Middle Eastern Food in Arabic Region: Israel

Date:  vendredi 9 septembre 2011
Location:  Somewhere in the Arab Region of Israel

My third weekend in Israel.  I met with friends in Tel Aviv who took me on a quick 3-stop lunch eating tour in the Arab region near Tel Aviv.  I felt lucky to have a local friend lead the way, since not only do I love this kind of simple hole-in-the-wall street food (which is always hard to find the best ones in any country you go to), but this particular region is not the safest and I would not have ventured here on my own.  Won't be finding these shop addresses in any tour guide or Bourdain food show that's for sure.  The area reminded me of being in Lebanon, which I have fond memories of visiting back in 2007 and 2008.  The food today was very traditional Middle Eastern Mediterranean.  Simple, clean, made fresh daily, healthy, and nice bonus - cheap!

The first little restaurant we went to was famous for its daily fresh made hummus.  Usually there is a long line and once the hummus is all eaten up, no more for the day!  The place closes at 1pm, so we were a little worried because we were arriving just in time.  Lucky for us, there was no line today, we sat down immediately, and they were still serving hummus.  I had to use the restroom right away, and was concerned about the quality of the restroom. I was waved to go up the staircase through the restaurant back door.  When I did, I arrived at what looked like an entrance to a house!  I knocked and opened the door - and a Muslim lady welcomed me into her home speaking Hebrew (or Arabic) while smiling and opening her arms.  I was so surprised at how friendly they were, and laughed to myself while on the loo, at this experience I was having.  What were the odds?  When I exited the restroom, I washed my hands outside in the water basin in the living room - and the nice Muslim lady stood next to me with big warm smile and handed me a clean wash cloth to dry my hands.  I was so humbled!

First stop:  hummus shop!

It seemed that almost as soon as we sat down, our plates were quickly served - fresh beautiful creamy hummus with some whole garbanzo beans, and olive oil, a small side dish of Persian Cucumber, tomato, pickles, onion, and a hot chili pepper, and of course - pita bread made the traditional Middle Eastern way:  thin.  The hummus was absolutely delicious and I loved it - especially considering it is impossible to find similar hummus anywhere in the world except for the Middle East.  There was also a side dish of slightly hot (spicy) chili pepper sauce.  Again, another moment of appreciating my life - being here in the Israel Middle East in a dangerous Arab neighborhood, eating really great hummus and having been invited into the shop's home upstairs to use their personal restroom!

The second place we went to was famous for its falafel and lamb shawarma.  Another hole-in-the-wall, also very clean just like the  first one!  I typically do not eat fried things and also consider myself a vegetarian - but okay, if the restaurant is known for a particular meat dish (or if there is foie gras on the menu), then I am ordering it to taste.  :-)  There were also many side vegetable dishes to choose from, you walk up and pick what you want.  I was a lucky lady this day since I had two very hot, sexy, strong Israeli men serving me.  :-)  I loved all the vegetables (one thing I have always loved about Middle Eastern Mediterranean food!!) and clean tasting, savory sauces.  Light and fulfilling.  The lamb shawarma was really good!  Very lean and tasty!!  The falafel was delicious, however not as good as another hole in the wall I love in Beirut where they roll up each garbanzo bean ball right in front of you and drop it into the hot oil.  Even though I ate very little meat, it was easy to fill up on all this delicious and healthy food.  I had to pace myself since we had one more stop left - dessert.

Second stop:  falafel and lamb shawarma shop!

We walked next door (literally) and entered a traditional Middle Eastern pastry shop, where again everything is made fresh daily.  Ahhhhhh reminded me again of Lebanon!  All the filo dough pastries, baklava, and those little pastries that look like small bird nests!  I was so happy!  We ordered a sampling of a few different kinds to taste from lightest to sweetest.  The first one was my favorite - a kind of light cheesy dough inside a birds-nest-like outer surface.  Great texture and perfectly mildly sweet.  I have tasted a lot of Middle Eastern desserts, but this was my first time tasting this one, and I love trying new things!

Third stop:  pastry shop!!

I really enjoyed this afternoon and the quick-stop-eating-tours in this unique area - similar approach to my tasting tour method in NYC with my buddy Jesse B. (except we had a lot of wine to pair with those stops, and we were in slightly more friendly territory!).  http://soledad-bleu-etoile.blogspot.com/2011/02/1-somm-1-master-somm-1-eve-in-nyc-11.html

I will definitely come back here again.  Mmmmm... might have to make a trip to Lebanon soon...

For similar post of Lebanese Street Food (and actually of even more ethnic quality!) - see my blog on Yalla Yalla London.
http://soledad-bleu-etoile.blogspot.com/2011/02/yalla-yalla-beirut-street-food-london.html

Will get back to Beirut within next 9 months and update real time from the Paris of the Middle East.