My job of hunting down the best snacks and little bites in Tel-Aviv is never over. Read my last post about grabbing a bite in Tel-Aviv here.
Notice the burger signs which are part of my new Rating System. 3 burgers is the best score for a snack and zero means – Avoid.
For me, the best place to buy fresh products in Tel-Aviv is Ha’Carmel Market. After hours of groceries shopping, anyone has to stop for a bite. There are many options to be considered. These are three of them:
Shmulik’s Kebab
21 Ha’Carmel St. (As a stand), Tel-Aviv
Go if you’re around!
For a sandwich filled with salad, parsley and freshly made beef and lamb kebabs with lemon squeezed on top – stop at Shmulik’s tall stools in the middle of the market (around 20 ILS for a sandwich).
Freshly made beef and lamb kebabs with lemon squeezed on top – Shmulik’s Kebab.
21 Ha’Carmel St. (As a store), Tel-Aviv
077-7060085
Go if you’re around
New to the neighborhood, using fish from the market and making their own “real” potato French Fries. For 25 ILS you can get the full dish with seasoned French Fries, 6 pieces of your selected fish (cod, salmon, surmullet, sole or a mix) in a nice crusty batter and two kinds of dip sauces: lemon/garlic and tartar sauce and of course the usual ketchup/mustard. I was welcomed with a shot of limoncello and ordered the mix of cod and surmullet. I thought the cod was a better fit than the small surmullets. The fries were kinda soft and thin which isn’t my choice of fries and I thought the whole thing was a bit too greasy, but fresh fish is always a good idea!
Seasoned French Fries, 6 pieces of your selected fish in a nice crusty batter (25 ILS) in Fish&Chips Ha’Carmel 21
Original Turkish Burekas
39 Ha’Carmel St. Tel-Aviv
Go anyway!
This dish of Turkish Burekas is fantastic. I love the Turkish Burek and this one never disappoints. You have to push around to get served if you come on Friday noon but the fight is well worth it. I always take the cheese/spinach/mix and it’s always piping hot out of the oven. Ask for the “complete dish” (25 ILS) served with thick slices of ripe delicious tomatoes, great home-made pickles and a boiled egg. Not too oily and has a big satisfying effect. We tried the Malabi for dessert – it was so soft and delicate that what we thought was a full belly turned out to be an exploded belly and soon there was nothing left. A treat!
The “Complete Burekas Dish” (25 ILS) served with thick slices of ripe delicious tomatoes, great home-made pickles and a boiled egg – Original Turkish Burekas
Malabi for dessert – so soft and delicate!
Fleishman Deli
12 Hertzel St. Tel-Aviv
053-8096155
Go anyway!
Although this place is Kosher, I recommend trying it out. Sitting in their little bar is fun. Decorated with watered spring onions in a vase (adds a nice fresh crunch to the sandwich), refill sodas (there’s even diet soda there!) and a welcoming crew. They’re nice but a bit out of focus, we had to repeat our order three times. The sandwich itself is pretty good with a Moroccan bread (you can choose tasty or healthy bun) and few meat options which are then sliced very fine and put in a big pile inside the bread with a lot of sauce. The dish costs 38 ILS and comes with some pickled cabbage and chips. It’s not a big dish but a nice one. We tried the pulled beef which is like pulled pork but kosher. It was said to be cooked for hours and indeed it was moist and tasty.
Spring onions in a vase and refill sodas in Fleishman Deli
The dish costs 38 ILS and comes with some pickled cabbage and chips.
Pulled beef sandwich which is like pulled pork sandwich but kosher.
If you work in Nachalat Yitzchak area like me, and want to go out for lunch, there aren’t many options (this is why we keep ordering deliveries. Read my deliveries special post). I collected three of the options to eat a lunch out in a walking distance:
Raniz
5 Nachalat Yitzchak, Tel-Aviv
03-6910991
Go If you’re drunk/starving
One of the more acceptable places to eat is Raniz. A sandwich bar with salads, burgers and meat sandwiches. He’s alright because he puts a decent amount of meat in the sandwich (28 ILS). The pickle that come with the meal is the big cornichon type and you can also get the potato wedges (the best part of the meal) and a soft drink for extra 10 ILS in the business lunch. (I think that for the same price, Fleishman takes the win without breaking a sweat.)
A sandwich bar with salads, burgers and meat sandwiches, Raniz.
He puts a decent amount of meat in the sandwich (28 ILS / 38 ILS for a meal).
Rocket
22 Moses Yehuda And Noah, Tel-Aviv
03-6958080
Avoid anyway!
For 35 ILS you can get here a big lunch with salads, main course and side dishes. The quality: an Okay chicken breast on the grill, salads are fine and the cooked side dishes are a terrible combination between overcooked and under seasoned vegetables.
Salads are fine, maybe you can ask for that alone? Rocket.
The side dishes are a terrible combination between overcooked and under seasoned vegetables.
Salad And Grill Bar
4 Nachalat Yitzchak, Tel-Aviv
03-6877062
Go If you’re drunk/starving
One other option in Nachalat Yitzchak is this Salad Bar. For 39 ILS you can choose what goes in your salad then add chicken or burger on top. The sweet potatoes chips are a crunchy addition. All in all – nothing to write home about.
