A Magic Burger At Rabin Square

Spending the day in Tel Aviv can be very tiring. Why you ask? Because if you aren’t a native, and don’t know the bus system, you are going to end up walking a ton like I did.

After having a meeting in south central TLV, I called a friend of mine to meet up for lunch. Problem is, it’s very hard to find a good kosher burger in the city of TLV, let alone a great one.

The trend in Tel Aviv is that a lot of restaurants are going kosher but in baby steps. So after looking online we found a kosher fast food burger joint called Magic Burger(Ibn Gvirol 64, Tel Aviv, Rabbanute Tel Aviv). Located next to the very popular and famous shwarma joint Dabush(also Kosher) where the Israelis have been fascinated by the robotic shwarma cutter for those who didn’t know that. In addition, the shwarma is spot on as well.

Back to Magic Burger, after walking up an appetite, I checked out the menu and it’s pretty straight forward. Hamburgers, Lamb Burgers or Chicken breast sandwiches. The place has been opened for a while and they have tried to mimic the classic american hamburger joints across america. the design is very simplistic and straight forward as their menu.

Back to the food. We both ordered hamburgers, I ordered a 400 grams which came as 2 patties stacked high, with a side of fresh cut potato slices.. I had a whole conversation with the owner about the place while taking my order about why he put’s wights on the burgers. He was claiming it speeds up the cooking process while I was saying, it pushes all the juices out of the burger. In the end he didn’t flatten our burgers and it took a bit longer but it was worth the wait.

 

The sandwich was very big. Fitting in the two patties into the paper to hold the thing together was a challenge for the cook but he did a good job. My burger looked like it was going to eat my plate of fries! After glancing at this sandwich while adding lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and raw white onions it was a great and flavorful burger from start to finish. only problem was they didn’t toast the bun and it got soggy very fast, but the flavor was their all the way through. The potato slices where crispy and fresh which really took the meal to the next level. But it really is all about the burger at Magic Burger.

If you are going to go there, and try it out, first of all I highly recommend it, secondly plan your trip ahead of time because I ended up walking to the Bursa to catch the bus home and worked of that delicious lunch. So If you are traveling to Tel Aviv or are a local and have never been, try it out, it’s worth the trip!

Mizi is a name of a cat, but here it’s all about the beef!

I was doing research in the Machane Yehuda shuk for my next article for theculturetrip.com, and it was really hard not to get hungry quickly while walking down the alleyways of fresh food goodness. From the beautiful fresh vegetables to the fresh fish and beef, my mouth was watering from the second I got off the bus.

I was able to hold off for an hour before I felt that I needed to get some of the goodness surrounding me into my stomach. So, where do I go and sit down to eat? Too many different options! In the end I remembered that a friend of mine had mentioned a cool joint that sell great sandwiches called Mizi. I have heard also from different sources that the place was off the hook so I went in and talked to Itamar, the guy behind the counter. I asked him what was so special about i, and he answered that everything is purchased locally and all the meat is cooked fresh and from scratch, starting from the ground beef for the burgers to the roast-beef made of Rib eye and sirloin steak.

After schmoozing with Itamar for a little longer, my mouth turned to a waterfall, with all the cooking going behind the counter. I told Itamar to make me a burger and to top it off with some roast beef. I got to tell you, the burger was just spot on. A perfect medium rare cooked on a flat-top?! Perfection! Getting that crust on the outside and medium rare on the inside? That’s how all burgers in Israel should be made and not on the grill, especially if you are using fresh ground beef. It was one of the best burgers I have had, and I have eaten my share of burgers! To top it all off the roast beef was perfect as a topping, and also cooked medium rare. It was a great burger.
Anyone going to the shuk and needs his carnivoricale fix, Mizi is a must for you.

