The holiday hotspot better than Barcelona – with Ibiza-style clubs, golden beaches and incredible food
THERE are three things to know about the vibrant city of Tel Aviv ahead of visiting.
One: The weekend starts on a Thursday, not a Friday.
Two: Bagels are a diet staple and can be eaten at any hour of the day.
And three: Don’t ask restaurant owners for the recipe, it’s almost certainly a family secret.
Except nothing stays secret in Israel’s second most populous city — or so our tour guide, Shai, tells us.
And he’s not wrong.
Just five short days in Tel Aviv taught me exactly where to find top nightlife spots that can compete with those in Ibiza, how to perfectly knot a loaf of challah bread in seconds and which restaurant serves the best hummus — all of them.
A sense of soul and culture hits the moment you breathe in the slightly salty air of this coastal city.
It’s a region that’s got everything Barcelona has — soft sand beaches within walking distance of top-notch restaurants plus historic architecture — but here it’s all amplified.
As we roll past high-rise buildings casting shadows over a busy city drenched in the sun’s warm glow, Shai tells us: “Part of the Israeli experience is breaking out of the box.”
We were staying in the Shenkin Hotel, which sits in the central hub of Tel Aviv and is certainly “out of the box” when it comes to decor, with pink rhino busts adorning the walls and quirky vases in reception.
In contrast to this modern space, my first port of call is just two miles away, Jaffa.
This ancient port city and the oldest region in Tel Aviv has cobbled paths that wind under narrow archways and round hidden corners, transporting you straight back to the decade in which they were built.
It was once its own city but became part of Tel Aviv in 1949.
Strolling through the main square at dusk, we’re guided by the bell tower of St Peter’s church atop a cliff that glows orange against a pink sky and pale clouds.
The smell of freshly baked sesame bagels from Abouelafia Bakery is too enticing to ignore, plus it’s an institution in this region (and the oldest bakery here, dating back to 1879) so sampling its delights is a must.
I dip my bagel, still warm from the brick oven, into herby za’atar — the soft, chewy centre and salty crust are instant confirmation that this is a recipe that has been perfected over centuries.
When it comes to traditional grub, you won’t be hard pushed to find it anywhere in this city.
Food is a huge part of the culture, so a trip to Carmel Market is another must.
Book a tour with Eviatar from Be Tel Aviv (£51pp, including tastings; betelavivtours.com) who will make sure you get the most out of the colourful stalls.
Expect rows of fresh fruit and veg tightly sandwiched between tables loaded with sugary sweets, oil-filled pans cradling crunchy falafels and traditional spice shops packed with fiery powders and dried herbs.
During our tour, we sampled treats from the best of the bunch, including hummus loaded with pickled red onions and green tahini, plus egg and tomato flatbreads served by a dancing chef who encouraged us to jiggle along with him.
Everything is pretty much grab and go here, but if you fancy a sit-down meal swing by meat restaurant M25, so named as it sits just 25 metres from the butcher’s where it sources its meat.
And unlike the M25 back home, the queues that build up here are for good reasons only.
Aria restaurant, close to the cultural hub of Lev Ha’ir, offers finer dining with artistically plated dishes of fish ceviche with confit garlic and juicy lamb koftas.
And for the best falafels in town (or possibly the world) head to Hakosem, where the herby chickpea balls are served with pillowy pittas and punchy baba ganoush aubergine dips that put the ones in UK supermarkets to shame.
Hakosem’s owner, Ariel, tells me: “All our food is taken from our neighbours — I’m Jewish Arab and my mother is Romanian.
“We don’t have Israeli cuisine in the same way the French have French fries.”
One similarity this country does have with France though, is its love of wine.
Israeli vineyards are only just breaking into the wine scene, but the bottles produced are certainly not to be sniffed at.
Clos de Gat, an organic winery at the foothills of the Judean mountains, sticks closely to France, ageing its tipples in barrels from the Bordeaux region.
Instead of walls protecting the vines and precious grapes, here it’s huge, green cacti shielding them.
You can book in for a tour and tasting session if you’re keen to sample its floral whites and rich reds alongside (untraditionally) creamy vegan cheeses.
Aside from great grub and wine, the other selling point of Israel for heat-deprived Brits is that it’s just a five-hour plane journey from the UK and, unlike Barcelona, sun is pretty much guaranteed year round.
And for culture vultures, Jerusalem is less than an hour’s drive away — even if you aren’t religious it’s well worth a visit purely to marvel at the hordes of visitors who have made a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage there.
Five short days in this incredible city is barely enough to scratch the surface, but luckily I’d found a way to take a slice of it home with me on a cooking course at Maase Yadayim.
Adi Yogev and her husband set up the cooking-school-cum-restaurant-cum-wedding-venue in their own home.
And it was here that I learnt how to whip up traditional fatayer (a type of pie) with Arabic spinach, walnuts and pomegranate, along with other Israeli goodies.
Glugging wine, shaping dough and chatting all things food and history while the sun sets behind the rolling green hills really gives you a flavour for local life.
If only I could pocket this gorgeous setting to bring home too.
But for now, my not-so-secret fatayer recipe will have to do.
GO: Tel Aviv
GETTING THERE: British Airways and easyJet fly from the UK to Tel Aviv from £118.99 each way.
See ba.com and easyjet.com.
STAYING THERE: The Shenkin Hotel has double rooms from £122 per night.
See shenkinhotel.com.
OUT & ABOUT: Half-day Tel Aviv tours with Shai costs from £283 for a group of two to three, including transportation.