Cafe Batia

Type: Restaurant, Jewish East-European
English Menu: Yes
Average price: 50-60 NIS
Address: 95 Hashmonaim st.

Although name makes you think it's a coffee house, Cafe Batia is actually a restaurant serving typical homemade East European Jewish food - Knedelach, Chulent, Gefiltefish and chopped chicken liver (spread), the kind of food you eat on holidays, quite similiar to Keton. Cafe Batia is one of the oldest Jewish restaurants in Tel Aviv and its history can be traced by the pictures on the walls, telling the story of Tel Aviv. The atmosphere is a bit rustic but the people working there are very friendly. 

Our recommendation - the goose leg. It's so good! Well in the pic it might not look that appetizing, but once you've tried the meat with the sweet-savoury-orange sauce, you will crave for more. You get two side dishes of your choice with the every main dish: buckwheat, rice, stewed vegetables and etc. If you want to eat something lighter, try the knedelach soup. It's chicken broth with 2 freshly made matze balls, usually eaten with Passover.

Eden

Type: Persian
English Menu: No
Average price: 55-70 NIS
Address: 16 Neve Shanan st.

If food surfing is one of your goals in Tel Aviv, so Eden is the place. This Persian restaurant provides a great Persian food experience and feeds its loyal clients for many years now.

The waiter will happily detail all the unique dishes and styles of the kitchen. We remained solid this time and ordered the Kebab, highlighted also by the restaurant itself as one of their best dishes. Indeed, not many restaurants in Tel Aviv serve such flavorsome grilled meat, let alone the great Persian rice served with it - spiced up with spicy and sweet herbs. Very palatable. We also ordered the Gundi, which is a mixture of chicken and chick peas, cooked in chicken soup (a bit like Matzah balls). This one was a bit less impressive than the former (indeed tasted too much like a giant Matzah ball).

How to get there
Not only located in today's poor neighborhood of the old central train station, you will have to find the right path inside Neve Shaanan. Follow the map and recognize the sign above in the picture below:

• Walking direction from Tel Aviv central bus station (take bus 5 or any other)
• Image of the sign above the path leading to the restaurant

* Detail: Don't be afraid of the Persian basil and radish given to you as a tiny starter, it's quite yummy after couple of bites!

Black Bar & Burger

Type: Burger
English Menu: Yes
Average price: 55 NIS
Address: Azrieli Center ("Black To Go")

Black Bar & Burger surprised us very much. Being relatively new, we didn't realize that it will challange the other good old burger places in Tel Aviv, like Moses or Agadir. But it did, actually.

The meat is absolutely great - Full of flavor and good texture. The fries are also crunchy outside and soft inside - exactly how we like it. Like other burger places they serve steaks, chicken wings, spring chicken and etc. The only downside - is the location in the Azrieli center. Who likes to eat it in a mall?

Between 12pm-5pm there's a business deal - You can combine the lunch there with shopping in the mall or going up to the great view point of Azrieli buildings.

How to get there

Take bus 63 - it runs from Ben Yehuda through Bograshov straight to Azrieli center. 

Aba Gil

Type: Organic vegan food 
English Menu: Yes
Average price: 40 NIS
Address: 55 Yehuda Halevi st.
Tel. number.: 03-5663320

Even if you are not into organic vegan food, you should go to Aba Gil and try their dishes. The dishes are simple, pure and healthy, everything that a hungry body needs. Although Buddha Burger, the other organic competitor in Tel Aviv, has more sophisticated and bigger variety of choices on their menu,  Aba Gil's menu isn't inferior.

The flag dish of Aba Gil is the "full plate", which includes hummus, tehina, brown rice, red lentils, cooked green peas, cooked vegetables, and vegetable quiche or vegetable patties. It's hardcore organic and healthy food and no less tasty (maybe except the cooked veggies, but not everything have to be perfect). We especially liked the hummus (which is also served as a seperate dish), and the quiches.

How to get there
Take bus 5 and go down on the first stop after Rothschild Blvd., than go back to Yehuda Halevi st., then go a bit foward on Yehuda Halevi st. towards Allenby. Or you can take a bus which go through Allenby (24,25) and ask the driver to go down next to Yehuda Halevi.

Click here to view Aba Gil location on the map


* Detail: The take out boxes are environmental friendly.

Carmella Banachala

Type: Bistro Restaurant 
English Menu: Yes
Average price: 80-100 NIS
Address: 14 Rambam st.
Tel. number: 03-5161417

Carmela banachala is located next to the bustling Carmel market and you can tell it by the market inspired ingredients in their dishes. This semi-poshy bistro/ restaurant gives your palate a special tour through France, Eastern-Europe until the Middle-East with their well-prepared dishes.

We ate a menu-set, which contained some vegetable appetizers, side dishes, fish and meat dishes. Unfortunately, not all of the dishes were equally delightful. The simple, fresh parsley, coriander salad and the roasted eggplant salad were Mediterranean-ly good:

The carpaccio was a bit disappointing, lacking the delicate flavor and was actually a bit bland. The warm chickpeas salad, as ordinary this dish might sound, was surprisingly delicious and made a good local impression on the taste buds.

