Restaurant: Onza
Location: 3 Rabi Khanina, Tel Aviv 6813731, Israel. +972 3-648-6060
Date: July 4, 2019
Cuisine: Israeli
Rating: Really great
On this particular evening, our restaurant was in the historic port city of Jaffa.
The port where Jonah supposedly hitched a ride with the whale. But regardless, it’s been an important seaport since ancient times and is the only ancient part of Tel Aviv.
On our way to dinner we wandered through the old arab quarter of Jaffa, which is now home to art galleries.
Our destination was Onza, a modern Turkish-Israeli restaurant.
Two inside floors and a lot of outside patio dining (which is where we were).
The menu.
Because Israeli wines were mysteriously double the price of European wines, I ordered this Spanish Albarino.
Bread for the mezze.
Simple pasta.
Pickled peppers and onions.
Pickled cauliflower.
Tahini with tomato and olive oil.
Warm Eggplant. yogurt, butter & pistachios. Aka Babaghanoush. The first of many mezze. A very nice one. I liked the pistachio angle.
Gigik yogurt. cucumbers, dill & mint. Aka Tzatziki.
Melon and feta. Salty sweet!
Tomato Salad. chili, walnuts, pomegranate syrup & feta cheese.
“Choban” salad. Selanova, caesar lettuce, puff quinoa, date, Tulum & cucumber.
Pasturma cigar “Kashkaval”, chives & dill yogurt.
Fish Sashimi. pickled beets, sheep yogurt, citrus peel, aniss oil & Sumak.
Eggplant “Mafrum”. Minced meat, roasted tomatoes, potato, pistachios, eggplant foam.
Balik Kofte. Brioche, fish patties, yogurt tahini, “matbukha” & coriander. Like the fish versions of crab cakes in tomato sauce, with different herbs.
Fried Cauliflower Salad. Cauliflower, tahini, onions, almonds, garlic & lemon. Liking the cauliflower tahini combo.
Sea Bass Fillet. Eggplant cream, black lentils, salicornia, fries eggplant & “Beurre blanc”.
These Pie flat breads are like Turkish pizzas.
“Pide” Roka. Tomato sauce, mozzarella, olives, parmesan & arugula.
“Pide” Lamb Bacon & Shrimps. Arugula salad, kashkaval cheese & olive oil. More exciting!
They had dessert, but we wandered down the street into the market (below).
Overall, Onza was great. Personally I finish Turkish to be one of my favorite middle easterns as it unifies the swath of influences from the Balkins to Persia. I particularly enjoyed the mezze here.
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