Amaia: Stellar dairy and fish in Jerusalem - restaurant review

However, her daughter Anat Hadad wanted to turn the place into something different. In May, she opened Amaia with her daughter Oshrat Basson-Hadad as the chef and her son as the barman. Oshrat began working in restaurants at the age of 15 and now counts top restaurants in Israel and abroad as former places of employment.

Two weeks after Amaia reopened, Rashel, in her 90s, passed away. A photo of her and her husband is on the wall of the restaurant. The restaurant is small but beautifully designed. There is seating for around 10 on the entrance level, with a few more places upstairs in the gallery.

All I can say after eating at the revamped Amaia is “Wow!”

This dairy and fish restaurant offers some of the most unique food I’ve had in Israel. If the Michelin Guide ever comes here, I have no doubt that Amaia would get at least one star.

I went to eat at Amaia with my husband, and we left the choice of dishes up to Anat and Oshrat, which allowed the chef to highlight her favorite dishes.

I told Anat and Oshrat that I eat everything except raw onions, which they took as a challenge.

“But we have an amazing onion dish that you just have to try,” they said. “They’re not raw. They’re caramelized, and it comes with cherry juice, citrus oil, and almond miso ice-cream.”

Challenge accepted, and the dish, called “Onions” on the menu (NIS 57), was the first time I willingly took more than one bite of an onion dish. The onions were silky sweet, and the ice cream paired perfectly with the dish.

Oshrat is an expert in fermentation and offers workshops in sourdough bread baking on Sundays when the restaurant is closed.

We started our meal with sourdough bread (NIS 40), which was warm and had that slightly sour, yeasty taste. The dip that came with it was fantastic – smoked pine nut cream with Jerusalem artichoke gremolata in charcoal and fig leaf oil. There was also olive oil jam that I had never seen before, which I loved. Many of these products also can be purchased so you can enjoy them at home.

Our next dish was a ceviche of farida (a type of sea bream) served with cream of burnt celery vinaigrette and za’atar, with crispy fried onions on top (NIS 80). It was delicate and delicious.

But the star of the night was red tuna smoked with pine needles and olive wood (NIS 175). We had just a small portion, but Anat assured me the usual portion is large, like a tuna steak. It was served with fermented mustard seeds, smoked eggplant cream, and crispy buckwheat. As I write this, I am trying to figure out how soon I can go back to Amaia soon just to savor that dish again.

There is a separate lunch menu that includes dishes such as corn spaghetti (NIS 75), homemade pasta (NIS 95), and fish arisa (NIS 115), which is  crusted sea fish served with homemade fries, lemon cream, and harissa.