Return to Jaffa (Yafo)

The Culinary Side of Jaffa

I've previously posted about how much I enjoyed visiting the twin sisters of Tel Aviv and Yafo (Jaffa in Arabic).  Of my two months in Israel, Jaffa was the city I enjoyed the most, and as such spent my last night in Israel exploring.  It helps that Jaffa is only a thirty minute drive to the airport, our destination the next morning.  

Enjoying my crazy rice dinner, Arabic salad, and Palestinian beer at a cafe on the streets of Jaffa.  Taybeh, a beer brewed by Palestinian Christians comes in light and dark versions.

The first time I went to Jaffa, I spent most of my time on a four hour walking tour.  This time I decided to spend a low key night exploring the restaurants and bars that line the streets.  Jaffa has a very mild climate and this allows for most eateries and drinkeries to provide a patio for patrons to enjoy the outdoors.  Aside from the narrow streets that act as single roads for vehicles, many alleyways are hidden amongst the ancient buildings and are comprised of patio upon patio filled with locals and tourists enjoying food and drink.  

The restaurant we ate dinner in was recommended to us by an employee at the Old Jaffa Hostel was a mix of shabby and chic.

We were a bit overwhelmed by all of the restaurant choices and verging on hangry.  So one of the guys in our group asked a worker at our hostel (The Old Jaffa Hostel) for a restaurant recommendation, preferably one serving Israeli dishes.  To our delight, such a restaurant was only a block away in one of the hidden pedestrian alleyways lined with patios.  Fortunately for me this restaurant also had an extensive vegetarian menu.  I ordered a dark Taybeh beer (brewed in Palestine) and a wild rice dish with an Arabic name that coincidently means crazy in Spanish, appropriately so as the dish was composed of many ingredients including two types of rice, raisins, walnuts, parsley, and much more.  

One of the hidden pedestrian alleyways filled with restaurants and bars in Jaffa.

My rice dish also came with an Arabic salad, known as an Israeli salad in the US ironically.  We ate this salad at least weekly during our time in Israel.  It's a very fresh salad made of finely chopped tomatoes and cucumber and dressed with parsley, olive oil, and lemon juice.  Easy to make and perfect for hot weather, I will surely be making this salad at home in Florida.  

Enjoying some after dinner drinks with my friends on a patio of one of the bars in Jaffa.

After finishing dinner we meandered down the pedestrian alleyways stopping to enjoy a drink or two at a few of the bars with open air patios.  What started out as relatively quiet streets at sunset morphed into buzzing hives of people clustered around tables in the cool night air.  Sitting with my own little hive of friends, I can think of no better way to spend my last night is Israel. 

Our room in the Old Jaffa Hostel.  Although clean, I'm not sure whether to call it quaint or just old.