The sweet potatoes chips are a crunchy addition. Salad and Grill Bar.
Shwarma Bon-Ta’am
56 Alenbi St. Tel-aviv
03-5104411
Go if you’re around
Late night snack in Alenbi street is highly popular. It’s either pizza or shwarma. Bon Ta’am is open all night and offer turkey or beef shwarma. It’s expensive compared to other shwarma places but being open so late makes it really worth it! Feel light a satisfying snack? Go for half-dish (20 ILS) of shwarma in a pita bread. Enough to get you covered snack-wise but not feel too full. The salad bar – most are cabbage based but still a nice selection. The pita is baked there and even late at night it’s fresh and soft.
Bon Ta’am – open late night, Offers a satisfying night snack.
Half a dish of shwarma in fresh made pita with salads (20 ILS).
91 Hahashmona’im St, Tel Aviv.
03-546-5295
Go anyway!
Tex-Mex fast food that we never really had here and it’s about time we got to know in Tel-Aviv. Not bad at all and with a lot of variety to choose what’s going inside your burrito or taco. The guy that welcomed us highly recommended the burrito (‘the holy grail”) but I think the spicy chicken Enchiladas were better overall. Not like the best Enchiladas in town (see my post about Mezcal), but not bad for 24 ILS. The burrito can be filled with ground beef, chicken or pulled pork. We tried their pulled pork with brown rice, frijoles, peppers and onions, guacamole, mango salsa, cheese and vegetables (36 ILS). Wrapping it, it almost didn’t close but we were happy to be able to add almost anything we wanted inside without getting sour faces. It’s worth it. You can also get the whole thing in a salad bowl instead of the burrito. Seems like anything is possible with these guys. Point to perfect: the cheese – I prefer a strong cheddar cheese. Hope they will survive the not-so-great corner they’re located in.
The burrito can be filled with ground beef, chicken or pulled pork. We tried their pulled pork with brown rice, frijoles, peppers and onions, guacamole, mango salsa, cheese and vegetables (36 ILS). It almost didn’t close. Donkey.
The burrito might be ‘the holy grail” but I think the spicy chicken Enchiladas were better overall. Not like the best Enchiladas in town but not bad for 24 ILS.
39 Karlibach St. Tel-Aviv
03-5615030
Avoid anyway!
Just in front of Donkey you can find Ha’Katzav. The place is cheap, unfortunately for a reason. We tried the chicken and the beef kebab sandwiches. Their “house baked baguette” doesn’t taste as fresh as one can expect, the weird combination of hummus and mayonnaise doesn’t work and the meat quality is below average. It’s not a nice place to sit, made us only want to eat-and-run and for the service, well, bad will be a compliment. Avoid.
Hakatzav. The French fries were the best quality of the place and we didn’t even order them…
Beef (Entrecote?!?!) kebab sandwich, “house baked baguette” doesn’t taste as fresh as one can expect.
Leftovers mess
8 Malchei Israel St. Tel Aviv
03-527-8790
Go anyway!
We heard rumors about Ha’Itliz but having to wait for 40 minutes when we first came broke us and we went somewhere else. The next time we came there was no queuing necessary and I already can’t wait for next time. This place is a real gem in the Tel-Avivian scene. At last someone had the courage to take the well known and loved Shwarma to a different angel – a well made version. It’s a fusion between the French Charcuterie and the Turkish traditional Donner. Except for the smoked meat dishes there’s the flag dish of The Donner: a beef and lamb combination soaked in milk with pine nuts and pistachios that goes over the donner rotisserie with lamb fat. This meat is then cut and put on a Moroccan spongy bun with yogurt, tahini, preserved lemon spread, roasted eggplant, onion confiture and spicy tomato salsa (38 ILS). I took the dish on a plate version with all the condiments on the side with this amazing bread as well and together with a nice cucumber and lettuce salad it came up to 49 ILS. A bargain I tell you! Everything was tasty, good quality and went great together. Don’t miss!
At last someone had the courage to take the well known and loved Shwarma to a different angel – a well made version. Ha’Itliz.
The Donner: a beef and lamb combination soaked in milk with pine nuts and pistachios with yogurt, tahini, preserved lemon spread, roasted eggplant, onion confiture and spicy tomato salsa (38 ILS for a sandwich / 49 ILS for a meal on a plate).
52 Chen Boulevards, Tel-Aviv
03-6913399
Go if you’re around
If there’s a longish waiting time in Ha’Itliz you can go around the corner to Bazili.com Pizza. They have nice pizza and my favorite part is the garlic tomato salsa and pesto both free and self service to add on your slice.
Bazili.com Pizza. Self-service salsa and pesto.
Tony Vespa
140 Rothschild Boulevards , Tel-Aviv
03-5460000
Go anyway!
For a totally different style of pizza go to Tony Vespa and choose whatever just got out of the oven. With a thick crunchy outside and soft inside pizza crust and a handful of quality products as toppings – it’s a fine option. The pizza is sold by the kilo and isn’t cheap (around 90 ILS per kilo) but worth it for a bit of magic in your mouth.
Choose whatever just got out of the oven. Tony Vespa.
Next chapter in the series will be all about the sweet snacks in the city!
I love the new rating system…