| Black Restaurant
November 2017
If you are anything like me, when you pass a Black restaurant anywhere in the country, you pop your head in hoping to find a teudat kashrut. Here's some good news for burger seekers: the branch of Black in The Big Mall in Petach Tikva has a teudat kashrut: Rabbanut Petach Tikva.
They don't call this "The Big Mall" for nothing. Across from Beilinson Hospital, the mall has a steady traffic of shoppers. There are a great number of large and small shops in the mall, and many eateries.
Black Restaurant is on the lower level of the mall near the entrance from Mota Gur Street. If you can't find the restaurant, ask anyone for the ALAM store. It is next door. The mall offers 2 hours free parking weekdays, and parking is free on Motzash.
Burgers and Much More
Here are 5 things you may not know about Black Restaurants:
1. Black has a full menu with more than just burgers. There is a long list of other meats including schnitzel, pargit, etc.
2. Each branch restaurant makes its own burger mix. The meat is supplied by the main restaurant. Each branch grinds the meat and flavors it to their taste. That way it is freshest when it is cooked.
3. Black has a full vegetarian menu including vegetarian burgers not grilled together with the meat burgers.
4. There is a full selection of vegan and gluten-free dishes, including gluten free burger rolls.
5. The chips are parve. Most meat restaurants cook the chips in the oil from the schnitzel. Black makes its chips in a chipster, separate from the meat.
Our Visit to Black in the Big Mall
We chose to sit inside the restaurant, though there was overflow seating in the mall corridor. Once seated we were handed a menu on electronic tablets and a glossy menu of specials. This is the modern way, easy to navigate with great pictures.
 My companion can never resist chicken wings, and so his starter was clear. But the signature dish at this restaurant is its burgers. There are any number of burgers, including veggie burgers. There are a host of irresistible toppings, so that you can configure your own burger.
The price is for the burgers without toppings, whether it be the house flagship Black burger, the schnitzel burger, meat and spinach burger, etc. The flagship burger is available in three sized, 160, 220 or 330 grams. For an extra 8 to 25 shekels you can add any of 10 toppings to any of the burgers, as many as you want. The menu of specials has pre configured combinations, to make it easier to order an enhanced burger.
One of these is the Schitut (Luxuriously corrupt) burger, a flagship burger topped with fried onions, smoked goose breast and a sunny-side up egg on top of the burger. This was my choice. You couldn’t ask for a tastier burger, but, in case you can, they bring a rack of sauces to the table when you order: ketchup, barbecue sauce, mustard, hot sauce, mayonnaise, and a curry sauce. Don’t be fooled – the hot sauce is labeled “hot as fire”, but we didn’t think it was all that hot. The fries come in a separate basket on the plate with the burgers. The portion is large, and the fries are crisp but not greasy.
Would you like fries with that?
Sure. Parve fries made in a chipster. Bet you can't eat just one.
And how about a beer?
Black has a full bar with beer on tap and in bottles.
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I was anxious to see what a meaty meat restaurant like Black, does with a veggie burger. So I chose the mushroom veggie burger for my main course. This burger was served face open with one half of the bun bearing the vegetables and the other the burger. The vegetables were a colorful mix of tomatoes, onions and pickles. These were served with a large basket of chips.
I don't think that the goal of a veggie burger is to imitate the flavor of a meat burger. A veggie burger should have a flavor of its own and should be a good and satisfying dish. The Black veggie burger did just that. Though it looked exactly the same as the meat burger, the parve Black veggie burger was tasty, rich in mushrooms and vegetables and quite filling. Congratulations on a veggie job well done.
The charming waitress
offered us dessert, but after that burger, i don't know where i would put it.
There is pleasant seating inside the restaurant,and overflow seating in the mall corridor. Groups up to 9 diners can enjoy more privacy at the VIP table, with reservations in advance.
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