Carnivores event in Shalvata

I guess it all started by getting the invitation for Beygal’e’s carnivores event from several different fronts. I was still on the fence about this event. Finally decided with Itay, the known meat eater, to go to this event   for the following reasons: 1. We remember “Makom shel Basar” as a great steak place. 2. Buffet all you can eat meat (drinks and desserts as well) sounded good. 3. To go there as a goodbye dinner from Itay, as I’m leaving the office to get ready to go to France. 4. For Itay to meet Pormeleg. 

So we bought tickets for 200 nis a person, and started to get excited about it weeks ahead of time. At last, the day has come. I fasted from lunch to make room for all the meat. Itay only ate one rice cracker all day long. We were hungry and anxious to be there already.  

First thing we did was to stand in line to enter. Madness! How many people?

We made a tour around the place before digging in. The atmosphere was…. smoky. Our eyes were red and throats soaring and there was nowhere to run to. Making lamb chops on a grill with the wind blowing to the crowd direction was pretty stupid. 

We found many acquaintances and friends, from high-school, from the Army and recently met friends. It was fun to meet all of them, and Itay meeting Pormeleg was emotional.

 Getting a glass of wine was a problem too. There were no glasses already when we got there (20 min after the doors opening). I found a clean glass very late and never let it go afterwards. The wine was fine but not excellent. The white chardonnay I didn’t like, the red was better. Beer was supposed to be “Alexander” Israeli boutique beer but ended up being Heineken.

Then we saw all the lines to the food stalls. It was crazy. They obviously over sold tickets. We went to eat some of “Lehamin” pastries before attacking the lines. They were good indeed. But it was not the reason we came here. 

About the meat, I did the best I could to try to taste everything that they had to offer. Partial success, I missed some things that had too long lines and then finished completely. I’m gonna arrange them here by the order of my top chart of meats, from last to first. 

The menu that was published is this:

I didn’t taste The taco with meat. I actually thought it was a chicken taco and decided to pass in the beginning.. When I saw it was beef, I was already pretty full. looks good though, specially the soft taco. I regret not trying it. Sorry Tres Pesos. 

  

#11 – Doron Perl, Roman Kebab. I don’t know why but it didn’t make me excited. Reminded me a bit of the frozen roman kebabs. I love garlic and still didn’t get it. 

#10 – Zalman’s meats mix. I think I heard it was with butcher’s cut. A bit overdone for me, or maybe the wrong cut to put on a mix grill. Or the wrong seasoning? I didn’t try their Kebab ‘cuz I was already fed up with the other kebabs. 

#9 –  Agadir embassy burger. I painted ketchup lips on it. It was good meat, less good bun. Ate only few bites. 

#8 – Yusuf’s Meat Hummus. I only ate one bite from Itay’s plate. It was a good hummus. yam yam yam.

#7 – The famous “Diana” Kebab. It was good, even the cooks from Makom Shel Basar were seen eating these kebabs. All because of the cinnamon stick, adds a lot.

#6 & #5 – Shipudei Hatikwa: Beef Fillet Skewers that won this distinguish place because of… the great pepper-cream sauce. And the fact that there wasn’t a long line to get them. The #4 were the un-pictured Lamb Chops. We bagged for a taste from the other side of the grill and they were kind enough to give us one and some mercy from standing in line. Thanks!  Well, you can’t go wrong with lamb chops, they’re awesome. 

#4 – Dr. Shakshuka’s Perfect Shawarma Pole. They were extra nice there and the shawarma, I must admit, pretty much perfect indeed. A portion like that can fill me up completely so I ate the meat out of the pita with a fork and it was delicious enough to even eat one bite with the fresh pita. Only at home I remembered they also had some inside parts stew that I wanted to try but forgot. 

#3 – La Maison’s Pork Neck Pastrami and Pickled Cabbage. What I like about these guys is that they had a line of people standing but they waited with the meat rolling around in the oven until perfectly made and not a minute before or after. It was succulent and very tasty. I like pork, and they made it with respect! Also, It was one of the first things we ate. Hunger is the best spice exists. But still – the third and respectful place is theirs. 

#2 – Makom shel basar, Roasted Sinta (Sirloin). They made huge cuts and took them out of the grill when still pretty rare. The quality of their meat is very high. Do you guys massage your cows? Unfortunately the line got longer and longer and I didn’t have the chance to try the Entricote (Rib eye). 

#1 is………………….. Agadir steak tartar with balsamic vinegar, chilies and avocado. Was by far my favorite and I ate 3 portions of it, something I can’t say about anything else there. More points for having a short line, because of the burger craze the tartar got shadowed. Thank god.

I came back to ask them about who did it and how, and found out they take raw rump, mince it manually and then season. I guess it can be also minced with a food processor and save some manual labor, but it’s a show off shtick.. 

What made it first place for me was the seasoning. It was spicy and sweet and salty just the right amount. The avocado went great together. They served it over baguette slice that turned moist from the bloody flesh that was laid over it. At first I thought it was unnecessary but it was the right choice of bread for it. 

Later Itay brought me a huge portion of this dish when I was already pretty full. I suggested Shy to try it even though it was raw meat against what he thought he liked. When I was back from a tour to bring more wine he just finished the whole thing and admitted he liked it! I do prefer my meat fresh and raw. And by fresh I mean aged. Great job Agadir!

These little treats were also served by “Lehamin”. Luckily someone brought them to my table, otherwise I wouldn’t get a chance to try them. They were finished quickly. These two were the best. There were also some other things: chocolate with coconut and marzipan, plum cake.. It was so dark, I could only see what I was eating after taking a picture with flash, and looking at the picture.

Ice cream cart by Vanillia, also finished fast. They didn’t bring fill ups, we were 500 people, why would a small cart be enough? Wrong calculation. I tasted someone’s Belgian Chocolate cup which was good, but not surprising. 

Nonetheless, the pistachio cone was a hit. It wasn’t too sweet, a bit salty even. I really loved this one, though I had to cheat in line in order to get it before it was all gone. 

At 22:30 it was all finished. Nothing was left. I guess I thought it would be longer, so I was a bit disappointed. I went to Giti’s stall, the moment the long line dispersed, I was faced with a single person scraping the fat off a pan, and nothing, nothing left of the huge lamb legs and roast duck. I was sad.  

So to conclude I left with mixed feelings. I enjoyed very much, but didn’t feel we got everything that was promised. Mainly the fact that it was over-packed left a bitter taste. 200 people less could make it sooo much better experience.