Cheap Eats: Eat Meat

TasteTLV is proud to introduce our new weekly article Tel Aviv Cheap Eats by our newest contributor Dylan Stein better known as The Hungry Canadian... 

Eating has always been the pinnacle of enjoyment fo Dylan Stein. Eating good food is an essential and indispensable part of Dylan's life.  Living as a student, unfortunately, prevented his culinary adventures from being as lavish as he would have hoped and he had to ask himself, " How can I stretch each dollar? He finds himself again in Tel Aviv asking himself the same question and he's finding the places to eat that will make his stomach AND wallet happy... 


After graduating from Queens University last April, I was unsure what direction I wanted to take in regard to my life goals. The vague notion that I wanted to embark on some kind of adventure, and experience a different part of the world transformed into a concrete plan when I discovered the MASA program called Career Israel. This program allowed me to call downtown Tel Aviv my home for 5 months.

Eating has always been the pinnacle of enjoyment for me. As a kid I never went through a “picky eater phase;” eating spinach and scallops at a time when vegetables and seafood would make most of my friends break down into tears.  This continues today, as I place eating good food as an essential and indispensible part of my life. I am always keen to try new places and new foods. Needless to say, this epicurean endeavor constantly puts a smile on my face.

Life as a student, unfortunately, prevented my culinary adventures from being as lavish as I would have hoped. Throughout my four years of attending University, I was forced to make my dollar go as far as possible.  I quickly learned that more inexpensive restaurants can still serve up some mean tasting dishes. In a city as expensive as Tel Aviv, it takes skill to eat well and cheap. The economical Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Chinese food restaurants that where my eatery staples in Vancouver, are almost completely absent from the Tel Aviv landscape. This has inspired me to devote my time in Tel Aviv to finding Tel Aviv restaurants that will make my stomach AND wallet happy. And for your reading pleasure, I will share what I find. 

Upon landing In Israel I set off at a furious pace to answer the age-old question, “can one eat too much falafel?”  Although this search continues, I am finally ready to step out of my original “falafel only” diet.  My first foray out of the falafel world was at EATMEAT.

Located on 68 King George, across the street from Abu Dhabi hummus (if any one has not been here, you should go) EATMEAT is a very small place with some outdoor seating.

Looking in you will see crowded faux wood counters, delicious smelling meat on a grill, and some very good-looking Tel Aviv sandwiches being made assembly-line style. The sandwiches, which will set you back a mere 31 shekels, are made on round ciabatta buns heated to a crispy golden brown.  The small grill, which was constantly crowded, combined onions, jalapeños and meat.  There is an option to add an egg for an extra five shekels, which I was all over.

 

Three sauces are used on the sammies: mayo, dijon mustard and chimichurri sauce. Chimichurri sauce is an argentine sauce that is used for meat and consists of finely chopped parsley, minced garlic, sunflower oil, vinegar and red pepper flakes. This concoction is very good and adds just a little bit of heat.  In addition to this, tomato and lettuce are added. There is also the option of getting all of these ingredients in salad form, which costs 28 Shekels.  The end result is a hearty, quite gourmet looking sandwich. 

We ate at the crowded bar which allowed us to observe and enjoy a constant flurry of sandwich-making activity. Due to the limited space, most people took their meats to go. “It’s way better than I expected,” remarked my female companion who was fully content after half of her sandwich.  I left EATMEAT full and happy and would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a fulfilling and inexpensive meal.   

Chew cheaply and smile on.