We often joke that our goal for traveling is to eat. We enjoy eating and all kinds of cuisine. So far, we haven’t found any food that we don’t enjoy. Being such foodies, we are always on the lookout for amazing restaurants and new recipe.

We had a fantastic foodie treat while in Tel Aviv. Aside from the abundance of cafes, Tel Aviv has some very high quality restaurants. We felt like the ones we ate at are extremely delicious and would like to share with the world. We only had 2 nights in Tel Aviv so we did our research to decide on where to go.

Shakshuka

This is not specific to any specific restaurants. Shakshuka is a traditional Jewish home cooking dish that consist of tomatoes, eggs, and tahina, all poached together in a hot skillet. I had this dish in many cafes. I even purchased the spices to make it myself. In a nutshell it’s mild paprika and turmeric.
I was told that in Old Jaffa there’s a restaurant called Dr Shakshuka and you’ll find a wide range of special shakshukas there.

Goocha

$$

Tuna Carppacio @ Goocha

Salmon Cerviche @ Goocha

Seafood @ Goocha

Mussels @ Goocha

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Address: 171 Dizengoff St., 14 Ibn Gavirol St
Tel: (03) 522-2886, (03) 691-1603

This place is popular for its fresh seafood and reasonable price. Walk up Dizengoff street and do some (window)shopping on your way there and back. We ordered cerviche and tuna carppacio to start. Then we had 1kg of mussels in amazing herb white wine sauce and a big plate of crab, shrimps, calamaris, and squid in cream sauce. Along with the food we had a bottle of very dry local chardonnay. Glorious food. Total came to around $70CDN, amazing creme brulee included. Good deal and fresh fresh fresh seafood. A must visit.
Service was pleasant and the waiter gave great recommendation for the wine. Much impressed.
(If we lived in this city, we would probably come here on a weekly basis)

Rothschild’s Kitchen

$$$

Sirloin Bruschetta @ Rothschild's Kitchen

Chicken Liver Pâté @ Rothschild's Kitchen

White Fish with pumpkin @ Rothschild's Kitchen

Pancetta with bacon @ Rothschild's Kitchen

Rothschild’s Kitchen’s menu (Originally in Hewbrew, thank you google translate!)
Rothschild Blvd 73, Tel Aviv
Tel: 03-5257171
Fax: 03-5258811

As mentioned, Rothschild Ave is a beautiful street to take a walk on. Enjoy your walk in the park to get to this highly rated restaurant - Rothschild’s Kitchen. This place uses many local ingredients to prepare unique dishes. The cooking style reminds me of the west coast. We got the Sirloin Bruschetta to start, which was a pleasant surprise as the beef came raw. The chicken liver pâté was smooth and not too raw-stink (this is a Japanese vocab - namakusai - 生臭い - basically describes the stinky taste from raw food). For our entrees we had the daily special white fish with pumpkin in coconut cream sauce. It was utterly delicious. The pancetta is simple, but can easily outshine the fish dish as well. The waitress was very helpful and pleasant. (the kind of nice Jewish girl you Jewish boy should bring home to your mothers). She recommended different wine and beverages to with our dinner. We finished the meal with what she called “the best cheesecake in town”. Satisfied and full with this dinner on the patio.

Aside from these 2 restaurants we also visited many cafes that helped us feel like locals. We were constantly talked to in Hebrew, not sure which one of us looks like a Jewish person though. There are so many more restaurants that we wished we had time to visit.

Don’t forget to have an authentic Jewish bagel for breakfast. (on the note of breakfast: Jewish breakfast consists of mainly dairy stuff. Yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese along with eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers and bread)

Conclusion: Tel Aviv = Happy foodies