Vive La France


“To start-off our meal, we were served the house-bread, along with butter and tapenade spreads, sun-dried tomatoes, and pesto. Soon after, the first courses arrived: pickled sirloin in balsamic, olive-oil, and parmesan; glorious slices of pain de mie; Mojito shrimps in rum, mint, lemon, and garlic; and roasted eggplant with cream of tahini. All in all, truly fun!” Amir Ben Naim enjoyed the unique style of Agua restaurant in Jerusalem.

Agua restaurant is located in the heart of one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in Jerusalem. We arrived at a stone house which was renovated for the grand opening of the restaurant, now in business since March of 2007. Agua started out as a Chef-restaurant and has become a French bistro of the same name. The owners have also opened a small coffee-shop next to the restaurant. This caf?’s design has been based on the style of the Parisian coffee-cart caf?s and serves excellent Bristot coffee for your enjoyment.
We felt the intimacy of the place as soon as we walked in. This is characterized by soft-lighting, fresh flower arrangements, and wine-glasses atop the set tables. Breakfast is served here early in the day, and Sundays through Thursdays offer business specials at fair prices. Agua has given thought to your children, as well, offering meals suited for the young ones, allowing you to enjoy family meals without worrying about your kids wrestling with the shrimp and staying hungry. The restaurant has a strict separation between the non-smoking area and the level designated for smokers, which turns into a young and intimate bar every night. Agua is a good place for hosting private events for up to 30 guests. Making reservations ahead of time is always advisable, especially over the weekends.
Our attentive waiter presented us with menus and we looked over the selection and variety, impressed. The alcohol menu also offers a wide-range of choices, including wines from various countries around the world. To start-off our meal, we were served the house-bread, along with butter and tapenade spreads, sun-dried tomatoes, and pesto. Soon after, the first courses arrived: pickled sirloin in balsamic, olive-oil, and parmesan; glorious slices of pain de mie; Mojito shrimps in rum, mint, lemon, and garlic; and roasted eggplant with cream of tahini. All in all, truly fun! One by one, we savored the wonderful tastes and textures until the plates were spotless. Indeed, quite delicious, and the eggplant dish is one you won’t soon forget.
To accompany our entr?es, we selected a bottle of “Med Red,” product of the quality Amphorae vineyard. For the entr?es themselves we ordered an entrecote steak in red-wine sauce with potato-confit and green beans and grilled sea-bream with herbs, lemon, and sesame, served with an addictive yam puree. We couldn’t set these two wonderful dishes aside, an in spite of the generous portions, we cleaned our plates. It is not every restaurant that knows how to prepare a steak so well or capture the essence of the sea-bream.
We rested for a while and considered our choice of desserts, especially created for Agua restaurants. We decided on the cream of cheese and pear cake, adorned with thin chocolate strips and on the banana-chocolate pie. The plates were decorated with silan (date-honey) and crumbled pistachios which added color and joy. It all made for a satisfying and pleasant way in which to end the meal.
It is worthy to not that the delicious and unique menu of Agua is personally supervised by Avasha, one of the owners. He is also a great source of information regarding the various alcohol offerings of the bar. “We strove for a taste that balanced flavor, simplicity, and which offered something for everyone,” he explained to us. We considered severely pressuring him into spilling his enviable secrets, but eventually decided that rather than risk criminal charges, we would simply return and visit Agua in the future.


Agua
1 HaMa’ayan, Ein-Kerem, Jerusalem
02-6449494