 

The Spot on Achuza St

 

As all of you know, I take my dining very seriously. So when me and the family decided to take a trip to Ra’anana, the first thing I did was try to  find out where’s a nice place to eat. I was there with my family and in-laws and they lived in Ra’anana for many years and never ate there so they said they will try out something different that was not a coffee shop. After asking other foodies where they would eat there, it was clear that the city is lacking a nice meat restaurant. Where quality and service meet. When going into Spot the decor is very modern looking, young and vibrant. The service was quick and efficient, and also had a nice selection of alcoholic drinks. But the quality of the food is where they are lacking.

 

My mother in law ordered a Cesar Salad, me and my father in law ordered medium done hamburger and my wife ordered the Chanukah special, lemon chicken. Sadly, what was lacking in all the dishes was creativity. The food tasted fine but it wasn’t anything different than any other “bistro” that sold american style cuisine. The burger was slightly overcooked but lacked some seasoning, with a side of processed fries.  The Cesar salad had a lot of dressing on it but also tasted ok. What disappointed us though was the lemon chicken. It didn’t taste like there was any lemon in it and for some reason a lot of sweet chili sauce. I don’t get that. If you are calling lemon chicken DON”T PUT IN SWEET CHILISAUCE(unless you explain that to the guest before they order). Call it lemon and sweet chili chicken, that way we would have known not to order it. The dish was fine for a chicken coated in sweet chili sauce. But like I said the service was good and the food was average.

Being one of the only places like this in the area they should be capitalizing on the opportunity by being the best in the area, so people don’t have to tell me to travel to Hertzeliya to get some good food.

The Bun Swap

There is a new trend in restaurants across america, that they are swapping the buns of sandwiches for a protein.In KFC it’s called the “Double Down” which contains “bacon, two different kinds of melted cheese, the Colonel’s secret sauce… pinched in between two pieces of Original Recipe chicken fillets. KFC describes the Double Down as a “sandwich” although it does not have bread.

Then we have the Ramen Burger, a meat patty sandwiched between two fried ramen noodle buns.

An alas we have Fatburger’s new “Skinnyburger” protein burger can be described as an inside-out version of the better burger chain’s typical offering. The burger features one of Fatburger’s standard patties sliced in half, then stuffed with typical toppings like lettuce, cheese, onions, pickles and tomatoes.

So, is this the future of sandwiches? I understand the idea of swapping out the bun for health reasons, like less calories. Although if you are going to get yourself a sandwich from a restaurant, Why skip the bun? There are so many types of buns: the classic, pretzels, briosh, biscuits and even sliced bread.  Why go out and skip one of the best part of the sandwich?! Enjoy sandwiches like they where intended to be, with a bun!

One of my Favorite Burgers at Black Bar ‘n’ Burger in Jerusalem

As a Kosher carnivore, I have very limited options to eat a great burger. A couple of years ago when Black Bar ‘n’ Burger became kosher, I was very excited. It is very hard to find a really good kosher burger. You know, no cheese, bacon and such, but they really have found the recipe to success in the kosher burger world.

When the chain decided to go kosher they adapted really well. The decor in all of their restaurants are the same but it’s a comfortable environment. They have a couple of different menus: late night, business, alcohol and my favorite, the student discount(which is like the late night menu). They also have a membership that is worth every agura. You get 10% of what you payed back on every time you return to the restaurant.

I go there for the burger. Your burger comes medium! The meat that they get is fresh and portioned out daily, the sauces are made in house and the have a fully stocked bar. The burger sizes are 160-450 grams and they always taste great. They have a lot of different items on the menu besides burgers like: Grilled sandwiches, great appetizers, a variety of grilled meats, crazy burger combos(using a bagel instead of a bun) and delicious desserts. They just added stir fried rice with chicken, and it also isn’t half bad.

Whenever I go with my better half or just friends, I always get a burger. Which burger? depends on how hungry I am or how much money I have on me. I usually order the Yokozuna burger (330 grams), and its always done to perfection. Sometimes I order the Norma Jean which is made out of ground rib eye and is phenomenal! I also share a plate of wings that are deep fried and glazed with their homemade BBq sauce. On my birthday I order a 450 gram burger with a side of 1\3 litre of Stella!

I am never disappointed with the place because constancy is key there, and that makes a great experience at any restaurant.