The back story
Eating in Tel Aviv: hummus at noon, a chef’s table at ten
Market produce, Eyal Shani, Jaffa’s chef kitchens and hotel tables by the sea: how Tel Aviv eats.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Orenrosenfeld · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsTel Aviv eats from the market. The Carmel and Levinsky markets set the menus of the city’s chef restaurants, and the cooking moves easily between the Levant, the Mediterranean and the rest of the world.
Eyal Shani has made a style of it, at HaSalon and North Abraxas and in the pitas of Miznon; in Jaffa, OCD serves a progressive Israeli menu at one counter in the Noga quarter, and in Neve Tzedek Popina puts its open kitchen at the centre of the room. Hummus is a lunchtime dish, breakfast is a feast, and dinner starts late.
The market kitchens
Ouzeria, beside the Levinsky Market, cooks like a Greek ouzeria and a Spanish tapas bar; Haachim, on Ibn Gabirol, celebrates Israeli produce from the country’s farmers.
Eyal Shani
HaSalon, his first restaurant with his partner Shahar Segal; North Abraxas on Lilienblum Street; Miznon’s pitas on Ibn Gabirol and in Sarona.
The chef’s tables
OCD in Jaffa, Popina and House of Dallal in Neve Tzedek, Shila on Montefiore Street and Taizu’s “AsiaTerranean” cooking.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Charles Haynes from Hobart, Australia · CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsHotel dining
George & John at The Drisco, Alena and Dinings at The Norman, ARC at The Jaffa, Mashya at the Mendeli Street Hotel and Manara at the Sheraton Grand.
Book the chef’s tables ahead, and eat hummus before 2pm, when the best places sell out.
Our advice: on Friday afternoon the city winds down for Shabbat; book Friday lunch, and check which kitchens open on Saturday.
Why it's on our list
- The market kitchens
- Eyal Shani
- The chef’s tables
- Hotel dining
Location
The map comes from Google Maps, which sets its own cookies once it loads.
More in depth
The back storyTel Aviv’s café life, from the morning roast to the corner brasserieRoasters since 2011, a 1997 brasserie, Jaffa-style bakes on Allenby and long breakfasts.
The back storyTel Aviv after dark: rooftops, clubs and live stagesRooftop bars over the sea, food bars by the market, clubs after midnight and live stages.
The back storyThe hotels of Tel Aviv, from Jaffa’s old walls to the promenadeAn old police station on Clock Square, John Pawson in Jaffa, an 1866 colony house and the promenade.