Street food from around the world in Tel Aviv

Located in Tel Aviv’s sparkling new Fashion Mall, Urban Zone TLV is an innovative pop up space consisting of eight stands offering street food from around the world.

By SHAWN RODGERS
Updated: MAY 24, 2017 16:01
Street food from around the world in Tel Aviv (photo credit: MAAYAN DISKIN)
Street food from around the world in Tel Aviv
(photo credit: MAAYAN DISKIN)
Street food has come into its own in recent years. What was once just a cheap way to grab a bite on the go has morphed into an altogether more stylish affair and now in cities all over the world food stands are popping up. Located in Tel Aviv’s sparkling new Fashion Mall, Urban Zone TLV is an innovative pop up space consisting of eight stands offering street food from around the world. One can enjoy an array of special dishes (prices range between NIS 20-50) from countries as diverse as Japan, India, Greece and even South Africa.
Last Saturday night, my dining partner and I were privileged to enjoy a taste of what some of these food stalls have to offer. Our first stop was the Japanese stand from which we ordered the chicken Pad Thai, papaya salad, the sushi bagel (you read correctly) and the ramen burger. All the dishes were delicious with the freshest ingredients. However the highlight was the ramen burger – fresh ramen noodles are boiled and pressed into “buns” then lightly seared with sesame oil. Those buns then sandwich a juicy beef patty with a choice of a fried egg or cheese to accompany it.
It was then onto the Indian masala dosa which is vegetarian and gluten free. This thin and crisp pancake filled with cheese was heavenly.
(Credit: Maayan Diskin)
(Credit: Maayan Diskin)
Our culinary journey continued with Bunny Chow. Being South African, I was a bit skeptical at first, but this totally lived up to my expectations. Bunny Chow offer 3 types of curry: meat, chicken and vegetarian served in melt-in-your-mouth soft challah bread. We went for the meat curry. It was so juicy and tender and went so well with the sweet and soft challah. Lastly it is topped with almonds, coriander and yogurt. The portion is big so it can easily be shared
Last but not least, we tried the gyro pita with grilled chicken from the Captain Greek Kitchen. Served with either tzatziki or tehina, it was very tasty however, we both found it a bit too salty.
For dessert, we tried a bunch of cookie dough flavors from Nola American Bakery. One can choose between regular chocolate chip, peanut butter, salted caramel and rainbow. There is also a bunch of toppings including sweet chili popcorn.
Another highlight is Hong Kong puffs which is a spherical egg-based waffle that is served either savory with cheese and pepperoni or sweet with Nutella, white chocolate, ice cream and a bunch of toppings including Captain Crunch and Oreos.
Located in a separate space on Carlebach Street, Urban Zone will be operating over the next four months, every week from Wednesday to Saturday (11:30 a.m.-11:59 p.m.; on Fridays 11:30 a.m.- 6 p.m.). The organizers are also planning to do special food workshops from Sunday through Tuesday.
For more info visit https://www.facebook.com/WorldFoodMarketTLV/