Over the years, I have covered many vegan restaurants, always accompanied by my vegan son. But since he moved up to the Golan Heights with his partner, my dedicated carnivore husband was chosen to accompany me when I was invited to dine at Meshek Barzilay, one of the most veteran vegan eateries in Tel Aviv.
We arrived there one crisp and sunny lunchtime and settled down in the charming dining room next to the outdoor garden blooming with healthy-looking plants and a ficus tree of splendid proportions.
There was quiet, very laid-back music playing which didn’t bother us at all. The staff are all very friendly and speak perfect English.
We started with coffee, not having any great expectations about it, and chose oat milk for our cappuccinos as being the least flavored of all the vegan milks, unlike soy and almond. The coffee turned out to be hot, strong, and very good.
The menu is a sheet of paper printed on both sides. If in the mood, you can start with some very appealing cocktails at NIS 42 apiece. As it was midday, we decided not to indulge and went straight for the food.
The first course is listed as meze, with a choice of three or five out of 14 (NIS 65 and NIS 85, respectively).
Mezes are a selection of small dishes served as appetizers in Eastern Mediterranean cuisines. We picked six: cashew labaneh; eggplant ceviche; lentil pâté; artichoke ikra; Jerusalem artichoke; and guacamole, together with Teff bread, a nutritious gluten-free salted bread similar to Ethiopian injera. These arrived quickly, and we were impressed with the aesthetic presentation.
The cashew labaneh was very creamy, with lemony undertones. We found the artichoke ikra to have a good flavor but far from the fish dish it was meant to imitate. The avocado was standard, the Jerusalem artichoke very earthy, and the lentil pâté very good with caramelized onion topping. The flat bread went especially well with all the starters.
Far better than he ever imagined
My dining companion decided we should order a salad and chose a Greek salad from the four on offer (NIS 40-NIS 60). It was a fairly conventional specimen with the usual feta cheese replaced with something made of almonds. I can’t truthfully say it tasted remotely cheesy, but it had roasted almonds on top and a good oil and vinegar dressing.
For a main course, I chose leek and chard patties with tzatziki (NIS 55). They were nicely crispy, possibly deep-fried, with soft insides. On the side were roasted cherry tomatoes.
My companion’s choice was savory buckwheat crepe with an arugula salad. It had an excellent sweet dressing and a vegetable I had never encountered before – watermelon radish, a very pretty vegetable slice colored bright pink inside with a circle of white. You live and learn!
For dessert, we shared a chocolate mousse and cream dish, which was a mountain of something brown and sweet over a rather good “custard” with lashings of “cream” (NIS 45).
During the meal, I enjoyed an ice-cold glass of Chardonnay (NIS 48), while my companion virtuously drank water.
We said goodbye to our hosts, and my husband was heard to declare that vegan food was actually far better than he had ever imagined. In other words, not quite ready to go vegan just yet, but a lot more knowledgeable.
Meshek Barzilay
6 Ahad Ha’am St.
Tel Aviv
Tel: (03) 516-6329
Open: All week, including Shabbat, 10 a.m.-11 p.m.
The writer was a guest of the restaurant.