Moshava 54 is a casual, family-friendly restaurant in the German Colony on Emek Refaim in Jerusalem.
The interesting gimmick of Moshav 54 is how the menu is organized. Rather than the usual appetizer, salad, entree categories, the menu is sorted by price from 20 shekels up to, you guessed it, 54 shekels. There’s a wide variety of bistro-style dishes on the menu, appealing to a wide variety of diner’s palettes, styles and budgets. It also gives you a reasonable idea of what the portion is going to be like, which is a good thing whether you’re out for a full dinner or a quick bite.We don’t often go by the names of dishes to determine the expectations of what we’ll be eating, since Israeli restaurateurs often take liberties in what they call their dishes, not to mention in the English spellings if those dishes. However, the food here is not the standard Israel steakiada fare. For dinner out with the family, we enjoyed a far-Eastern inspired Chicken Noodles, the 54 Club Sandwich, Lamb Kabob, a classic hamburger, Linguini Bolognese, and a crispy Chicken Tempura.
As I’ve previously mentioned, these aren’t reviews of restaurants; they’re impressions. The impression that Moshava 54 left on me and my fellow diners — my family — was overall a positive one.
The Chicken Noodles was a hearty blend of chicken, stir-fry vegetables served over noodles. I was pleased with the near-perfect seasoning of the dish, when Asian-style food in Israel tends to the salty side. The dish was advertised as being flavored with lemongrass. Since my recent foray into Machane Yehuda uncovered the existence of fresh lemongrass, I somehow expected more of its subtle flavor woven into the dish, but it was detected nonetheless. The flavor of coconut however, also advertised on the menu, was completely absent.
The 54 Club Sandwich was stacked high with roast beef and turkey. It was a good solid sandwich dressed with horseradish mayonnaise, which the diner felt a little overpowering. It was her first experience to the flavoring, and she felt it went well with the sandwich.
The Lamb Kabob was declared no less than perfect. The waitress was very accommodating, making sure that the sauces were served on the side. The dish was served with six kabob “balls,” more or less meatballs, with the tell-tale crust of a good searing. Whether it was grilled over an open flame or on a flat grill was undetermined, because the diner was too quick to inhale the dish. It was served with a choice side of mashed potatoes, which were quite obviously freshly-made.
An aside about mashed potatoes. In Israel, they’re known as ‘pireh‘ an obvious mangling of the word puree. They are a common food, readily available in seasoned, portioned packages, as well as bulk-sized unflavored family packs. And somehow they can’t get past bourekas to make a normal knish. Go figure.
The hamburger was served with a tomato salsa which was highly seasoned without being spicy, and the homemade tehina was an Israeli twist on this classic dish. The meat was typical Israeli chop meat, not enough seasoning or flavor for my taste, mostly due to a lack of fat in the proper ratio.
The Linguini Bolognese was a nice-sized portion, and turned out to be too large for the young diner who ordered it. It was also less of a Bolognese and more of a Pomodoro, having too much tomato and lacking the cut-up vegetables and blend of chop meat and deli meat of a classic Bolognese. It was also the only dish ordered that I felt needed more seasoning than what came out from the kitchen. Again, no relation to the food and the name.
The chicken tempura was crispy, and was a decent portion for the size. It was for our youngest, so he has happy with his chicken nuggets. So were the others who kept sneaking them while he was otherwise occupied.
The service was prompt, courteous, and in typical Israeli fashion, unintrusive, for better or for worse. The waitresses could have come sooner with the menus to a table with four children, and they broke the cardinal rule by asking us to move to another table for their convenience (honestly, what WERE they thinking?) without offering us a free round of drinks or dessert for our trouble, but otherwise the food arrived hot and as expected. And if you’re ordering drinks, order their flavored seltzer; it comes with free refills and an exotic array of flavors.