Yoel's Smokehouse, Kfar Adumim

Review: For A Truly Amazing Grill Experience, Head To Judea & Visit Yoel's

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The Judean Restaurant Review Staff
Cuisine

If you visit Israel and can only go to one restaurant, the trip to Kfar Adumim in Judea, ten minutes from Jerusalem should be considered. It is not a fine, Michelin-star restaurant, but it is quintessentially Israeli in every aspect, with flavorful light salads and meat that is still making our mouths water long after our meal there.

Every country has its staple restaurants that most who grew up in the country find comforting. For example, in America they have diners and someone from the east coast can travel across the country and find local diners along the way that serve basically the same types of foods. There are exceptions, some are famous for serving certain dishes, like the Astoria Queens-based Jackson Hole Diner’s burgers, or the chicken pot pie in Dave’s Diner in Middleboro, Massachusetts.

In Israel, there are grills. From Shawarma to kebabs to marinated spring chicken, local grills are the diners of Israel. In Hebrew, these restaurants are typically referred to as ‘Al-Haesh’ (על האש) literally translated into ‘on the fire’ and most setups look and feel the same. Charcoal grills behind the counter where most of the food is prepared are accompanied by one or multiple spits for shawarma to rotate and roast slowly. The glass refrigerator displays resemble a butcher shop, with varied meats ready to cook lined up.

What separates most of these grill joints are the salads. When you sit down, before you even order, a tray filled with anywhere from 10-30 salads is unloaded on your table and served with a warm, homemade pita. The choice of the salads, the quantity, and of course the taste is what people end up talking about. But there are exceptions to this rule and we found one remarkable place in Judea that is a must for anyone craving meat. In fact, it was so good it took the fun out of going back to an ordinary grill spot.

Yoel’s Smokehouse, located just a short drive from Jerusalem in the gorgeous Judean desert village of Kfar Adumim is unassuming. The parking lot is shared with a secondhand store, a crafts store, and an active warehouse for what it seemed like metal works. However, even from the active car park, the smell clued you into the fact that the next hour or so of your life would be happy. Stepping in was like walking through a Texas barbecue competition, the wood-smoked air had a sweetness that immediately got the saliva forming.

The service was great and accommodating, even though we reserved seats, they were more than happy to accommodate our request to change so we could be closer to where the magic actually happens – in the kitchen. There were two of us, so we ordered the salad platter with frena bread, a Moroccan-style fluffy bread that puts fresh focaccia to shame. Unlike most grill places, Yoel’s does not give their salads away and for good reason, they are exquisite and made in-house. The tabouli was light and fluffy, with no oily residue. The quinoa salad was unique for an Israeli salad plate and was most welcome, perfectly prepared it did not taste like quinoa.

The avocado salad was nothing like we had before. It was not guacamole-like, rather it was chunky and citrusy, each bite gave you not just the taste, but the texture of the amazing avocados Israel produces. My personal favorite was the tomato-pepper salad, sweet with just the perfect amount of heat, a salad that was meant to compliment the avocado salad without outshining it. Their healthy salad as well as the pickled vegetables were the perfect choices to wind out the platter. Light, and refreshing with a bit of tang, they balanced the plate wonderfully without complicating the dish. They were not the stars, but they certainly were tremendous in supporting the rest.

Along with the salad platter, we got a plate of hummus (Chummus) with sautéed mushrooms. In Israel, Chummus is sacred and everyone has their favorite ‘Chummusiada’ or chummus restaurant. In most grill restaurants the chummus is standard, usually, mass-produced in a factory and it is ok to shmear in a pita for a sandwich, but not as a standalone dish. Yoel’s chummus was most definitely not out of a container, you could smell the chickpeas boiling in the air, you could taste the creaminess of a warm, freshly pureed chummus and the balance of chickpea, to Tahina, to lemon was perfect, so perfect that as embarrassing as this is to say, we asked them to pack it up along with the leftovers – something you just don’t do as fresh chummus does not hold well unless it is loaded with preservatives.

For the main course, we ordered the assorted meat platter for two as that would give us a wide variety of their meats. The platter came with a perfectly grilled entrecôte, a premium cut of meat from the top of the rib that was cooked perfectly medium-to-medium rare. If that alone was not enough, there were two smokey ‘pargiot’ which translates into spring chicken but in reality, is a boneless thigh. The seasoning was spot on and the cook was perfect; the chicken was juicy and flavorful with an amazing combination of smoke and char from the grill.

The ‘sinta’ cut, or sirloin steak in English was phenomenal. Not only is it an amazing cut of meat, the beef they used was perfectly butchered, leaving just the right amount of fat to keep it juicy but not too oily and that too was cooked to perfection. Accompanying this all were two kebabs, flavorful seasoned sliders that are a staple in most restaurants, but these were ‘off the charts.’

The thing about kebabs is that most restaurants use leftover meat, the trimmings which are laden with fat to create their kebabs, so what you normally get are very flavorful but very oily baby burgers. The kebabs served at Yoel’s were obviously a special meat blend, probably 75-25 or 70-30 meat-to-fat ratio so what came on the plate had not one drop of oil coming from it, but when you bit into it, the burst of flavor was undeniable. To say they were delicious would be to understate just how good they were.

The pièce de résistance of the platter, however, and remember everything on that wooden tray was divine, was the Asado. Asado is an Argentinian cut of meat, typically coming from the ribs, that is slow-cooked to the point that the meat literally falls off the bone. For this Asado, Yoel’s choice of fuel for their smoker made all the difference. They would not tell us what wood was used but judging from the softness of the meat and the rich, smokey, and caramelized flavor, it is not a stretch to say that thing was slow-smoked for the better part of a day. It was served smothered in sweet, caramelized onions, and true to form, not only did the bone fall off easily, but it was also as clean as if someone had scrubbed it – which no one had. This simply shows how well the cut of meat had been cooked.

The chimichurri sauce they made was light and complimented the meat well, there was also a finely purĂŠed celery root dip and what we believe to be a purĂŠed sweet potato dip that had a slight sweetness and complimented the grilled pargiot very nicely. For the most part, the meat stood on its own and we barely touched the condiments that came with the platter, but we had to try.

If the restaurant was not good enough, because it is, they also serve Pepsi Max and other Pepsi products. If you have no idea why that is a big deal, you have not tried Pepsi Max. As diet cola fanatics, there is nothing better, despite Coke billing itself as being 'It' - trust us, it's not even close to being so.

Yoel’s is kosher and therefore they are not open on Shabbat or holidays so take that into consideration when making your plans.

So, if you are headed to the Dead Sea, going to the Jordan River, or just in Jerusalem and crave beautiful desert scenery and some amazing food, Yoel’s Smokehouse (Yoel HaMeashenet) is a must. It is located in the Kfar Adumim Industrial Zone. We do recommend you make a reservation as while the place is quite big, it also fills up quickly. Their phone number is 054-7464248 or 054-7464248.

You will not be disappointed.

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The Judean is a weekly digital blog highlighting Israel's vibrant Democracy, rich culture, and complex history. Through compelling op-eds, and featured articles, The Judean brings the real Israel into focus. 'From The River To The Sea' Israel is truly free.
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