The fried sardines and steamed white fish fillet with creamy mashed potatoes also didn't impress us that much, but we really liked the pictures :-) :

The grilled spring chicken fillet was quite tasty, but it just didn't have the "wow-factor". Our favorite was the three small pieces of perfectly cooked beef sirloin in the most amazing red wine sauce:

The meal was topped off with a combination dessert of: creme brulee, "krembo", brownie, and a mousse:

How to get there
Walk on Nachalat Binyamin St. till you hit Rambam st., the second street on your right. Turn right and go 20 meters till you see the extraordinary of the place.

Click here to view walking directions to Carmella Banachala on the map.

Jamila

Type: Moroccan 
English Menu: No
Average price: 40 NIS
Address: 31 Gruzenberg st.
Tel. nr.: 03-5166123
(Sun-Fri 12:00-18:00)

Jamilla offers delicious hearty dishes from the flavorsome Moroccan cuisin. It's a cute and small eatery-style place with a wide range of tajines,  warming soups and couscous.

The menu is different for each day of the week. But from what we ate it seems that you can have good meal each day of the week. We tried the chicken tajine with potatoes (served with delicious soft bread and some small salads of the day and tehina) and the couscous with chicken. Both great!

Jamila is not open in the night and in the weekend, unfortunately, only until 6.00pm, so be sure to drop by during the day to try out their heartwarming dishes.

How to get there
Walk on Nachalat Binyamin St. all the way down until you hit Gruzenberg. It's right on the corner.


Location of Jamila and walking directions from King George on the map

Gedera 26

Type: Mediterranean Fusion 
English Menu: No Yes (updated by comment - thanks!)
Average price: 40-60 NIS
Address: 26 Gedera st.
Tel. number: 03-5100164

Gedera 26 restaurant is exactly the type of restaurants which we like to see in Tel Aviv. Combination of great meat and seafood and pungent cold salads, all which taste amazingly good and made from fresh ingredients (and its location next to the Carmel market helps a lot with the latter).

It's hard to define Gedera's cuisine explicitly: it varies from the Arabic cuisine to European style cooking. Some dishes even remind us of home-cooked food, and some resemble high quality French bistro-food. Eating at Gedera is a culinary experience.

The salads were fresh and delicious.We ate the wheat salad with cranberries (highly recommended); Mujaddara (rice with lentils) with yogurt (OK) and roasted fennel (surprisingly taste!). Salads come in a small or large portions (10/20 NIS).

For the main dish, we took the cold roast beef, which was finely spiced, giving it a great taste and texture (pricing is 30 NIS per 100gr). We also took the Chraime (46 NIS) - a dish which is inspired by the Jewish immigrants from Libya. This is a fish dish which is cooked with spicy tomato sauce and vegetables and tasted like more! (and don't forget to dip the bread in the sauce.) Thumbs up for using good quality fish.

For our sweet tooth, we took the malabi. We must say that although we already ate the best malabi in town, we were still surprised by the malabi of Gedera. Its uniqueness is by being less "hardcore" than the rest, or in other words, not  super-sweet. Instead, it's served with fruits (14 NIS).

How to get there

Restaurant Gedera 26 is located right next to the Allenby-King George intersection, where Nachalat Binyamin starts. Click on the map below to see walking directions from the crossroad. 

Click here to view Gedera 26 location on the map

* Detail: Gedera has three types of menus: fixed lunch menu,  evening menu (changing; more seafood dishes) and Fridays menu. 

Rustico

Type: Italian Restaurant 
English Menu: Yes
Average price: 60 NIS
Address: 1) 42 Basel st. 2) 15 Rothschild st.
Tel. number: 1) 03-6026969 2) 03-5100039

What a fine Italian restaurant Rustico is! It surely fits on the list of the best Italian restaurants in Tel Aviv, together with Pappa's: high quality pasta, fresh ingredients, fantastic flavors and great indoor design and atmosphere.

Being very fond of linguini pasta, we were totally not disappointed by what Rustico had to offer: tuna linguini and seafood linguini. Both had a unique taste of its own: the fresh slices of tuna in a lemon-chili sauce with capers and Parmesan cheese were pungent and zingy in the right amount; the seafood sauce was more delicate, mainly made with shrimps, calamari and mussels, white wine and garlic. We did prefer the tuna over the seafood one, though.

We were also impressed by the canneloni with spinach and ricotta cheese, which was topped with a tasty tomato sauce and then baked in the oven. A great dish for vegetarians.

We ended the great meal with two amazing desserts: Frozen creme brulee which leaves your tongue with a soft and delicate sweetness once it melts; and a great panna cotta, with the right texture and flavor (although too sweet for some of us).

How to get there
For Basel Branch: Basel st. is located in the north of Dizengoff and connects all the way down to Iben Gvirol. You can reach it by going north on Dizengoff and then taking right to Basel; or by walking on Iben Gvirol.
For Rothschild branch: Rustico is located at the beginning of Rothschild st. You can reach it by going all the way down on Rothschild Blvd., or by walking all the way on Nachalat Binyamin street (starts at the beginning of King George).

