tues 8AM-5PM, Fri 8AM-3PM
Kashrut: Jerusalem Rabbinate Glatt Mehadrin
It is recommended to check the kashrut certificate and the expiration date

Menu:

Urbun’s Bun Menu

Directions

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If you’re wondering about the restaurant’s name, the term trattoria refers to a less formal, Italian-style restaurant and Haba is the name of the family that established the restaurant (the Haba family is well-known for their bakeries in Jerusalem).

Entrance to Trattoria Haba on Yafo St.

The truth is, I walked past Trattoria Haba many times on my visits to Mahane Yehuda, but whenever I glanced into the place as I hurried by, all I saw was a beautiful variety of breads and baked goods. I mistakenly thought that this was “just” a bakery. I’m not one to go out of my way to buy baked goods. I guess I’m more of a meat and potatoes type of guy.

You might ask how then did I discover Haba – the restaurant? Well, the answer to that is simple – I didn’t discover it. My wife did! We had just finished a very disappointing dinner experience at another restaurant nearby, and we were strolling back to our car when Haba caught my wife’s eye. Maybe I should listen to her more often…

We poked our heads in to take a look and the place was packed. That’s a tell-tale sign that it’s worth investigating further! We asked to take a look at the menu, and it looked really inviting. As we went on our way, I made a mental note for us to visit Haba in the future. Last week I decided that the time had come, and we weren’t disappointed at all.

The Ambiance

The decor at Haba is casual but with some really charming touches. The wall directly to the left upon entering is painted a bright yellow and is covered with professionally designed signs in Hebrew and English touting the “Catch of the Day,” “Pasta Fresca” “Drink in or Take Out” – is that a funny translation from Hebrew or what? Beneath the signs are wooden bins filled with colorful fresh fruits and vegetables.

The adjacent wall is lined with shelves with bags of coffee beans, wine bottles and specialty breads prepared in Haba’s bakery upstairs. The front counter is covered with baguettes, gorgeous pastries and specialty items such as strawberry jam, cherry tomato spread, pickled lemon cream – all made by the house.

The chairs and tables are cafe style, they’re not fancy, but they fit in with the overall feel of the restaurant. Towards the back of the restaurant there is a door that leads to a small outdoor seating area situated in the shuk of Mahane Yehuda. There is quite a bit of additional seating upstairs, but most people seem to prefer sitting downstairs.

Outdoor seating in Mahane Yehuda

Wine bottles on display add a classy touch

The Cuisine

Although the atmosphere at Haba is pleasant, what’s really impressive is their cuisine. Haba’s breakfast menu is not extensive, but it has a lot of variety and the dishes are well thought out and presented with flair. Among the dishes are a healthy quinoa salad, shukshuka, and Trout Benedict (eggs benedict served on a bed of steamed spinach, toasted challah and trout accented with a delightful hollandaise sauce).

Baladi Eggplant with tahini and harissa sauces & crispy focaccia

Haba’s menu for the afternoon and evening has a rich selection of Italian dishes. For a starter, we ordered the Baladi Eggplant which is roasted and deliciously seasoned. The eggplant is surrounded by dabs of tahini and harissa sauces and garnished with chopped tomatoes and chopped parsley. All this deliciousness is rounded off by a crispy, seasoned focaccia baked by the house

For our main courses we ordered the Open Lasagna and the Leek and Potato Latkes.

Haba’s lasagna, filled with swiss chard ragu and grilled zucchini, is baked in a savory, creamy tomato sauce and is topped with tarragon and pecorino cheeses. The lasagna is not heavy on the pasta, but the flavors are exquisite.

Open Lasagna in creamy tomato sauce topped with tarragon and pecorino cheeses

The leek and potato latkes are served with a healthy portion of mujaddara rice with lentils and leeks topped with a tasty yogurt sauce. The dish came out piping hot, and it was truly delectable.

Leek and potato latkes with mujaddara and yogurt sauce

Among Haba’s other offerings are pizzas and focaccias baked in the restaurant’s taboun, spinach fettuccine, the risotto of the day, cheese tortellini and salads to name a few.

Burrata cheese salad

Sea Bream fillet on fettuccine with lemon butter sauce

Haba is famous for their breads, and their desserts looked mouthwatering, but we were stuffed by all the food, and we’ll have to taste those melt-in-your-mouth yummies on another visit.

Baguettes & specialty breads baked in house

A few of the many house desserts

Service

The service at Haba was quite good. We were given menus very quickly, and the waitress returned soon after to take our orders. Everything arrived on time: our drinks, the first course and the main courses. The waiters and other staff were all extremely friendly and helpful. I must note that on the evening of our visit the restaurant was experiencing a very slow night (we noticed that there were very few people walking around downtown in comparison to usual).

During peak hours the restaurant gets really hopping, and it’s best to reserve a table ahead of time because otherwise you may have to wait to get seated.

Parking

Since Haba is downtown, finding parking on the street is extremely difficult. However, there are three large parking lots nearby – one is located under Mercaz Clal on Kiach St, the second one is on Agrippas St. and third one on Mordechai A’liash St.

Restaurant rating:

(1 = poor 5 = Awesome)
Ambiance: 3+
Food: 4+
Service: 4
Cleanliness: 4

Restaurant Details:

Name of restaurant: Haba
Address: 119 Yafo St., Jerusalem
Phone: 02-623-3379
Hours: Sun-Thurs: 7AM-11PM | Fri 7AM-3PM
Kashrut: Jerusalem Rabbanat Mehadrin
It is always recommended to check the kashrut certificate and its expiration date

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Directions

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See the list of all mehadrin restaurants in Jerusalem

The post Trattoria Haba – Exquisite Italian Food Near Mahane Yehuda appeared first on Mehadrin Restaurants in Israel.