Shawarma Showdown

Every corner you turn in Israel, you're bound to see some shawarma. No complaints here! I love me some shawarms, but after a heavy dose of mystery meat, I settled on falafel for the rest of the trip. 

Tzfat

Don't let the picture deceive you...This isn't a pita, but rather my new favorite thing, a LAFFA! After many shawarma & falafel meals, I like to think I have it all somewhat down to a science. If you're in the shawarma mood, a laffa is your best bet. Since the wrap and the pita got together and gave birth to a laffa, it knows how to hold the meat and toppings like a pro.

Old City of Jerusalem

Falafel in a Pita 

Chicken Shawarma in a Laffa

Mathew truly enjoying himself

With falafel on my mind, the confusion started swarming in when I saw that Shwarma Bar offered CHICKEN shawarma. No mystery meat here, just pure chicken. I had to admit it was quite enticing, but I could not go another day without falafel. Either or, the meal was amazing. Great pre-Western Wall bite to get us re-energized. 

Can I have some cheese on that?

In my opinion, my burger is not complete without cheese, so a burger concept in Israel was somewhat puzzling to me. It seemed to be quite puzzling to my friend Katie as well who asked for some dairy on top of her meat and was immediately shot a dirty look. We learned our lesson from that day on....

With no English menu in sight, we had to order by word of mouth. I heard the lamb/beef mixed burger was to die for and the sweet chili & chimichurri sauces were the go to. I must say, my friends did not steer me wrong. 

I've had many burgers in my day. Fast food burgers, expensive burgers, turkey burgers... you get the idea. The truth of the matter is that this Israeli Burger Bar is a fast food concept, so my expectations were not high. 

I attempted to spice up the burger with some solid toppings because I did not expect anything more then a flat dried out patty. Eggplant, pickles, onions, sweet chili sauce, tomatoes with chimichurri and garlic mayo on the side should suffice. However, before I go into any more detail I'll let you take a looksie for yourself...

YES! YES! YES! that's right kids! A beautiful, perfectly medium cooked burger. Thick, juicy and flavorful, this burger was hands down the best "fast" food burger I've ever had. This concept needs to come to the US! Say buhbye to what you thought was a good burger cooked at a mall kiosk and say hello to Burger Bar!

Feta Fix

I love me some feta cheese, so as soon as my plane touched down on Israeli soil, the search was on. I could not wait for my unlimited supply of feta. Feta on everything (minus meat of course)! Well, before I knew it, things took a turn for the worse. Maybe I'm wrong....but when I think Mediterranean, I think feta. Clearly that's not the case for Israel. Falafel balls in a pita with no feta? Oy vey! When this realization finally hit me, I became quite the feta complainer. Everywhere where we went, I kept my feta hopes high and I was constantly disappointed....UNTIL....... TEL AVIV!

Praise you Tel Aviv for reconnecting me with what seemed like a lost love. When my friends and I sat down at a random cafe in the middle of this beach town, the last thing I expected to see was the word feta, but there it was! F-E-T-A ! 

Quinoa salad w/ walnuts, cranberries & feta

A nice break from carbs, this salad was a breathe of fresh air. Just what I needed to complete my trip in Israel. My friends, Katie & Carli, also loved their meals. Sababa!

Even though we only had 2 hours of free time in Tel Aviv, we did not regret taking the time to sit down and enjoy this meal. I might have missed out on some vital evil eye bracelet shopping, but it was well wroth it. #FETA4LIFE