Story and photos by Sandi Masori
SAN DIEGO — In the past week most of us have had Israel on our minds more than usual, so when a friend of mine told me that there was a new Israeli restaurant at 646 University Avenue in Hillcrest, of course, I had to check it out.
Now I have to tell you that generally Israeli food is not my favorite. Though I lived in Israel for a few years, I never really developed a taste for shawarma and falafel. A good kabob on the other hand, well that’s a different story.
My cousin and I went to Tiki Taka, and unfortunately, I had just eaten, and so wasn’t very hungry. I ordered a dessert of coconut, pistachio and rose water called malabi and was content with that. The waitress brought me a small dish of the shawarma hummus to try, and I took it home with me. I tried it later that night, and I kid you not, it was so good I dreamt about it.
The next day I had to go back for more. I went in and got several salads to go, some shawarma, a separate shawarma hummus combination, purple cabbage, Morroccan carrots, brown eggplant salad (amazing) and several other traditional Israeli salads. I brought everything back to my Israeli husband, and my American parents. The consensus was that the food was excellent. Even my husband who is very conservative with compliments gave it a thumbs up with a “hmm, not bad”. (Believe me, from him that’s high praise).
The thing that I’m most excited about is that Israeli owners Itay Cremesi and Roy Buzaglo, who’ve been in the States for about five years, make their own pita right on site. The giant pita or “laffa” is sprinkled with zaatar, an Israeli spice. The little pitas are thick and fluffy with a deep pocket that doesn’t tear when you open it. I’ve never seen this kind of pita outside of Israel, so this was an exciting find for me. I also liked that you can watch them make it right in front of your eyes… well, it doesn’t get any fresher than that.
The restaurant interior is small, but some tables have been placed outside on the sidewalk in addition to the half dozen or so wood tables inside. Inside they have two large screens on the wall that are streaming the Israeli tv station on mute, and at the same time they have Israeli music playing. All of the workers are Israeli, so when you walk in, you really feel as though you have just been transported to Tel Aviv, except that the service is better than what you’re likely to find in a typical restaurant in Israel. They only opened about three months ago.
They have a limited kosher menu. Though there’s no on site mashgiach, they use a separate oven for this food, and will serve the food with plastic utensils and plates.
For the non-kosher menu, it’s all kosher style- that is it’s a meat restaurant and there is no dairy on the menu. But the meats on the main menu have no hechsher.
The prices range from about $8 for a lunch special to $24 for the lamb chops.
All in all, it was a great find and I know that I’ll be spending a lot more time in Hillcrest now. If you want to check out their menu, their website is www.tikitakagrill.com and they can be found at 646 University Ave. (right off the 163 freeway).
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Masori, daughter of co-publishers Don and Nancy Harrison, resides in San Diego. A “foodie,” she will be doing periodic restaurant reviews for San Diego Jewish World. If you have suggestions for restaurants for her to sample, please write to us at sdheritage@cox.net