One night as we were leaving the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and on our way out to the Damascus Gate, we stopped at Family Restaurant in a little alley. It was quite large inside, clean and has a reasonably varied menu.
We were offered some mezes which are small salad-type plates. The yellow peppers were extremely hot. Stan and Judy tried them and Chris and I learned to avoid them from their reactions. One plate was a bland salsa, one was a salad with lettuce, tomato and cucumber and the best was an eggplant salad probably unlike anything I've eaten before.
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| eggplant salad |
I had a pomegranate juice which was quite good. Pomegranate is readily available in the Middle East, and often mixed with orange juice. I wish we had it as an option in the U.S.
Judy got lamb kebab which was cooked well and had a nice taste. Stan got the mixed grill which was three kebabs, one of chicken, lamb and kibbeh. I got St. Peter's fish which is a whole grilled tilapia. It was kind of bony, not as meaty as many tilapia I've had and just a tad bit overcooked, but a nice flavor.
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| mixed grill |
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| lamb kebab |
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| St. Peter's fish |
It was not great food or a great atmosphere, but it was late at night (we started eating about 8:00 p.m. - they shut the gate as we left) and it still felt a bit adventurous on our second day in the Middle East while we were till developing our cultural legs.
The best part was our friendly waiter who was willing to chat with us about his family. That made the experience extra fun.
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