View location and walking directions on the map: 1) Basel branch 2) Rothschild branch

Abraxas North

Type: Chef Restaurant 
English Menu: No (Menu is reprinted twice a day)
Average price: 180 NIS pp. (for 3 course dinner)
Address: 40 Lilenblum st.
Tel. number: 0546-786560

Abraxas North is one of the best restaurants in Tel Aviv, if not the best of them. It's not pretentious at all, as some will criticize, referring to the eccentric character of the Chef, Eyal Shani. The food is ridiculously good. It's not a budget dinner, so crack your piggy bank for it. We think that in this case we should just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Mangold leaves with Parmesan and cherry tomatoes salad:

Grouper stew and entrecote:

Pizza with homemade creme fraiche and creme patissiere with guava:

How to get there
Abraxas North is located in Lilenblum st., which is intersected with Allenby st. To reach the area, you can take bus 5 and go down at the last stop of Rothschild Blvd., then walk 10 min (see the map below). Or, walk on Allenby towards south and then turn right to Lilenblum st., the turn after Rotschild Blvd.

Click here to view Abraxas North's location and walking direction

Dixie

Type: American 
English Menu: Yes
Average price: 80-100 NIS
Address: 120 Yigal Alon st.
Tel. number: 03-6966123

Although it's not really an American diner, Dixie does have an American feel when you step inside (the booths are doing the trick, we think). But it also has a romantic wine-and-dine vibe (and the dimmed lights are a give away in this case). A good way to describe Dixie and its food is: French kitchen meets Dyer's.

Their signature dish is the to-die-for chicken wings! Too buttery for some, but it's heaven on earth for the carnivores and chicken wings lovers. The chicken wings are finger-licking good, so make sure you don't miss out on it. We were very enthusiastic about the scrumptious chopped steak, served with mixed mushrooms and a pepper and cream sauce. This aristocratic hamburger is garnished with crispy fries (yet we asked for the normal fries since the crispy ones are more like potato fritters).

How to get there
Dixie is located in the area behind Azrieli towers. Take any bus that goes to Azrieli (no. 63 near Dizengoff Center, 27 From Ramat Aviv), then walk straight on Kaplan, towards the Train station. The first big street you'll come across is Yigal Alon. Turn left till you hit Tozeret Ha'Aretz st. There Dixie is located.

View Dixie's location on the map and walking direction from Azrieli

Erez Yemen Quarter

Type: Local eatery, Yemenite 

English Menu: No 

Average price: 25 NIS 

Address: 24 Nahliel st., The Yemen Quarter 

Tel. number: 03-5102555

Yes, it's another local eatery post. We wouldn't mention it, if it wasn't worth eating there (really!). Most people don't know where to eat, when they're done strolling the Carmel market. That's why we want to open up this 'hidden world', the Yemen Quarter, for some outlanders.

Erez is not the only good place in this picturesque neighborhood, but they have a vast variety of food and it's all so good and cheap! They have the usual hummus dishes, skewers and Yemenite soup meals (but for the real soup experience, stop by at Rina and Zchariah).

But what we loved is the schnitzel dish and believe us, a good and affordable fresh schnitzel is hard to find. It's a simple dish: deep fried breadcrumb coated schnitzel and 3 side dishes. You can choose from: humnus, fries, white beans, green beans, rice, tehina or a chopped Israeli salad. Great value!

It's recommended to come either before 12pm or after 1.30pm, if you don't want to stand in line for a seat.

How to get there

To be honest most of the time we go there we lose our way, but still: You can reach the Yemen quarter by going through the narrow streets on Allenby st. on the right of the Carmel Market/ Nachalat Binyamin. See map for clearer instructions. (It's not recommended to go through the busy Carmel market.)

Click here to view walking direction to Erez on the map

Elimelech

Type: Restaurant, Jewish East European
English Menu: No (Yiddish)
Average price: 50 NIS (main dish)
Address: 35 Wolfson st.

Among the famous Jewish East European restaurants in Tel Aviv - mainly Keton and Cafe Batia - Elimelech is one of the special ones, and certainly worth the longer tour to south Tel Aviv.

The uniqueness of this place is in its special style of cooking, which feels more local and less "mainstream", so to speak. We ordered the Brust, which is beef slices marinaded for 3 weeks before cooked in oven. Extremely good! The other dish we ordered was the beef and chicken balls (you can combine as your like) which also had good taste.

All dish are served with side dishes, which high quality and taste surprised us very much, and are one of the reasons we will come again to this place. 

How to get there

Wolfson st. is next to Florentin neighborhood. To get to Florentin neighborhood from the center you can take bus 25, and then go down at the first stop of HaAliya st. Go straight and the next street on your right is Wolfson st. The restaurant is couple of meters ahead.

Click here to see walking direction on the map.


* Tip: Take a look and snoop around at the great spices market on Levinsky st.