Everybody knows that there are three sides to every story: one side, the other side, and the truth. Usually, this doesn’t apply to restaurants. But Ishtabach is not your usual restaurant.
The first story is that of Chef Oren Sasson-Levy. He created Ishtabach in Machane Yehuda in Jerusalem. By taking the food of his ancestors and merging it with everything from his life, he birthed something special that really drew people in.
The second story belongs to Shloimy Elbaz. He loved eating at Ishtabach, which really didn’t make him different than most. But then he moved from Jerusalem to Lakewood and couldn’t replace the feeling in his heart. He contacted Chef Oren about opening a second branch on this side of the ocean and the rest is history.
As for the truth? Well, the food is the truth.
When I was invited to Ishtabach, I walked into another world. The location in Lakewood is meant to transport you back to Jerusalem and it succeeds. The kitchen looks like a house with arched doorways and windows with shutters. There’s even a second floor terrace above you for decoration. The prep station and taboon oven are in a “courtyard” surrounded by a half wall that is used as a bar for seating. There’s a deck on the left side where the flooring is made of boards and a railing separates the section. Jerusalem stone lines the walls to really anchor your soul.
Not only did thought go into every bit of it, elbow grease did as well. Elbaz built this place himself, from scratch. That includes the tables and the wood beams. He’s proud of the space, but not as proud as he is to be serving Chef Oren’s food to patrons stateside.
As for the food, the menu might look big and feature some terms you aren’t familiar with. The easiest way to explain it is that the majority of the menu consists of four ways to consume each of the meat fillings, of which there are many.
The first of these ways is the item for which Ishtabach is most known. A shamburak is a unique pastry that belongs to Kurdish Jews. The idea was simple: people took Shabbat leftovers, wrapped them in dough, and created hand pies that both stretched the food out by adding dough for volume and made something new to enhance yesterday’s food. At Ishtabach, Chef Oren decided to use a base of Indian spiced mashed potatoes (his wife is from India) as a base, your choice of meat for the filling, and top it with chimichurri and fried onions.
With so many meats to choose from, you might have trouble. I recommend the Cheek Meat Shamburak, but this is mostly going to be about your personal preference. If you want to go with the tongue or the Syrian kebab, that’s up to you. The important thing is that the shamburak is amazing. Pick it up and eat it like it is supposed to be eaten and make sure your bite gets a little of everything. The textures are a perfect match as the inner mush meets the outer crunch of the dough that has crisped to perfection.
The second way to order is fairly similar to the first. You can opt to basically eat the shamburak without the dough and get the fillings in a cast iron dish as a shepherd’s pie. I can’t say I recommend this as the shamburak dough is so great. But if I were choosing one, I’d go with the Siske Shepherd’s Pie. If you aren’t familiar, siske is essentially overcooked ribs. You might know siske as the filling for kubbeh. The mashed potatoes shine a little more in the shepherd’s pie and the meat is easier to distinguish, so the more distinct flavor of the siske might be best here.
The third and fourth ways that you can get your meat are both sandwiches. Using frena, a Moroccan bread that is something like a hybrid between pita and ciabatta, Ishtabach makes sandwiches that are Israeli style or American style. For the Israeli style, I’d choose the Frena Grilled Baby Chicken. The key feature here is the house-made matbucha that simmers for over six hours before it hits the bread. Add some fried eggplant, garlic confit and lettuce to the crisp grilled chicken, and you are holding a massive sandwich that you won’t want to put down.
For the American style choice, I’d go with the Aioli Frena Schnitzel. Here the sauce is a basil aioli and the toppings are coleslaw and pickles. I chose the schnitzel for this because it’s not one of the regular meat choices, but you can get it in a few forms as an entrée or app. The quintessential Israeli choice, the schnitzel at Ishtabach is understandably awesome and this is the best way to eat it. The basil aioli is creamy and melds with the coleslaw as the pickles bring an acidic punch, but the schnitzel stars with a signature crunch that stands out beautifully.
There are other things on the menu and you should try to make room for them if you can. Ishtabach’s hummus is legendary. That said, I went late and was out of luck as they were sold out for the day. These are the perils of making something fresh every day; when you’re out, you’re out. But one appetizer that I can personally vouch for is the Asado Arancini. The three large arancini come with tahini, basil aioli and a spicy aioli. This was my preferred vehicle for the asado filling. Who can say no to a South American meat blend inside an Italian fried rice ball with three dips from across the globe? Not me.
Whether you are in Jerusalem or Toms River, make your way to Ishtabach for a true fusion experience. And whether you are in Jerusalem or Toms River, you’ll feel like you’re in Jerusalem.
