Eating Tel Aviv :: All Things Andy Gavin

Archive for Eating Tel Aviv

Eating Tel Aviv – Claro

Aug26

Restaurant: Claro

Location: Rehov Ha’Arba’a 23 | Corner of David Elazar 30, Tel Aviv 6107450, Israel. +972 3-601-7777
Website

Date: July 5, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Surprisingly delicious — incredible lamb

Our penultimate night in Israel led us to this totally different much more modern area of Tel Aviv.

Like a Jinga building, lightweight edition.

And to Claro, which I was worried (from the online reviews) would be overly “international.” Turned out to be great.

Interior is the Israeli version of one of those DTLA converted warehouse restaurants. Older warehouse building with hip new decor. Large.

The menu.

Some more bubbly.

Puffy zatar bread with olives, yogurt, cucumbers, etc.

Asparagus, asparagus cream, butter, chili sheep cheese.

Beef tartare, spinach, mustard-labaneh, seasonal vegetable, Kodosh cheese, bruschetta. Great tartare.

Leaves salad, herbs vinaigrette, pickled onion, sheep cheese.

Mediterranean fish confit brushetta, tomatoes, spinach-labeneh, olives, capers.

Seared sea fish, mustard horseradish puree, garlic aioli, red chili.

Asparagus gnocchi, cherry tomato, spinach, butter, white wine.

Family style lamb platter, tzatziki, matbucha, pickled vegetables, pita bread. This was one of the best dishes I had in Israel. My father and I split the whole thing too! Let’s take a closer look.

Various sides and toppings, almost like a Korean meat or Vietnamese fish dish: tzatziki (garlicky yogurt), spicy red stuff, herbs, pickled veggies, lettuce.

Then this huge hunk of incredibly tender lamb and the really nice fresh thick pita breads.

The dessert menu.

King size truffle. Milk chocolate mousse, caramelized hazelnuts, creme anglaise.

Sticky toffee pudding. Dates, coconut sorbet, toffee sauce.

Overall, Claro turned out to be lovely. In it’s way, it is an international restaurant. It would be at home in LA. But the ingredients are Israeli centric. The room, service, and food quality were, however, excellent.

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By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Claro, Eating Israel, Eating Tel Aviv, lamb

Eating Tel Aviv – Onza

Aug23

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.

Click here to see more Eating Israel posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Eating Israel, Eating Tel Aviv, Eggplant, Mezze, Turkish cusine

Eating Tel Aviv – a Place for Meat

Aug21

Restaurant: A Place for Meat

Location: 64 Shabazi Street | Neve Tzedek, Tel Aviv, Israel. +972 53-944-4023

Date: July 4, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Not my favorite

After a morning touring some of the city’s historic sites…

We ended up needing to get my dad lunch — he’s a definite 3 meal a day kind of guy.

And in search of a Yemenite restaurant ended up at this steakhouse — boo, not a steakhouse fan.

The lunch menu. This is like Israeli Houstons or something.

Tomatoes, onions, etc.

Greek salad.

Beef carpaccio. I ordered this and it was actually a pretty good beef carpaccio. Very salty though, both from the parmesan and probably from some salt.

Home made potato crisps — aka chips. Nice and crispy.

Creamed spinach.

Grilled artichokes.

Skewered filet. A bit tough.

There is nothing wrong with the kitchen here, but it’s just kind of boring. I like more exotic flavors and spices.

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By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Eating Israel, Eating Tel Aviv, Meat, Steak

Eating Tel Aviv – Shila

Aug16

Restaurant: Shila

Location: Rehov Ben Yehuda 182, Tel Aviv 6347122, Israel. +972 3-522-1224

Date: July 3, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Great

The end of our trip brought us to bustling Tel Aviv.

Only about 100 years old, Tel Aviv is a radically different kind of city than Jerusalem.

For our first restaurant we went to Shila.

The restaurant was established ten years ago by Sharon cohen and his wife Adi. At the first years Sharon worked with 2 cooks and Adi with 1 waitress. Year after year, step by step the restaurant grows and expanded its size, staff and culinary vision. Today shila became a home for people that love to eat and have fun, Sharon Cohen, the chef, manages his kitchen with laughter and humor behind the Flame, Seasoned with grace and serves with love.

The interior is decidedly more modern than most of what we’ve seen in Israel up to this point. Space was crowded and buzzy too.

The menu.

Bread.

Tahini and spicy sauce.

Fisherman’s Caaprese. Mozzarella di Bufala, cherry tomatoes & Spanish anchovies.

Iron salad. Spinach, endive, walnuts, beetroot carpaccio & Feta cheese.

Yellowtail Sashimi. Sliced apricot, cherries, wakame seaweed & Labaneh stone.

Sea fish tartar. wrapped in avocado, served with almonds and a mint Aioli.

Tel-Aviv mix of fish on top of tzatziki & pita bread.

Green Tortellini. filled with a homemade Ricotta. Served with Crystal shrimp and crab meat.

Fish Fillet and Lobster Ravioli in a Swiss Chard Stew with a lemon butter sauce served with mussels, Tiger shrimp & calamari.

Seafood spaghettini. Shrimps, mussels & calamari in crab stock & pickled caper leaves.

The dessert menu.

Entremet. Dark & Milk Chocolate Mousse, Salted Caramel Cremeux, Sesame Crumble & Sesame Nougatine.

Caribbean Crème Brule. Crème Brule, Almonds Crumble, Coconut ice cream & tropical fruits.

Overall, Shila was great. It was young, hip, loud, crowded, and full of energy. Service was good. The food was more unusual and more contemporary than many places we visited up until this point. The presence of so much “seafood” (aka tref, shellfish) was a pleasant change too. It was definitely rich, but didn’t come off as heavy.

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