We had heard wonderful things about Chef Meir Adoni and his mini-empire
here in Tel Aviv and chose to dine at Ha-Mizlala or Mizlala (which means the
eatery) his small and casual spot just a 5 minute walk from our hotel. The menu
is good sized with many choices and we decided to start with cocktails and
bread. I went for the refreshing Absolutely Cilantro with Findlandia, Sauza
Silver Tequila, Cucumber, Lime and some chilis for spice. Sam chose the White
Sourdough bread with Cilantro seeds and Rye Bread with raisins which came with
butter and an awesome thick red pepper aioli.
We perused the menus for dishes and wines and settled on a rose and red
(suggested by our excellent server Anna) for the meals: Gri de Merselani Rose
2015 from Recanati in the Emek Chefer (Chefer Valley) and the superb smooth yet
slightly spicy Shoresh Tzora 2014 from the Judean Hills, a blend of Cabernet
Sauvignon, Syrah & Petit Verdot.
Will started with the Artichoke Caesar which was loaded with chokes and a
huge salad indeed also with red onions, pickled egg and huge croutons. Indeed
many of the dishes were large here as we discovered. Sam headed right for the
Kobniih or Veal Fillet Tartare with bulgur, smoked arisa, white aubergine cream,
cauliflower and peanuts but asked them to hold the yuzu yogurt and it was a
superb tartare for sure loaded with spice and flavors as well. My dish was
called Sicilia and were charcoal grilled Sweetbreads, root veggies(carrots,beans
ant with more) in a spicy stew with herbs, lemon zest, big parsley and Parmesan
on top which was super yummy and flavorful as well.
As we headed to the mains after a nice rest the dishes seemed to get huge
with Samuel going to Streets of Bombay-lamb breast, green curry, Thai
aubergine okra, garam masala, red onions, liah, cauliflower and rice. My
Jericho chicken was citrus grilled with baharat, pickled lemons, liah, fareek
stew, aubergine cream, yogurt, tomato salsa and Tahini and I got to split this
halfway with Will who chose the excellent, tender and tasty Veal Fillet with
green garlic cream, onion filled with veal, bulgur & herbs and more of that
wonderful aubergine cream, as well as natural almond and a pepper sauce.
We were all thrilled with every bit and even the desserts
Sweet Emotion was Chocolate & caramel cremo and hazelnuts, cardamom,
dark chocolate mousse with pistachio cream eclairs which we called awesomeness
on a spoon.
New Middle East was semolina & bharat cream with yogurt crumble,
nectarine, apricot sorbet, hyssop oil and other yummy stuff but not as awesome
as the mousse.
Grappa from Galil came from the house and we went home super super happy
looking forward to heading to another of Chef Meir's places tonight.
