Grilled chicken of Shimon

Type: Chicken rotiserrie
English Menu: No
Average price: 25-30 NIS
Address: 6 Tchernichovsky st.

Shimon and his family have been selling grilled chicken for decades and guess what - they're really good at it! This local eatery is easy to miss if you don't know any 'insiders' to introduce you to their specialty: perfectly gourmet grilled chicken. That is, in other words, simply crispy on the outside and juicy inside. You can't imagine how good it can is and you will want to come back soon right after eating here.

A whole chicken - for take-out only and enough for 3 people (48 NIS per kg). If you decide to eat there, you can either order a quarter (26 NIS) or half chicken (35 NIS), served with amazingly greasy and crispy chips (just the way we like it).

How to get there
Walking on King George toward south, you can take right in Bet Lehem st. (where the Bezalel market is - it's one turn right before Allenby).

Click here to view Shimon's location on the map

* Detail: For the best experience, prepare for getting your hands dirty.

Sabbich of Oved

Type: Sabbich
English Menu: No
Average price: 18 NIS
Address: 6 Sirkin st., Givataim

Well it's not really in Tel Aviv, but most of the Tel Avivians ate at this legendary place. So, Oved is just selling sabbich. More than the taste which is considered by many to be the best sabbich, the preparation of the sabbich is accompanied by a precise repeating football game ritual: Every action (adding salad, eggplants, parsley and etc.) is described with a unique verb Oved developed by himself.

Unfortunately, Oved cannot do the whole ceremony in English but he will be very welcoming and happy to explain in detail. And don't worry, he will not let you miss out the final stage in the sabbich making - how many teaspoons of hot sauce (red) and Amba (yellow mango-based hot sauce) to put in the Pita - according to the scores of a football match. (For instance, if you're from the UK, he'll make it Arsenal vs. Man Utd.)

How to get there

You can take bus no. 63 from Tel Aviv Ben Zion corner with King George (facing upwards). Ask the driver to tell you where to go down. You should find bus 63 on the other side of the street when you go back to Tel Aviv.

Sirocco Pizza

Type: Pizza
English Menu: No menu
Average price: 10 NIS (per slice)
Address: 23 King George st.

If you were looking for a great local pizza place, Sirocco Pizza is the place for you. Seems maybe too local and dull, but their pizza is surprising each time.
How do you order? You get a basic pizza for 9 NIS, which can be topped with: corn, mushrooms, olives, onions, roasted pepper, tuna, anchovies, salted cheese. If you choose 1 topping, you pay 11 NIS per slice and for 2 toppings you pay 12 NIS.
Now we can just recommend on the combinations:
1. Onions & mushrooms
2. Anchovies & onions
3. Plain Pizza (!)

The place is open every day until late in the night (except on Friday night and Saturday afternoon), which makes the place a snack spot for the bon vivants.

How to get there
Go south on King George. It's on the right side of the street on the corner with Ha Macabi street, close to the intersection with Allenby.

Brasserie

Type: French cuisine Restaurant
English Menu: No (but with French titles)
Average price: 100 NIS
Address: 70 Iben Gvirol st.

Tel. number: 03-6967111

If you try to find a translation of the French word 'brasserie', you'll probably stumble upon a definition such as: "A restaurant serving alcoholic beverages, especially beer, as well as food, usually cheap." Well, that would be a bit deceiving, as it's definitely not cheap and they serve good wines instead of beer.

The food though is a fine gourmet dining in a cosy, semi-poshy restaurant. We tried the onion soup and corvina fish tartar as the starters. For the main dishes, we took seabass and beef bourguignon and for dessert - tarte tatin.

Unfortunately, although filled with high expectations, we didn't like some of dishes we ordered. The fish wasn't special at all and it didn't justify its price (95 NIS). The tarte tatin tasted awful and after one bite we didn't want to eat anymore and gave it back. But to end it with a posiive note, the fish tartar was amazing and same with the beef (both are served on Thursday, see detail below).

Except for the annoying recommendations of the waitress (see detail below), the service here is quite good. For a romantic dinner or for celebrating a special occassion, this is definitely the place to be in the center of Tel Aviv. Because of its popularity, it's recommended to make reservations beforehand.

