The beach in Tel Aviv. Photo credit: Bernie CB
The music’s pumping, the crowd sitting at the bar is young, there are tambourines hanging from the pass. Effortlessly beautiful people fill pita bread with kebabs and pickles and tahini.
The scene is a hip diorama of Tel Aviv. There’s no formality, no rigidity, no politeness or apology for the mess you’ll make when you eat your expensive, but outstanding, street food. Customers help out by yelling out names when orders are ready and occasionally someone will grab a tambourine and have a bash to the Middle Eastern pop music.
There’s a big silver bowl on the outside tables next to the overflowing serviette dispenser. You’ll need a lot of them, you see, so don’t be shy to fill the bowl. There’s no serviette rationing here, Larry David would be pleased to know. Get the food all over your face, the whole scene seems to say, only then will you really be enjoying the food.
Ha Miznon is the latest creation of Israel’s eccentric celebrity chef Eyal Shani. It’s raison d’etre is to do street food well. Everything on the menu is served in a pita, which is useful since seating is limited. The best quality meat is used in making the kebabs. The pitas are delivered semi-cooked and finished right before serving, so they’re soft, fresh and the perfect vessel for holding delicious fillings without overtaking the flavor.
The choice of filling is varied. You can get kebabs, prawns, steak and eggs, steak, ribs or even “ma she’yesh”: whatever there is. Apparently, there’s some good stuff on the menu for vegetarians, but I did not come all this way for a starch injection of potato in pita. To be fair, there is a cauliflower specialty that is supposed to be outstanding, but the emphasis is definitely on the best quality meat mashing together, with very little effort on the teeth, with doughy pita to create a rather lovely sensation in your mouth. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to call this a taste sensation.
I was so excited I nearly wet my pants. As I was with company, I managed to hold it in. I didn’t even cry. Instead, I tried to act like a normal person and simply comment on how good the food was.
I was so excited I nearly wet my pants. As I was with company, I managed to hold it in. I didn’t even cry. Instead, I tried to act like a normal person and simply comment on how good the food was. This was either a great relief or disappointment for Orgad, the Israeli man who has taken it upon himself to prove to me that my rather bland first kosher kebab was the exception rather than the rule of Israeli street food.
I can say that he did his job well last night at Ha Miznon. He ordered for us, and we got lamb kebab in one pita and siniyeh in the other. Siniyeh is an Arab dish of minced lamb cooked in a pan. It is often cooked with tahini but at Ha Miznon, it was done with tomatoes. We shared the pitas, much to my delight. I preferred the kebab, of course, but the siniyeh was also exquisite.
It will come as no surprise to you that I am awarding it five massive chillies. I actually want to go back, but Orgad has made me promise to try a schawarma place in Jaffa, so I may run out of time. Judging from his recommendation last night, I better take his advice.
Venue: Ha Miznon, corner Ibn Gabirol and Dizengoff Streets, Tel Aviv, Israel.
This post first appeared on KebabQuest
