Sweet, Sweet TLV

A Canadian tourist’s guide to Israel’s most metropolitan city

Tel Aviv is a beautiful part of the world. From its architecture to its waterfront to its people, this city overwhelmed me from the moment I stepped out of the cab from Ben Gurion airport when I breathed in it’s air and took in the view from our apartment.

Tel Aviv was sweet from the moment we arrived — both sensorily and aesthetically

The air, due to a combination of the sea breeze, the lilac trees, and hundreds of other flora which line Tel Aviv’s streets, smelled sweet.

The people were sweet, too — eager to know where we’d come from (after they found out we couldn’t speak a word of Hebrew) and to advise us on where to eat, drink, and what to see. They were genuinely excited for us to get to know their city. Tel Aviv’s people were sweet, also, in the sense they were beautiful — just like the city they lived in.

Okay, enough with the sweet talk.

Israelis, despite their sweetness, don’t apologize for much, and probably found it odd to hear the very Canadian “sorry” come out of my mouth so many times in one encounter. Be it in their driving or in their food, Israelis do everything with an enthusiasm and boldness I rarely see in Canada.

This is refreshing, especially when it comes to food. At Shlomo & Doron, a famous hummus joint just steps away from Carmel Market, they serve their hummus with an entire white onion, which you are expected to break into pieces and dip in your hummus. For a Canadian palette, this is intense but thoroughly delicious. You can get two “small” size hummus and four fresh, thick pita for 40 sheckles (about $11CAD), which is a fucking steal because you cannot eat for two in Toronto for that price AND because you have plenty of leftovers to take home after. The menu is all in Hebrew, but the waiters will probably take pity on you and help you out. Or you could just take my advice and order the shakshouka hummus.

When you come to Tel Aviv, don’t miss Carmel Market, a long series of shops and vendor stands along Ha’Carmel in Tel Aviv’s centre where you can buy anything from locally grown fresh fruit and vegetables to fierce short shorts for sporting on Tel Aviv’s gorgeous beaches. I highly recommend shopping for produce here one night and making a picnic dinner on the beach — not only is it cheap and delicious, but you actually can’t eat food like this in North America. You will never taste tomatoes, strawberries, parsley, basil (need I go on?) with as much flavour.

Speaking of spending money, when (and if) you’re ready to splurge, you have to go to Manta Ray. The locals regard it as a bit touristy, but it is worth going for both the food and the view. Chill with your glass of Chardonnay on the beach while you dip fresh bread in their Eggplant Cream and snack on fresh mezze salads — which are, essentially, vehicles for ceviche and cooked fish that were caught that day. Then, stare at the sunset wondering how you can get Israel to adopt you.

Eating is probably my favourite thing to do, so let’s talk about some more places you can eat in this metropolitan paradise.

Little Prince

If you need to get some writing done while you’re here, go to the Little Prince and sit on their back patio in the shade with your laptop or notebook.

Nom on some Scorched Eggplant Cream (not cream at all — just pureed eggplant with tahini) with fresh bread baked in house, a Sunnyside Up Bagel (New York-style bagel with soft cheese, scallions, and tomatoes with a dash of olive oil and a sunnyside-up egg), the chopped salad (an Israeli classic — tahini with chopped parsley, cucumber, tomato, and red onion), and sip a lemonade with your bitter espresso. I promise you won’t regret it.

Cafe Xoho

A 10 minute walk from the beach, Cafa Xoho is nestled in some trees on J. L. Gordon street calling you to come in.

I was told this restaurant/coffee shop is run by a Canadian ex-pat (woop woop) who hires other ex-pats fluent in Hebrew and English to serve and run the place. As a result, you can find a lot of other ex-pats who dine and/or hang out here.

But don’t let that scare you away — Cafe Xoho serves a combination of traditional Israeli fare and diaspora faves like lox and cream cheese on a bagel. Definitely get the kale salad with an egg on top and grab a matcha smoothie with halva, banana, dates, and honey to swig in the midday heat. If you’re here for a few days, I highly recommend grabbing a jar of their granola on your way out to eat for breakfasts in your Air Bnb/hotel room. If you’re on the go, pop by Brew Shop, Cafe Xoho’s sister establishment, for some of the best iced coffee you’ve sipped on in your life and a baked treat.

Real talk

Tel Aviv is a real city, so treat it that way. It was not built for tourists, it was built for people to live and work in. You could go to Old Man in the Sea and blow a shitload of cash on a mediocre meal, or you could go to Shlomo & Doron or Falafel Gabay where the locals go and eat the best for less.

Perhaps because it was not built for tourists, it’s also easy to forget where in the world it is you, in fact, are. People who live here are just trying to live their lives, and if you’re visiting for a long time like I am, you do the same. You can live in Tel Aviv pretty much the same way you would live in New York or Toronto — it is a very Western city.

Tel Aviv’s relative Western-ness, I believe, makes it even more jarring for a Westerner (and especially a Canadian) to be reminded every so often of the conflict that exists within and that which surrounds Israel.

For example, you will encounter an IDF soldier holding an Uzi in the street. You will probably walk by the abandoned Dolphinarium, the site of a suicide bombing in 2001 which killed 11 people, whose very architecture and presence is a metaphor for the hole in Israeli society; though they live in this beautiful, vibrant, and in many ways progressive place, Israelis cannot be truly completely comfortable with all that surrounds them and all that they are implicated in. These things situate a tourist and has a tendency to humanize both peoples on either side of the conflict here. It makes you ask yourself, “wouldn’t I just want to live without the constant threat of my home being destroyed?”

This is not to say one cannot enjoy this wonderful country as a tourist. I love Israel, I love its people, and I will be back here — I think I’ve made that pretty clear. I offer this point of view because coming face to face with these issues while you are here is unavoidable, and as North Americans we would do well to know a little more about this part of the world from primary sources. So, come to Israel, spend some time, and get a taste of what it really might be like to live here. In many ways, that is the best and most important part of travelling. Don’t you think?

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