How to get there
Brasserie is facing Rabin square on Iben Gvirol st.

* Detail no. 1: Beware of the recommendations of the waiters, they will keep on pushing you to order the special menu of the day (see detail below), which as expected also has special prices (they will say: "We tried this dish before our shift, it's absolutely great!"). Well, these students have to earn something, don't they?
* Detail no. 2: They have a daily specialties menu which offers unique dishes.

Frida Kahlo

Type: South-American gourmet
English Menu: No
Average price: 50-70 NIS (Business deal)
Address: 43 Lilenblum st.

This restaurant is named after a famous female Mexican painter, who was known for her self portraits. We didn't see any replicas of her paintings hanging in the restaurant, but then again we were there for the good food.

Go to this place on Friday-Saturday, 12:00-17:00, when they have their business menu. You get a starter, main dish and soft drink for the main dish price. We started with the our meal with the eggplants kadaif (a small threads pastry) and eggplants terrine appetizers. These dishes were quite good. One of the main dishes that we liked was the chili con carne burger. The other main dish that we tried, which was just OK, was a mullet fish on some cherry tomatoes. But the literally cherry on top was an amazing dessert: pistachio mousse with amarena cherries, vanilla and peach. This was wow, though we had some disputes over the necessity of the cherries.

How to get there
Frida Kahlo is next to the intersection of Allenby st. with Lilenblum. You can go south on Allenby until you hit the crossroad, and then take right.

Panini Lilush

Type: Italian, Cafe-Restaurant
English Menu: Yes
Average price: 40-50 NIS
Address: 73 Frishman st.

A cute small cafe restaurant located next to Rabin Square with a great variation of food, ranging from quality sandwiches to poshy risotto. Young Tel Avivians, with and without kids come here to have their Saturday brunch.

Panini is an Italian bread with fillings such as smoked goose breast (fantastic!), salmon or pastrami. Except for panini, they also serve salads and hot dishes, such squash soup, lentil soup, lasagna, pasta. The chicken soup with the Matza balls are very recommended. Less than that but still good is the peas soup.

An excellent dish is the seafood risotto with lychee and smoked goose breast, which although sounds off, is very special and highly recommended (see picture on the right). We haven't tried the pasta, but they are quite popular at Panini Lilush. The meat lasagna looks great, but the flavor is quite disappointing. It doesn't have the original meat lasagna flavor, instead they experimented with spices such cumin and cinnamon.

Also worth trying are the blintzes appetizers. These rolled pancakes with salmon, cream cheese filling or eggplant and cream cheese are served with a green salad and a thickly induced balsamic vinegar dressing that completes the meal with the zingyness.
The only dessert we tried was the chocolate souflet, which was a bit disappointing and tasted a bit like supermarket.

How to get there
Go from Rabin square on Frishman towards the sea. Located just next to the Masarik square (the northern end of King George st.)

Pasha

Type: Turkish
English Menu: Yes
Average price: 65 NIS (Business deal)
Address: 8 Ha'Arba'a st.

The word 'pasha' is an honorary title in the military in Turkey and we would definitely rank this restaurant to one of the highest!

Many other Tel Avivians will agree with us that Pasha is a great restaurant, hence why it's always packed. It's designed beautifully and divided into two parts, one part has 'normal' tables and chairs and the other part has more 'bar-like' seats.

Thanks to the business menu that they have, you can enjoy the great Turkish dishes for an affordable price. The business menu includes different kinds of yummy appetizers, such tahina, falafel, salads etc, as you can see on the picture, and a main dish: Kebabs, Pargit (spring chicken), steaks, Kubeh and etc.

But don't leave this restaurant without trying the spring chicken stuffed with pistachios and cashewnuts! That's a winning combination of a creamy flavor of the nuts that fits perfectly with the juicy spring chicken meat. We've also tried the "Masahne", which is tenderloin on a Pita, which was also very good. The meat is of good quality, very juicy and full of good flavors.

How to get there
Ha'Arba'a is next to the Cinemateque, on Carlebach st. You can reach Carlebach by going to the beginning of Ibn Gvirol (go south), where it connects to Yehuda Halevi st.
* Detail: Pasha is a kosher restaurant.

