News and updates on the Israel foodie scene.
Welcome to the Israel Foodie Roundup, a summary of restaurant openings, closings and other Israel foodie news. As the country is slowly returning to some sort of normality, there seems to be a trend of new places opening that are focused on street food and deli-style prepared food. From the list of new places below, I am most excited to try Palomino Italian Lounge, Sumac and Sahara Palace. Comment below where you want to try.
Kosher Restaurant News
Brioche Bistro Bar (Tzohar) is a French cafe in Yaffo serving Parisien-style breakfast and other dairy dishes.
Cafe Poco is a small dairy cafe on Midrohov Ben Shetech in central Jerusalem. Poco serves a variety of pasta, salads, sandwiches and other dishes. Full English menu and online delivery.
Metuka has opened a patisserie and cafe in the Arlozorov Country Club in North Tel Aviv.
Palomino Italian Lounge is an Italian restaurant on King George in Jerusalem with a fish and dairy menu.
River has opened a kosher branch in Herzliya,
Roll Cream on Agripas in Jerusalem serves bubble waffle and kurtosh cones filled with ice cream.
Sumac is a meat chef restaurant in Villa Galilee boutique hotel in Tzfat. The restaurant is run by Chef Daniel Shalit, a graduate of Game of Chefs, with a focus on Galilee dishes and ingredients. Starters include freekeh salad, chicken cigar with Baharat, and beef and lamb Arais. Interesting main dishes include baked red drum fish with majadra, beef and lamb siniya, and lamb chops with freekeh and pomegranate molasses.
Vegetarian Shawarma (Parev) has moved from Rehov Hillel to Shuk Machane Yehuda. The menu serves a variety of vegetarian dishes including shawarma, kebab, sausage toast, burgers, okra, and burger schnitzel, and seitan. Delivery via 10bis.
Not Kosher Restaurant News
Alter Kitchen Farm is a new urban farm-to-table cafe by Chef Anar Ben Rafael of the recently closed Igra Rama. The menu features locally grown seasonal vegetables, along with meat, fish and seafood. Alter serves a selection of fresh pastries from Fika Swedish Bakery and there is also a deli shop. For now the cafe is only open for breakfast and lunch but plans to open for dinner in the future.
Cafe Hamudot is a small cafe on Rehov Yitzhak Sadeh in South Tel Aviv. Savory treats include sabich, Balkan and health sandwiches. Sweets include pistachio, cranberry, and salt vegan cookies, carrot and walnut muffins, banana and chocolate muffins, and wild berry muffins.
Food Terminal is a new food complex in Rishon LeZion which offers take away, delivery and catering from three different restaurants, Ze Sushi, Vong and Big Yves. Customers can order separately from the Japanese, Vietnamese and French menus respectively. The owners of the complex are the owners of the Ze Sushi and Vong chains and Big Yves is their new brand of French-style hamburgers.
Makoto is an Asian fusion restaurant and cocktail bar by Chef Aviv Moshe in place of Quattro. The menu includes beef tataki, tuna carpaccio, veal sweetbreads with teriyaki and lemongrass, as well as a selection of sushi. Chef Moshe has also created an Asian version of his signature goose liver dish from Messa. The goose liver is served with seared pineapple on toasted brioche with yellow curry and coriander syrup.
Maris is a Turkish tavern in North Tel Aviv owned by a Jewish Turkish family, serving traditional Turkish food. Dishes include a selection of mezze starters, grilled kebabs, and lachmajun. They also serve Turkish sweet dishes like Knafe, Katmar and Malabi, as well as the Turkish-influenced cocktails.
Miznon by Eyal Shani has opened a branch in Sarona Market and features two new dishes that do not appear in any of his other branches. One dish is Shishbonbon Pita – roasted shish kebabs with tahini and chili and the second is an Eggplant Moussaka Pita. A new branch of Miznon is due to open in Mevaseret Zion.
Neve Tzedek is a bar on Rehov Shamai in central Jerusalem by The Rothschild Group, the owners of a number of bars in Tel Aviv. The bar has a small garden, and the menu includes an artichoke and tomato salad, Viennese schnitzel and red tuna ceviche in Pana Puri balls.
Pereh is a restaurant on Nahalat Binyamin by Aviad Peled and Uri Steinberg (previously worked at the Montefiore Hotel)
Pick Bar is a garden bar in Kedumim Square in the Old City of Yaffo serving cold beer and cocktails. The bar menu includes a selection of fresh rolls filled with pulled beef and smoked beach sauce, mac & cheese with lamb bacon, and chicken salad with caramelized cashew nuts, as well as fries with doha.
Pitashtash is a Georgian pita stand in the Old Station in Tel Aviv from the owners of Tash & Tasha restaurant. They also have an ice cream parlor and cafe. Pita fillings include spicy ground veal, beef stew with dates, chicken shawarma, and sabich. They also serve the beloved khachapuri with cheese and eggs.
Roxanne Bar is a wine bar in downtown Jerusalem with a changing wine menu and live musical performances. The bar also arranges wine tasting evenings with cheese and refreshments.
Sahara Palace is an Arabic Galilean restaurant in Kfar Nin near Afula from Chef Nashat Abbas of El Barbur in Akko. The restaurant focuses on local ingredients and Arabic cooking methods. Traditional dishes include Shish Barak, Mansaf, Maashuka , Shakrya, and desserts like Knafe and Mifruka.
Se Tu Pizza from Rishon Le Zion has opened a new branch in Shuk HaPishpishim in Yaffo.
Vesperr is a cafe, bar and cultural center inside the Fiverr building, next to Sarona in Tel Aviv, in partnership with Nordinho. In the morning, the cafe serves sandwiches, pastries and salads. In the afternoon, it is more of an Italian bistro with pizza and other Italian pastries, along with platters of cheeses, cold meats and vegetables. In the evening, there are live music events, professional workshops and other cultural events.
Wilson Deli is a pancake bar in the courtyard of Kfar Saba serving pancakes, ice cream and bubble waffles.
Yarokale is a small dairy food truck owned by MasterChef contestant Ithiela Hyatt in Moshav Mata, in the Judean Hills near Tsur Hadassah.
Other Israel Foodie News
Uri Buri restaurant, the Efendi hotel and Mercato in the Turkish Bazaar in Akko were burnt down in the riots. The owners have promised to rebuild them all.
Alena restaurant at The Norman hotel has reopened after more than a year, with new Chef Daniel Tzur and Omar Shadmi running the kitchen. Check out the full Alena English Menu and the Alena Breakfast menu.
Cube Kitchen is a culinary project from some of Israel’s most well-known chefs, including Chefs Erez Komarovsky, Yossi Shitrit, Meir Adoni, Israel Aharoni, and Omer Miller. The project allows customers to a pre-selected three-course meal for two or four people or to order a variety of dishes from different chefs. Signature dishes include Saffron and Coriander Seed Challah by Komarovsky, Spondra by Adoni, and Ushpalau (Bukharian meat and rice stew) by Aharoni. The Cube Kitchen delivery menu also includes a selection of desserts, ice cream and cocktails
I’m Here Because of my Wife (Tzohar) is the vegan cafe on Hillel in Jerusalem that used to be Mitz Marak. Following the death of the owner’s wife, she left the Mitz Marak chain and renamed the cafe.
Leggenda Ice Cream is opening new branches in Kiryat Tivon, Kiryat Anavim and Karmiel.
Recently Updated Israel Foodie Posts
- Kosher Sarona
- The Ultimate Guide to Eating in Jerusalem
- Top 10 Kosher Restaurants in Tel Aviv & Herzliya
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- Top 10 Israeli Cookbooks
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