It’s not every day that a chef with two successful restaurants behind him decides to open a street food eatery. But that is exactly what Chef Alaa Mousa did. One of the most prominent and beloved figures in Haifa’s culinary scene, Mousa continues to successfully operate Lux and Crudo, and has now added a younger, lighter sister to them: SALT, a new street food boutique in the Lower City. The idea, he explains, was born out of the reality of recent years. “Over the past two years I’ve felt that people are going out less. They don’t feel like spending a lot of money, and they don’t always want a long night out,” says Mousa. “I wanted a place where you can eat well, quickly, and at an accessible price.”
That’s how the fish and seafood eatery was born, translating the flavors and precision of his kitchen into a more everyday format. “This is not fast food,” he emphasizes. “It’s street food, but elevated.” From the outside, it’s already clear that this is not just another typical street food stand. The façade is open and bright, large glass windows reveal the counter in action, and a few small tables are scattered outside. Inside, the space is clean and minimalist, in shades of blue, cream, and white that immediately connect to the maritime concept.
The concept is simple: Fish and seafood dishes served on a plate or inside a pita, priced between NIS 34 and NIS 84. The fish is fresh, the seafood is frozen, and everything is prepared on site. “We make everything ourselves, except for the pitas,” says Mousa. “At first I was a bit afraid, because I thought about maybe combining meat as well, but in the end I felt it needed to be purely fish. There’s almost no place that does street food that’s entirely fish, and at a high level.”
In the kitchen, a Josper oven is at work, giving the fish a gentle sear and charcoal flavors without drying it out. It’s a technique familiar from chef-driven restaurants, and here it translates successfully into street food. We ate quite a lot, and it was hard to find a weak link. The crispy fish made from sea bream, served on a plate with lemony freekeh (NIS 84 including a side), was excellent. The fish was cooked perfectly, tender on the inside and crispy on the outside, with the freekeh adding refreshing acidity that balanced the frying.
The fish arayes, made from a seasoned mullet patty seared in the Josper and served in a pita, was one of the most surprising bites on the menu, and especially great value at just NIS 58. A salmon bowl salad with green leaves, crispy salmon, and avocado (NIS 44) offered a light and refreshing option, while the fish nuggets (NIS 33) were a small but precise and addictive dish. The crispy anchovies, tiny battered and fried fish (NIS 38), also proved to be a snack that’s hard to stop nibbling on.
As a side, you can choose fries with lemon zest and salt, Josper-roasted potatoes, rice, or lemony freekeh (NIS 10–12). With every dish, house-made aioli and dips are served, a small addition that significantly elevates the food. For dessert, there is just one option: Beirut Nights for NIS 19. Delicate, sweet, and precise, and almost impossible to pass up.
Mousa sees the new place as a kind of response to the reality the restaurant industry has gone through in recent years. “Since COVID, we’ve been through lockdowns, riots, war. The restaurant world has been living in uncertainty for five years now,” he says. “Lux and Crudo were even physically damaged when a missile fell near the building and the façade shattered. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but it made me rethink how a business needs to operate today.” According to him, it was precisely out of this difficulty that the desire was born to create a place that is simpler both operationally and experientially. “People want good food without ceremonies, without committing to a whole evening. Just come, eat, and move on.”
The eatery opened last December, and Mousa admits that he too was surprised by the response. “Apparently, this kind of concept was missing in the Lower City. Food that isn’t meat, that’s light, accessible, and non-committal,” he says. In his view, especially at a time when restaurants are struggling to survive, it’s essential to adapt the experience to what people are looking for right now. “A restaurant is entertainment, and entertainment is the customer’s last expense. Those who manage correctly survive.”
The result is clear. The new place doesn’t replace Lux or Crudo, but rather complements them. It’s a more relaxed, everyday version of the same culinary world, allowing people to drop in even without a special reason. If Lux and Crudo offer a full night-out experience, here you get the same quality in a lighter, more accessible format, proving that street food, when executed with chef-level precision and quality ingredients, can be simply excellent. The kind that justifies a deliberate stop in the Lower City even when you hadn’t planned to eat at all.