News and Reviews from the Israel Foodie Scene.

Happy 2020 and welcome to another year of Israel foodie news. The beginning of the year has been fairly quiet but there are some good updates below, with some more openings to look forward to.

Kosher 

Just Meat, which sells high-quality meat sandwiches, is opening a new larger branch on Yafo in the new JTLV building. This is in addition to the branches on Ben Hillel and Malha in Jerusalem. They are also planning to open in Tel Aviv in the near future.

Mimoni’s is a vegetarian and vegan pita bar on Agripas with four simple dishes. Cauliflower shawarma; beet carpaccio, feta and rocket; hummus with chickpeas, pesto and crème fraiche; and wild rice kebab. Prices range from NIS 35 to 39.

McDonald’s has returned to Ben Gurion Airport with a branch in Terminal 3 that is open 24 hours a day.

Buffet is a new delicatessen in Oshiland in Kfar Saba, with a large selection of ready-made food that can be eaten in the store, or for take-away. In the morning, they have a cafe and bakery. At lunch the meat stands open, offering grilled chicken, shawarma and lachmajun. On Friday there is a large selection of ready-made food for Shabbat.

Meshek Ofaimme (Dairy no hechsher) has opened a new café and shop in Binyamina.

Pitush is a new street food restaurant in Kiryat Haim from the owner of Trompta in Kiryat Bialik. Fillings include kebab, sabich, merguez, liver and butcher’s cut. The signature dish, called the First Lady, is made from entrecote and goose liver. On Friday, all the dishes are served inside challah instead of pita.

Not Kosher

Fu Sushi in Tel Aviv has moved from Yirmiyahu Street to 302 Dizengoff Street.

In its place is Bazaar 32, a restaurant and bar, which offers a combination of good food, interesting cocktails and top Israeli wines. Dishes include polenta with poached egg and swiss chard; tagliatelle pasta, with Alaskan king crab, shrimp butter & capers; and calamari and crystal shrimp on a bed of whole wheat bulgur tabbouleh. For now, it is only open for dinner and in the future, it will also be open for lunch.

Texas BBQ has moved from Ramat Hachayal to Florentine. The Southern American style restaurant has a trial menu with classic dishes including chicken and waffles, a selection of burgers and smoked meat.

Municipal is a new cocktail bar in the Herzliya Iriah complex in place of Dolly Parton bar.

Other Israel Foodie News

Etrog Man is currently renovating the original branch in Shuk Machane Yehuda and will also be opening a new branch on Ben Yehuda in Jerusalem.

Last month I reported that Chef Aviv Moshe left Messa. Like many other celebrity Israeli chefs, he has expanded abroad, with the opening of Exodus, a pescetarian Israeli restaurant in Berlin.

In other celebrity chef news, Chef Meir Adoni has separated from the Dunya chain. The chain launched two years ago and was meant to open branches all over the country and eventually abroad. In reality, only three branches opened and they are all in Tel Aviv. Dunya is also not a typical street-food restaurant and it is rumored that the dishes that Adoni designed were too complicated and expensive to make it economically viable.

Events

• Hamitbahon is a new Food Truck complex in the Rose Garden opposite the Knesset. For now, it is only open for lunch and they have large tents for people to eat in. The trucks change every month and the list of restaurants being featured has not been released. January trucks included food from Angelica, Hamotzi and Caffit. Follow the Hamitbahon on FaceBook for updates.
• So French So Food 9-13 February 2020.
• Sommelier, Israel’s largest wine exhibition, 10-11 February 2020.
• Eilat Desert Wine Festival 19-20 March 2020.

Recent Posts

• Top 10 Pizza Places in Jerusalem
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• 2019 Israel Foodie News Highlights
• Debbest Dishes December 2019

To read previous Israel Foodie news roundups, click here and subscribe to my newsletter to receive updates by email.