Goshen 37 Nachalat Binyamin, Tel Aviv Phone: 03-5600766 Opening hours: Sun- Thurs 12noon – midnight Saturday Night- 1 hour after shabbat ends – midnight

A very peppery meal


Goshen

37 Nachalat Binyamin, Tel Aviv
Phone: 03-5600766
Opening hours: Sun- Thurs 12noon – midnight
Saturday Night- 1 hour after shabbat ends – midnight
Type: Meat

First course – 22-68nis
Main course – 42-200nis

Goshen is a restaurant that is listed on all the foodie websites as one of the number one restaurants to go to in Tel Aviv. After living four years in Israel and wanting to visit it for a long time I final got around to going there.

As we walked in I straight way noticed loud music and kids running around. The restaurant wasn’t full, as it was early, so maybe it was ok for kids to do what they like? My attention was then drawn to to menu, where We decided to have the tasting menu, but there were a few gotchas: 1. everyone at the table had to have it and 2. there were a lot of entrées that weren’t included in the deal. We negotiated that 2 of the 3 diners would have the tasting menu and the other companion was able to order other food.


house salad


mushroom ravioli

The first entrée I tasted was the mushroom ravioli. I found the pasta not cooked al dente – it could’ve done with a an extra minute or two. The mushrooms were soft and the dish was a bit too acidic for my palate. There were some peas on the plate which added some freshness to the dish. A house salad was served, as part of the meal on the house. Initially the salad was very refreshing – especially when eating it with the ravioli, however, as we continued eating it, it became very hot/spicy from all the mustard seeds that were included.

The next entrée was chicken liver. Now I must tell you that I’m not a fan of liver, though I did try some and I found that it was tender and the raisins added some sweetness.


ceviche

The third entrée was ceviche. It was interesting as it had an Israeli twist – tehina. I would’ve called this entrée a salad, as rocket leaves were used effectively to add bitterness to the dish and were not chopped finely. I found that the fish wasn’t cut into small dices, it was cut into strips length ways and some of the membrane was left on. Coriander leaves were used, adding some freshness and pine nuts were also included. The bread served was a bit soggy – because it had sat under the fish for too long.

After we finished entrée, the plates were cleared except the ceviche plate. It also took a while for the main course to be served.


herb crusted fish

One of our company ordered for the Main, the Fish fillet in a herb crust – And it was not what we expected. The coating was basically pepper, which made it too hot to eat and we even found a bone in the fish. When you read a herb crust, you think of fresh green herbs like coriander, parsley, mint etc… – this was a complete disappointment.


tasting menu meats

The tasting main was grandly served on a hot plate that was placed on a stand with candles underneath it, that were meant to keep it warm. The kebab was moist with a peppery crust on the outside. The chicken was extremely hot, the entrecôte steak was cooked well, though no sauce was served with it. The merguez sausages were spicy – like they are meant to be, the spare ribs were maybe a bit under cooked. There were green beans which were again peppery and the roasted potatoes weren’t crunchy.

After a disappointing main we decided to press on with the desserts.


chocolate souflee

The chocolate soufflé was served in 2 little cups with a vanilla ice-cream. The soufflés were not overly sweet, they were runny with a bit of sponge at the bottom. A chocolate crumb was used as a garnish, but I didn’t think it was really needed.


cherry pie

The cherry pie had a thick crust and was very ordinary – I believe my grandmother makes a better pie.

I was severely disappointed by Goshen – I don’t know if it was because there was such a high expectation, after all the reviews that I read. Maybe the issue was I just went to Lumina (soon to have its review written) the previous night. Though I went to Meat and Wine a few nights later and I found that their food was better. Is Goshen just riding on their name and not doing more with their food? Is it that it’s just a meat restaurant? I went to Butchery in Be’er Sheva- also a meat restaurant and I found it better than Goshen.

The other interesting thing to mention is that they never supplied a jug of water, if we finished our glasses we had to get a new glass- I had never seen that before.

I think I’m the first person not to enjoy Goshen. If people have other opinions please write comment below. Maybe we just ordered the wrong dishes.