Israeli food is like a punch in the face. Hits you square in the kisser and tramples on your tongue long after you’ve left the table.
Full disclosure — the ‘punch in the face’ line was coined by uberchef Assaf Granit, one of the trio behind Machneyuda and several London (and international) outposts of banging Middle Eastern eateries. I interviewed him when he opened Coal Office in Kings Cross.
Not much chance at the moment of eating his food any time soon, and I miss it.
So last night’s food delivery, courtesy of Kasa Bar and Grill, was the type of flavour onslaught I’ve been missing.
With somewhat unfortunate timing, Kasa opened on Hampstead Garden Suburb’s Market Place in October 2020. The timing’s not quite as ill-planned as it appears. Erik Elbaz who has owned the site for years, recognised that the bar he had there — Papillion – would not be returning to normal any time soon; so he reinvented it as a 50 seater restaurant and bar.
Not much dining in has happened since then, so he’s been doing the catering hokey cokey — opening, closing, doing deliveries and/or takeaways for locals — for the last few months.
Jewish geography (it's a long story) led to two bags of takeaway food being dropped at my door. The neutrally packaged pots giving no warning of the explosion of colour and flavour inside.
Much of the food was the standard Israeli canon — but definitely packing more punch than De Niro’s Raging Bull. Pargiot was juicy and tender inside with an umami-dense dark and shiny outer layer; hummus creamy and spotted with the spicy green and red of zhug and harissa; cauliflower was meltingly soft on smooth tahina studded with chopped tomatoes.
I’d kicked off my meze meal with long thin Moroccan cigars stuffed with cumin-spiced mincemeat and pillowy soft katyaf (like folded over, spongey pancakes also stuffed with spiced meat) sitting on green tahina and tomato. Nice to see something a bit different.
My husband declared the Moroccan fish “the best food he’d ever eaten”. High praise - if slighly daring, uttered, as they were sitting at my kitchen table. I’ll take it though, as it was extremely good.
Even the salad had a zinger of a dressing and the falafel had that Middle Eastern crunch and herb-laden crumb. Pita was suitably fluffy. Of course it was — Chef Shachar Alkobi (whose CV includes Hampstead’s kosher foodie venue, Delicatessen) is the real deal.
They do a takeaway/delivery menu plus a special Shabbat menu which must be ordered by 10pm on a Wednesay night.
And here’s the best news. Kasa will be koshered for Pesach and selling a full menu of Isaeli-style deliciousness. Elbaz explained that Aaron Isaac, Director of Licensing at the Sephardi Kashrut Authority (who oversee their licence) had persuaded him to do it.
There’s a whole (kitniyot-free) Pesach menu to pick from. Just think of the joy of a meal someone else has made for you during those eight days. Grilled whole sea bass marinated in parsley, coriander, tomato cubes and garlic; eight different types of chicken; lamb shoulder; meatballs and moussaka. Matboucha; babaghanoush deep fried aubergines for the Sephardim and chopped liver, chicken soup and latkes for their Ashkenazi cousins. There’s even a Seder plate for £30.
Suddenly Pesach is looking up.
Find more details at kasagrill.com
