Jaffa plate by plate

It being Simchat Torah today, it has been a holiday in Israel so many shops and restaurants have been shut, including the snack places I’d scouted out for lunch. So, not expecting much, I went for a view rather than high quality. The little dishes I chose at Goldman right on the Mediterranean surprised me though. Chosen mainly because I could watch people frolicking on the beach, I went for the five little plates for a respectable 49 NIS, a fraction of the price of their steaks. So good were my little plates that I have been driven to detail them here:

1. Bulgur with parsley, a little red onion and pomegranate seeds
2. A wonderfully smokey aubergine dip, topped with a little more pomegranate, containing what seemed to be pepper seeds
3. Little dark lentils, tossed with parsley, some juicy dried cranberries and crunchy walnuts – my favourite
4. Chick peas with tiny cubes of feta, little pieces of sun dried tomato, red onion and black olives and fresh mint
5. And the biggest surprise amongst all this Mediterranean sunshine-appropriate food: ‘pickled gold tail’. I was told it was salted fish but didn’t expect the Baltic-style herring topped with sour cream.

All this with some salty rosemary bread, spicy dip, salad and pickled cucumber. And a humous-free zone, thankfully!