About six months ago, Mishka Café & Diner reopened at the entrance to Kibbutz Yifat, inside the Paz gas station complex. Regular passersby might not notice that the sign has changed and may not always realize it’s more than just a new name. For 17 years, the location hosted a branch of Café Café, a chain with a uniform menu and a predictable experience. The separation from the chain and the move to independent operation marked a clear shift in direction: Less uniformity, more local identity, and greater control over the small details of what reaches the plate.
Already at the entrance, the separation from the road is felt. With its back to the gas station and facing outward, a deck opens onto the valley fields across the street. The open view works its magic and manages to soften even a location next to a gas station. Inside awaits a warm, effortless space, with cozy indoor seating and a closed, heated outdoor deck. There is no design drama or attempt to impress forcibly. This is a place that allows you to sit, stay, and spend time reflecting over the green fields.
The design at Mishka is restrained and precise, serving the seating and food rather than competing with them. The space is bright and open, with wooden floors, simple tables, natural-toned chairs, and warm lighting. Ceiling fans, decorative shelves, and plants add a sense of flow and ease. It’s a well-planned design that suits both a short stay and a long brunch, without visual noise or unnecessary declarations.
The Pace of the Place
Mishka is run by Itamar Sharabi, who has operated the location for 17 years. Even during the Café Café period, he remained the owner and the person who knows the local audience and the pace of the place intimately. Leaving the chain was a deliberate decision to change the model: To give up the uniformity of a national brand in favor of a menu, experience, and identity built from the place itself. In parallel with Mishka, Sharabi was also involved with the “Yanek” burger carts and the meat restaurant “Temerlin,” and recently combined this with reserve military service in the north and south of the country. All of this is present today at Mishka in a quiet, confident approach: A place operating in a kibbutz, at the pace of the valley, knowing exactly who its audience is.
Mishka’s menu is extensive, including main dishes ranging from salmon to burgers, pastas, sandwiches, and salads. But we chose to focus on the heart of the place: The brunch, served all day. This brunch is not just a matter of convenience. Instead of dictating when a customer can order what, Mishka chooses to leave the decision in their hands. This is a choice felt on the ground, resonating especially with travelers and valley residents who don’t always align with a strict division between morning and afternoon.
The single breakfast, priced at NI 75, is tasty and well-executed but remains within familiar and standard boundaries. The real surprise comes next. For this price, you get eggs of choice or tofu scramble, a generous basket of breads, butter, fig jam, pesto, tzatziki, cream cheese, and tahini, alongside a fresh vegetable salad and a drink of choice. It’s a well-organized, generous meal that gets the job done, but this is not where Mishka’s story begins.
Execution is Key
The dishes that truly explain why people stay are those that appear simpler at first glance. The avocado brioche (NIS 64) stood out: The brioche toasted to perfection, the avocado fresh and not mashed, and the aioli and poached eggs balance the dish without overloading it. This is a dish measured by execution - and here, the execution is precise.
Alongside it, sunny-side-up eggs with quinoa and greens (NIS 78) is a dish of two eggs on a bed of greens and quinoa, served on tzatziki with cut vegetables on the side, with the option to swap tzatziki for tahini and the eggs for tofu. It’s a smart, balanced, and flexible dish, suitable for a long brunch rather than a rushed meal.
The house shakshuka, at NIS 68, comes next: A stew of roasted tomatoes with onion, garlic, and bell pepper, served with a fresh vegetable salad, tahini, labneh, and challah. Here too, eggs can be replaced with tofu without losing the dish’s balance. It’s a simple, clean shakshuka that understands the genre without trying to reinvent it.
Alongside these are chard, bulgur, and mozzarella fritters (NIS 57), oven-baked, light and refreshing, not greasy or heavy, with a texture that feels homemade rather than industrial. Even the salads here are not mere decoration: They are rich, generous, with fresh vegetables and balanced seasoning, feeling like an integral part of the meal rather than an appendage.
In the dessert section, the restrained approach continues. French toast with seasonal fruit (we had strawberries) and whipped mascarpone, baked cheesecake with berries, and vegan pecan pie with coconut sorbet. Good desserts that round off the meal with precision.
In terms of pricing, Mishka does not try to be cheap, but the pricing is reasonable and fair, aimed at a regular audience rather than a one-off meal. Six months after opening, Mishka already stands on its own. It is no longer “the place that used to be Café Café,” but an Israeli-style diner in Kibbutz Yifat, knowing who it is, who it cooks for, and letting the brunch do its job - all day. The first visit leaves a clear feeling that it’s worth returning. And we will return.