Melabes – Israeli Pitta joint

It is not very often you get an Israeli restaurant open up in London and Melabes has recently launched with pitta as their main feature. Pitta is a prominent staple in Middle Eastern cuisines and I definitely had my fair share while out on my travels to Israel.

The core of the menu offers a variety of pitas filled with meats, like minced beef and lamb or Mediterranean chicken with tahini and vegetables or sea bass with tzatziki.  I was excited when I saw Shakshuka and Hummus on the menu, really bringing back memories of my visit to the Holy City.  The former was a nicely slow cooked tomato and spicy stew with poached eggs, tahini, picked cucumber and coriander.  It is always hard to find a good shakshuka and this one was just spicy enough and with just the right amount of tomatoes and neatly cooked eggs.  It comes with a small bit of hummus, pitta and some picked vegetables.  A real delightful breakfast that can also come in a pitta if you wanted!

Next was a large plate of creamy hummus, bringing back memories of  Abu Hasan in Tel Aviv!  Thick, fluffy and creamy pulped chickpeas mixed with tahini and a healthy heap of olive oil.  Add some of that lemon juice for some extra flavour and freshness!

The Royal Giros was a open laffa bread topped with char-grilled lamb, tahini, a unique ama-tahini sauce, finished with grilled onions and tomatoes and topped with parsley mint.  Meaty flavours of lamb coming in a cross between a pitta bread and a pizza!

The final dish we tired was their version of the steak and eggs but in a pitta.  Rump steak slices with poached egg, chilli aioli, fresh tomato, pickled cucumber and red cabbage all in a fluffy and warm, pitta bread. Juicy, tasty and super filling!

 

 

All in All

A nice new cafe style eatery offering some incredible pitta combinations. The shakshuka and hummus does bring back memories with the flavours of each dish all very tasty and delicious.  I cannot wait to see what new dishes are going to come soon!

Also published on Medium.