Opa Competitors

Zahav is an Israeli restaurant in the Society Hill neighborhood in Philadelphia. They are the same owners of the famed Federal Donuts, with locations around the city. L (my sis), A (my cousin) and I walked from her apartment for dinner during my last evening there last fall. We met my bro-in-law, MK, there. This is MK's favorite restaurant and I could see why. I first saw Zahav on Anthony Bourdain's show, No Reservations, when he highlighted the city of Philadelphia. He told his viewers about this wonderful roasted lamb shoulder that Zahav serves every night, but only in limited quantities. My sis ensured that she made an early reservation so we can try it. The roasted lamb shoulder is part of a Zahav dinner package called Mesibah for $54.00 a person. The package included an assortment of small salad plates (salatim), hummus with laffa (pita), small appetizer plates (mezze), and dessert. Ready for the salatim? Here we go.... oh, yeah. Also, I just listed the names of the dishes below and did not describe every single one of them. I tried mostly all of them and I will say, that none of them disappointed. Everything that I tried was delicious.

Sampan is a restaurants company based out of 124 S 13th St, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

A contemporary Japanese raw bar created by the owner and executive chef Kenneth Sze. We take pride in our fresh, locally sourced ingredients and hand-selected fish. I’m hoping to bring something different to the table in our Old City neighborhood by sharing some of the tastes and techniques that I’ve grown up with.” - KEN SZE