Exploring Authentic Food @ Carmel Market, Tel Aviv

One of the most known and visited markets in Tel Aviv is the Carmel Market, which was established in 1920. The market is located right in the center of the city, close to the sea, Alenby street and Nachlat Binyamin. The market is filled with grocery stalls piled high with fresh fruits and vegetables, bakeries, butcheries, deli shops, artisan cheese, candy, herbs and spices, as well as cheap clothing items and various knick knacks.

In the recent year it has been undergoing some changes and many small bars, food stands, small restaurants and artisan food boutiques have started to flood the area. This has truly turned the place into a foodie heaven. There are so many great and unique places to grab a drink and sample many dishes, just to mention a few – The Bun, Habasta, Beer Bazaar and Hashomer 1.

This visit we decided to sample some of the most hyped authentic food stands in the market. The first place we visited was Bunny Chow, which offers a South African street food dish with a twist. The original version consists of hollowed out loaf of bread filled with curry. Here it is made with Challah bread, which basically serves as a bowl. The place is beautifully designed and is visually attractive, which contribute to the overall experience. I especially liked the zebra head and the special tables made from loading crates.

Bunny Chow offer 3 types of curry: Meat, Chicken and Vegetarian. The meat and chicken options both cost 34₪ ($9) and the vegetarian is 27₪ ($7). Since the meat curry is the spiciest, we went for the chicken curry. The chicken is made by first soaking it in a marinade of soy, turmeric, ginger, pepper, chili, garlic. After which it is cooked with many spices like curry leaves, clove and more. Lastly it is topped with almonds, coriander and yogurt. And oh my, was that tasty! The chicken curry so juicy and tender, the sweet and soft Challah bread – a truly magnificent dish I’m ready to eat every day. The amount of chicken curry is generous and the portion is quite big so even tough we both shared it, we felt pretty stuffed. As apposed to many other dishes served in bread or pita, this one was on the less messier side.

We washed down this gigantic Challah bread with a South African cider called Savanna Dry (15₪\$4 . It wasn’t very sweet but was too dry for me and the apple taste was also very lacking. It had the kick of a very dry white wine, but without the body to go along with it. Then again – perhaps we’re just not cider people.

Overall, a great way to open our day at Camel Market, and a place I’ll surely visit again.

Not far from there you can find Arepa’s – a Venezuelan food stand serving mostly Arepa dishes. Arepa is a flat-bread made of ground corn dough stuffed with savory fillings. Looks like a pita bread, but is much softer, denser and sweeter. In their menu you can find dishes like C4 – Reina (chicken and avocado salad with red onion), beef and cheese, Light – black beans, tomato and basil and C3 – Reina, beef and black beans. Beside the Arepa they also serve Cachapa which are Venezuelan pancakes, cheese balls and empanadas.

While we were there there was a constant line but the waiting time is not long since the staff is very lively. Most people take it on the go but they also have around 7-8 sits and we were able to catch a seat on the counter. We had a great view on the market and the prepping of the food. It was really fun to see the dough making process and how the meat and cheese sizzle on the hot plainchant. With the scent of cooking Arepa and the sounds of South American music blasting along, the entire seating experience was fun and uplifting.

After a short while we got our C4 Arepa filled with goodies. It was insanely delicious but it’s not the best VFM around town. Together with a Coke Zero we paid 40₪ ($10.5).

if you’re in the area, and are a street art enthusiast, I recommend you explore the neighborhood for some amazing graffiti, street art and mural art. Here are some of the interesting pieces we saw:

I was really craving for some baked goods, but after eating so much carbs this morning, we decided to go for an ice cream. We headed on to Anita on Shabazi street in Neve Tzedek. Anita is a boutique ice cream chain which was opened by Anita and her two children. They have 3 branches on Shabazi street, which serve a different range of flavors. I advise you to peek in each of the branches and see which one you feel you feel for.for.

Anita offer a plethora of different ice cream flavors (“over 150”), fruity frozen yogurts and sorbets. It’s really hard to pick from all the unique combinations such as Loacker hazelnut wafers, Panna cotta Amarena & dark chocolate, salted caramel with white chocolate, salted Bagel and much more.

My cone included two cremes: Crema Catalana and Cremeschnitte and I upgraded to the cone with Amarena cherry and almonds.

In a cup we got one scoop of Strawberries and one scoop of Mascarpone Cheese and Hershey’s.

Anita is a truly ice cream lover’s paradise and I’m sure you’ll be fascinated by the look and taste of their ice cream. You can really feel this place and their products are imbued with love and care.