Japanika

Type: Japanese
English Menu: Yes
Average price: 35 NIS

Address: 128 Dizengoff st., 47 Yirmeyahu st.
Tel. no.: 03-5291014 (Dizengoff), 03-5466666 (Yirmiyahu)

Japanika has many branches spread all over Israel, but lucky for us there are two of them in Tel Aviv! Japanika menu has a great variety of Japanese deliciousness. The dishes resemble a new type of Japanese fusion food, keeping the original Japanese delicateness intact. Their menu have sushi, sashimi, noodles and soups.

The Tuna Tataki on a bed of marinated seaweed is really good. Also the 'new age' sushi Japanco is very tasty. You choose two types of vegetables and one kind of fish for your sushi roll, it's outer layer is dipped in panco (Japanese breadcrumbs) and fried. The result is a crispy but delicious tasting sushi roll.

But our favorite is the Saki Teriyaki Roll. It's an inside-out roll with salmon, crispy salmon skin topped with spicy mayonnaise and a thin lemon that wraps it up. Delicious! The combination deals are good value for the money. You don't get specialties but a fine set of sushi, nigiris and hand-wraps.

The Dizengoff branch is quite small, the one at Yirmeyahu is a bit more spacious and you have a great view of the HaYarkon Park. Japanika is a place that's always packed, so make sure you make reservations beforehand.





How to get there
128 Dizengoff st.- Go stright north on Dizengoff, it's on the corner of Gordon St.
47 Yirmeyahu st. - Go straight north on Dizengoff, take right on Yirmeyahu st. and keep on going till you get thereץ

Walking directions on the map, from Dizengoff Center:
128 Dizengoff branch
47 Yirmiyahu branch

Little Prague

Type: Restaurant, East European food
English Menu: Yes
Average price: 50-60 NIS
Address: 56 Allenby st.

In the middle of Allenby st, there's a restaurant that looks sketchy from the outside, but a step inside reveals a rare East European niche in Tel Aviv - this is Little Prague.

Devoted to the Czech tradition, they serve Czech beers and traditional Czech style food, which for the ordinary person would sound like the work of a primitive chef, such as fried Camembert with breadcrumbs and meat cooked with pickled cabbage and cream, or pork filled with hard boiled egg.
Eating at Little Prague for the first time, we took the chicken breast with "old Prague" sauce (kind of tomatos mix) topped with smoked cheese and a slice of peach. We also tried the beef goulash. We were happy to discover that the peculiar combination of ingredients works great. The juicy meat and the flavors really tastes like a home-cooked meal.

How to get there
The place is near the intersection of King George and Allenby. Go a bit towards south and you're there.

Chadar Ha Ochel

Type: Fusion
English Menu: Yes
Average price: 60 NIS
Address: 23 Shaul Hamelech Blvd.
Tel. number: 03-6966188

Chef Omer Miller came up with the concept of having a restaurant with an Israeli multi-cultural cuisine. The restaurant is set up like an army dining hall, with all of the utensils on the long tables where you sit right next to each other. It does create a cosy atmosphere and it's easier to socialize with the one sitting next to you.

The main idea is - Sharing. The dishes are a like medium size tapas, which are shared with your table mates. It's recommended to order 1-3 dishes per person, depending on how hungry you are. We definitely recommend you to take the fried cauliflower served with tehina,. the veal kubeh, the chopped liver and the great bread.

Chadar Haochel also serves pots and grills, mostly meat stews. We tried the beef stew, which was disappointing. Its flavor cannot be compared to the dozens of tasty tapas which we liked much more. .

Unfortunately, in 2010 Chadar Ha ochel raised the prices, and removed some of the better tapas dishes, which were also very affordable. Still, it's a great place for lunch or dinner.

How to get there
Shaul HaMelekh starts at London Ministore on Ibn Gvirol. Go straight until you see a long staircase taking you to a big square. Cross the square diagonally to reach the place.

Click here to view location and walking directions from Dizengoff Center on the map.

* Detail: This place is always packed before and right after the performance hours of the theater and opera house and theatre nearby. Avoid these peak hours if you want to have a quiet dinner - after 20:30hrs the perimeter is clear :-)