Israeli Breakfast

My Hebrew textbook tells me that the average Israeli does not eat much for breakfast. Like Americans, they gobble a few bites on the run, perhaps managing cafe and maybe some kornfleks. (This refers not just to cornflakes but to any cereal — there is another Hebrew word for cereal, but it is seldom used.) And indeed, I bought myself a nice big box of kornfleks at the supermarket (commonly referred to as hasuper) this morning.

However, hotels carry on the fine Israeli tradition of a breakfast buffet which puts anything you can get in an American hotel, even a very good one, to complete shame. Yesterday, after a good night’s sleep at the Sadot Airport Hotel (which is not at the airport- -there are no hotels at the airport, possibly for security reasons – but rather a twenty minute drive away in Be’er Yaakov) I awoke to this:

And this:

Also this:

And this:

Not pictured, a selection of respectable(not sugary) dried cereals, things to put on top of them, and also a tea bar with a variety of interesting herbal and regular loose teas, with a fleet of teonim (tea pots) in which to infuse them. Also, mitz tapuzim (orange juice), limonata (lemonade), and an espresso machine with many settings.

Now, I have to say, kudos to Malon Sadot (Sadot Hotel) for one of the best such spreads I’ve seen and eaten from. Not every Israeli hotel does as well, for sure. And the price of a room, including the breakfast, is not all that high. But also, let’s face it, in comparison with any Israeli hotel breakfast, the flabby pastries, greasy meats, sugary cereals, and rubbery eggs one receives at U.S. hotels –if there is even breakfast — look even sadder than usual in comparison.

As for me, I’ll be back to my kornfleks — or possibly a simple fried egg — now that I am doing for myself. In fact, this morning I made do with bread, milk, and some fruit. Oh, and a bite of nice espresso flavored chocolate leftover from the hotel…