Thanks to my Ra’anana friends, I discovered the existence of HaPina Street Food and very much enjoyed a visit there recently.
It’s been around for five years, on the corner of HaYovel St. which runs parallel to the main drag, Ahuza. For the uninitiated, pina means corner in Hebrew.
It’s owned and run by Mira, an ex-Canadian, with her husband David and partner, Dror.
For such a small and homey place, it has quite an extensive menu and my companion and I were hard pushed to choose our meal when we arrived there one lovely, sunny day soon after noon.
The menu offers plated meals, hamburgers in buns and a mushroom and onions vegan option. Every main course comes with two side dishes included in the price.
What's on the extensive menu?
With my mind on the Passover holiday only two weeks away at the time, I decided to go for something as non-calorific as possible and chose something called “jerk chicken breast” with green beans and salad. (NIS 55).
My companion went for the entrecote steak, French fries and salad. (NIS 98).
We climbed some rickety wooden steps to the seating area on the second floor and settled down for our lunch, enjoying the quiet background music while trying not to notice the glaring lemon-yellow walls which surrounded us on all sides.
The food arrived very quickly and we chose the draught beer as our drink, mine, as usual, diluted with Sprite Zero.
The large amount of chicken breast, cut into squares, was described as “jerk” and I had to look this up.
“Jerk,” it seems, is a spice mixture originating in Jamaica, consisting of several exotic flavorings including ginger, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg. One couldn’t detect which specific spices were used, just that they tasted pretty good. The chicken breast, which can sometimes be dry, was juicy and succulent.
The green beans on the side were tossed in oil and garlic with freshly ground pepper and made for a perfect side dish.
My companion enjoyed the steak which he asked to be cooked medium. From where I was sitting it looked very rare in parts but he seemed to relish it.
The chips (fries) were nicely hot and served with mayonnaise, ketchup and homemade sweet and sour cucumber slices.
The place seems to do a brisk trade in takeaway with motorcyclists coming and going with bags of food.
You can enjoy it at home, of course, but we actually liked being in HaPina, feeling the cool young vibe and people-watching – always an enjoyable pastime.
HaPina Street Food.Open – Sunday – Thursday, 11.30 to 23h.Friday – 11.30 – 14.30.Saturday night – 19 – 24h.058 7785868Kashrut: Ra’anana Rabbinate.
The writer was a guest of the restaurant.