Hemdat Hagalil is a Kurdish restaurant offering authentic homemade foods.
The restaurant, which is located in Shtula, was established in 1998 by the family matriarch, Sara Hatan and her daughter Ora. After the mothers demise, the restaurant was closed for several years and currently it has been reopened and this time, Ora Hatan and her sister in law Pnina Hatan, have been entrusted with the task of cooking.
The restaurant resides in a stone house surrounded by glass windows and two terraces, one overlooking the scenery and utilized as a smoking area and the other is intended for those who prefer to sit outside.
The large spacious restaurant also comprises a seating area for the convenience of the guests awaiting a table.
Eight sorts of salads are conveyed to the table, some are Moroccan salads and Kurdish or pita breads are served beside them.
Among the main courses, one can select:
Kibbeh(oval meat filled grain patties) soup bamiah (okra) and beetroot in red sauce.
Yafrah grape leaves, zucchini and onions stuffed with meat and rice.
In addition to the movie’s projection, Pnina and the daughter Ora, are more than happy to pass between the tables and tell some more about this special outstanding woman, Sara Hatan, to any guest who desires to listen
Shefta : meat and vegetable cutlets.
Kurdish kebab.
T’bit: chicken stuffed with rice and meat.
Stuffed half chicken.
The plates are served with a side dish of bulgur (burghul) kibbeh, green beans and rice with dates.
The restaurant also offers a variety of desserts, the signature dish being homemade baklava.
But a meal at the Hemdat HagalilRestaurant comprises much more than just food, it also includes the experience of the life story of the restaurant’s founder, Sara Hatan of blessed memory.
A large TV screen installed at the restaurant’s entrance displays a movie that conveys the fascinating story of Sara Hatan, who was born in the town of Kozjak located in the Kurdistan mountains, from where she immigrated to Shtula, and there, for many years, she was a shepherdess who raised goatsand prepared from their milk cheese in wicker baskets. Also depicted is the inconceivable story of her incredible voyage in 2006 to Iraq in order to redeem an ancient Torah scroll that belonged to her family. It describes how she crossed through a difficult route the Iraqi Turkish border to Kurdistan while endangering her life, reached her mother’s grave in the Jewish Cemetery only to discover that nothing was left of it, and then arrived to the grave of the righteous Cohen Amram, the only grave that remained after the Jewish Cemetery was completely destroyed by Saddam Hussein.
