Balaboosta
“I had the fried olives, hummus, grilled lamb chops and banana date bread pudding – all really good.”
“Given how much I love Taim, I'm surprised it took me this long to try this restaurant out!”
“I followed advice of fellow yelpers and have to agree that fried olives, crispy cauliflower, and grilled eggplant bruschetta are all excellent and very creative.”
Balaboosta
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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I fell in love with Israeli cuisine while in Philly for my birthday last summer. And brunch at Balaboosta further highlights and confirms it. One of the best brunches I've had in the city.
My girlfriend joined my husband and me for a catch up meal. The menu was simple yet offered plenty of tasty options for any type of craving!
Short rib chestnut hash – hash? didn't sound like something I would usually order but it got me at short rib. It was a hearty, beyond satisfying dish! The short rib was soft, tender, and perfectly fatty. The potato hash was delectably crispy. The broken yolk from the fried egg on top and the sauce – I licked my skillet clean! The chestnut added a contrasting element of texture and sweetness – So so good!
Poached eggs – my bestie ordered this dish and offered me a bite. The eggs were beautifully made. The tart chick peas salad along with the giant slice of slightly sweetened challah bread – all combined into the perfect bite.
Shaksuka with merguez – lighter yet still comforting option! The tomato stew had the perfect level of acidity. The eggs baked just right. The yolks were still runny! The house made merguez were well worth the $4 surcharge. Perfectly flavoured and spiced. Served with two toasted, warm crusty bread. My husband ate every crumb.
Banana, raisin bread pudding with yogurt ice cream – would had been beyond happy just eating this as my brunch entree alone! The outside was crispy, the inside was warm and gooey! It wasn't too sweet and went really well with the tartness from the yogurt ice cream! My husband had to call me out to remind me we were sharing. I was polishing the plate at record speed!
Overall – def my go to for any future brunch meals! And can't wait to return to try the dinner menu!
My friends and I made a reservation for 6 at 8:15. We sat down around 9:20 or so. That's why this review is only 3-stars (also, the host was really condescending/but also gave us free sangria). By the time we actually sat, we were beyond hungry and randomly ordered many small things from the menu to tide us over while we selected our main course. We tried the fried olives, hummus, burrata and patatas bravas, along with the salad special, which I think included brussels sprouts. Those were all amazing – particularly the hummus and the patatas bravas, together. Unfortunately, i was sort of full by the time it came to order our main course, but ended up getting the chicken anyway since everyone else was ordering more food. It was fine but i ended up taking most of it to go, and still spending a lot of money even though we filled up on the sangria and got no booze. My vegetarian friend was also not a fan of the risotto special, and barely touched it. All in all, kind of a toss-up but I could see myself returning for the mezze – maybe would be a good brunch spot.
Mediterranean is what caught my attention with this restaurant. Huge Mediterranean/Middle Eastern cuisine fan so figured we'd bring the party here.
Came here with a few friends and were seated right away. It is a small space and pretty cramped. For someone who orders a ton of food and likes big tables — this is not the right place. We practically ordered half the menu and had no space on the table.
Our waiter definitely tried being as helpful as possible and helped us choose what to order. I loved the fried olives app. It is really different and very tasty. The steaks were alright, I've definitely had better and the fish had way too many bones with a pretty mediocre stuffing.
Desserts were delicious. Especially the chocolate mousse.
It's not on my top 10 Mediterranean restaurants I'd return to but they definitely have a chance.
Balaboosta: n. A Yiddish term meaning the perfect housewife, homemaker, wonderful mother, cook & gracious hostess. SO stinking cute!
While tiny, this place is mighty in dining! The atmosphere is adorable and the food is very different than many other dining options nearby. The hummus plate is to die for and the pita that accompanies it is vert flavorful. I could eat that for my entire meal and be satisfied.
My mom ordered some type of wrap as a meal, while I stuck with the cauliflower. She said it was one of her favorite meals of the whole trip! The cauliflower was a nice, light option since I was not that hungry.
The only complaint I have is that they charge you for more pita. I think that's ridiculous, considering if you order the hummus platter (which only comes with 2 pieces) and still have more hummus left, you're obviously going to need more bread!!!
Came here for brunch. We were seated right away which was a plus. Seating can get cramped but I've seen worse at other restaurants.
