Site icon GIVE ME THIS DAY

6.191 Taste Test : For Peace in the Middle East

katch4246

6.191

15 (Wed) July 2015

For Peace in the Middle East

2.1

from Red Sea and Jerusalem [delivery]

in my new apartment

-Malate, Manila-

with RK, TL, and various colleagues

Located next door to each other on MH Del Pilar Street (corner of Soldado)…
…Red Sea (as a Ramadan promotion, the restaurant was hosting a closed-door free halal dinner for Muslims; they let me in because I was ordering delivery)…
…and Jerusalem (at first glance, “Jerusalem” might seem a curious name for a halal restaurant, as the city is currently occupied by Israel, but the city is still regarded as holy by Muslims, as well as Jews and Christians).

Continuing my on-going exploration of Arabic cuisine (see most recently 6.134 Half-Grilled Chicken…), I decided to try out two restaurants at once — both closer to my new apartment — and invited friends over to share the experience.  I ordered the exact same dishes from both and had them deliver at the same time, so we could conduct a side-by-side comparison.

RED SEA

Hommos Tahini (1.0) — bland.
Falafel (1.0) — dry.
Mixed Grill (2.0) — meh.
Arabic Bread (2.0) — flat.
Potato Salona with Chicken (2.5) — okay.

JERUSALEM

Hommos Tahina (2.5)
Falafel (2.0)
Mixed Grill (2.5)
Arabic Bread (3.0)
Potato Salona with Chicken (2.5)

Jerusalem, the clear winner by unanimous consensus.  Nothing was particularly that great, except the light-fluffy-chewy bread, but everything was respectable across the board.

Though really, the outcome was more Red Sea’s defeat (1.7 average rating) than Jerusalem’s victory (2.5).

Prices 10%-20% higher, which may explain the difference in quality.

Incidentally, I made and served my own tabbouleh (see for example 6.091 Couscous Tabouli), which is why I didn’t order any from the restaurants.

Exit mobile version