Each time we passed in front of Miriam, an Israeli restaurant located on the Upper West Side, we noticed the crowd and so, thought that we had to try this place. We never tried the dinner, only going for brunch. Reservation required unless you are lucky enough to have a sit at the bar. For drinks, we had their mint tea that was nice and sweet, or their homemade mint lemonade that was well made, not too tart or too sweet. However, I thought that their Turkish coffee was not great, being a bit watery. Food wise, I am still thinking about their lamb shawarma that was served with a fluffy pita, delicious Persian rice that was buttery and a harissa and yogurt sauce that was not spicy. This dish is fantastic: I could have eaten the rice, that had dried fruits in it, on its own, but, mixed with the lamb, it was even better, an explosion of flavors. I highly recommend this dish if, like me, you love lamb. The shuk salad with campari tomatoes, parisian cucumbers, chickpeas, breakfast radishes, scallions, mint, eggplant, za'atar croutons, feta cheese and lemon vinaigrette was pretty good and refreshing, but I admit that I prefer their breakfast platters. My favorite is the Jerusalem breakfast that is composed of two eggs any style, avocado spread, tomatoes salad, homemade Jerusalem bagel and labeneh. Comforting, this was the first time I had a Jerusalem bagel and I could have eaten more of it. The middle eastern breakfast sambusak was also succulent. It was made with a sambusak that is a house-baked bread stuffed with cheese, served with avocado, tomatoes, two eggs any style, Israeli salad and tahini. The day we got these breakfast platters, we skipped dessert, but, when we went back, we tried their knafeh that was superb: the crispy kataifi was hiding a delicious layer of ricotta cheese that pairs well with the sugar syrup their poured on top and the pistachio ice cream that was sitting on top of the dish. A must have.