Food was decent but nothing out-of-this-world good. I felt like there could have been more variation to the menu.
Most of the crowd was comprised of women that looked like they were catching up with girlfriends they hadn't seen in forever. Needless to say, it was so LOUD in this place that I ended up getting a headache. Lol. Brunch turned into Club Balaboosta in no time.
Not sure if I'd revisit unless I came prepared with a bottle of Advil… 3/5
I was so excited to try Balaboosta. About a week ahead of time I tried to make reservations for a Friday night for 2 but the only availability was before 5 pm and after 9 pm, so we decided to risk it and just show up early and hope to be seated.
We arrived around 6:15 and were seated right away. Our server was very friendly and she was patient in giving us time to explore the menu. We started with the hummus, which had the most amazing light and fluffy texture. Next, we ordered the crispy cauliflower and market salad. The salad was large and tasted great, but the cauliflower had a thick creamy sauce and and odd taste. We both ordered the red snapper as our entree, which was incredibly flavorful. The feta was the perfect accompaniment to the spicy Moroccan sauce. The entree was definitely my favorite part of the meal.
Though I had a great night, I wasn't as blown away by the restaurant as I expected. It was a bit brighter and less romantic than I had anticipated, and I was so eager to try to crispy cauliflower but was disappointed by that. Had I not had such high expectations my review probably would have been 4 stars, but A-OK pretty much describes it.
Really excellent dinner at Balaboosta– we mainly focused on small plates and appetizers, but also had the menu's lone pasta entree. Everything was flavorful and well thought out, and I absolutely plan to come back to try every single other thing on the menu.
We began with the hummus, which is legend. The hummus itself is light and flavorful, and is not easily described other than to say that it is really really good hummus. It comes with warm, fluffy pita with an excellent za'atar baked into the top. It would definitely be fun just to come here and have hummus and cocktails. Next came the crispy cauliflower, which was true to its name. It is served with toasty, aromatic pine nuts and some kind of tangy berry (barberries? currants? something else entirely?). The cauliflower itself had an excellent bite with a satisfying char on top, while the inside became rich and creamy. I was a big fan.
We were then served the broccoli, which has a wonderful smokey char on top that makes each bite bracing. It is served with a fairly hot red pepper tahini sauce that we most assuredly ate every drop of.
The octopus is fantastic– it comes with onions that have been cooked down to a sweet goop, blackened breadcrumbs, and a bright carrot puree. The fixings are great, but the octopus itself really shines above all else. It is as tender and savory as pork belly, which anyone who has cooked octopus knows can be hard to pull off.
Finally, we had the pappardelle with lamb shoulder and cardamom. I had been dead set on getting this because I myself have been wanting to make a spice-forward fresh pasta dish with slow cooked lamb (what are the odds?). The dish stands on its own as an excellent pasta, but embedded within it is a sort of gag (I think) in that, experientially, the dish both resembles and eats like a wide cantonese noodle. The sauce has been cooked into kind of a thick gravy that clings to the noodle, and interspersed throughout is both the lamb, perfectly crunchy almonds, and wilted greens. It is simultaneously a pappardelle with a slow cooked meat, which is very italian, while tasting very middle eastern, while somehow BEING incredibly Chinese. I think that is the joke. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. Either way– delicious.
I had the Nava, an excellent scotch and apple liqeuer cocktail with grapefruit bitters. It was subtle yet spirit-forward, and I enjoyed it immensely while also being able to sip it very slowly. My dining companion had, what the menu refers to as a 'winter rosé,' which was pleasingly astringent and was indeed a good rosé for winter.
If your desire is for 'fancy new american,' but you're also craving middle eastern flavors, this is the ticket. Highly recommend. Ambience is also wonderful for dates, but bring gum.
I was really in the mood for some Israeli food and Balaboosta had been on my list for awhile. Unfortunately, I found the overall experience to be somewhat disappointing.
The service is almost non-existent. Our waitress ignored us for almost the entirety of our meal, despite the fact that we were the only table in the restaurant. The staff seemed more interested in interacting with each other than us.
The food was fine. The hummus and bread were good. The patatas bravas were fairly uninspired. The fried cauliflower was fine. The Israeli Street Fair was probably the best dish.
The sangria was flavorless.