Fuss Free Food- confessions of a passionista

There’s a new player in town on the Jerusalem eateries menu and they are serving up delicious, rustic, fuss-free food. Just what this passionista loves!

Bardak is Jerusalem’s newest Pizzeria and boy, are they good! At Bardak, what you see is what you get; delicious fresh pizza (with the perfect crust) and locally brewed beers served by some of the friendliest staff in Jerusalem. A good honest meal in a casual environment, what’s not to love about that?

Last Sunday night my Husband (Who will henceforth be referred to as Jason) took me out to Bardak for rare date in between studying for exams. As we sat down at the bar we were greeted with warm smiles and menus straight away. We then began deliberating on which beer to order.

Bardak has a selection of six different beers on tap from local breweries. To assist us in our deliberations we were presented with a tasters plate of all six options (free of charge) -nice touch! We sampled Shapira’s Pale Ale, some lagers and finally settled on the Blonde brew which was light and fruity.

We then began browsing the pizza menu. Jason had already been to Bardak a few weeks ago with some mates while I was in Australia. He told me about the delicious salmon and ginger pizza that his mate Suddy had ordered.

Honestly, as much of a foodie as I am, this did not sound appealing, but I am willing to try pretty much any food once, just for the experience. I ordered a ‘Romema’ pizza with Tuna, anchovy, olives, chili and Kavshaval Cheese and Jason ordered his salmon ginger pizza.

Both pizzas were delicious but the salmon and ginger pizza was something else! I highly recommend it…talk about fusion cuisine! The concoction is reminiscent of a mix between Napolitano pasta and sushi, my two favourite foods. It sounds repulsive I know, but for some reason this pizza works. It just does. Don’t argue.

There are other delicious combinations like the ‘Rehavia’ with Alfredo sauce, root vegetables, olives pesto, Satureja (some kind of herb related to Rosemary) and Kavshavl Cheese. Or the ‘Musrara’ with Shakshukah sauce, egg, chili, roasted eggplant and Mozzarella.  All of which are available as a full size or as a personal pizzas which means you don’t leave feeling stuffed. It reminds me of that quote from Miss Congeniality…‘We can’t eat pizza and beer’ ‘its light beer and we’re going to throw it up anyway!y’. Needless to say, next time we come back to Bardak it will be with a large group of friends so that we can sample the entire menu! (Without having to throw it up!)

The restaurant’s name is rather tongue-in-cheek . According to the translate app on my phone ‘Bardak’ seems to mean something of a mess-up or chaos (that’s the censored version-try it…), but really it couldn’t be further from that. It seems that the owners have a good sense of irony, and evidently a good sense of humour, too. The external facade of the restaurant is plastered with giant ecards spouting amusing quotes about pizza and beer- Gotta love a restaurant that doesn’t take itself too seriously and that is all part of this friendly little eatery’s charm!

Being an interior Designer, I always pay particular attention to Interior details of a restaurant. Bardak’s interior, just like the food is pretty simple but charming and effective. With plain rendered walls and an exposed beam ceiling, timber bar and understated lighting, the space feels warm and friendly and not over-done. The decoration is minimal with a few rustic pieces dotted around the place including a collection of old street signs and a large old-school looking chalk board for specials. You can tell the owners haven’t put bucket loads of money into the fit out, but in this case it works. It creates a non-threatening, relaxed environment and allows the food to do the talking.

This restaurant seems to be one of many among a growing population of cool Jerusalem eatery-hangouts, like Jacko’s Street, Pini’s Kitchen and the like. As a Jerusalemite I only hope that delightful little places like this keep popping up for my culinary enjoyment! This city is just getting better and better!

Bardak is open from 12pm to 2am daily except for Shabbat and is located at 38 Keren Hayesod Street in Rehavia.

Happy eating people!

Pizza out! Xx