Chaotic street food from Tel Aviv at Bardak

Anyone who has ever been to Tel Aviv will be familiar with brightly painted walls and the very best food you find at small market stalls. You no longer have to fly to Israel for that; you can simply go to Amsterdam’s Ferdinand Bolstraat.

Who: the TLV group (you may know them from Bar Fisk)
Where: in Amsterdam’s Pijp district
When: June 2018

What’s new?

At Bardak — freely translated: organized gang — all the dishes are inspired by the street food of Tel Aviv. This used to be a traditional Dutch pub, and that noisy atmosphere is still there, but the interior has been thoroughly revamped. With the bare brick walls, corrugated metal and graffiti-covered walls, you immediately feel as though you’re in the city that it’s all about.

What’s on the menu?

Lots of fresh, colourful and spicy dishes. Shrimp falafel, rib-eye, kebabs, mushroom shawarma, roasted cauliflower and charred aubergine. Our favourite? The arais: juicy lamb kebab fried in a pita. The lamb fat and all the flavours seep into the bread, making the inside wonderfully juicy while the outside of the bread is crispy. Street food naturally calls for drinks, such as cocktails. Many of them contain arak, combined with freshly squeezed juice so that the pronounced aniseed flavour does not overpower the drink.

Bitter-sweet cocktail: the Negroni

Standout feature?

In Tel Aviv, eating offal is perfectly normal, something the chef would also like to see more of in the Netherlands. We agree. Don’t be alarmed just yet: the toast with chicken liver mousse and crispy sweetbreads really is something everyone will enjoy. Still hesitant? Order an arak cocktail or a good craft beer to build up your courage. You won’t be disappointed. Lechaim!

Bardak
Ferdinand Bolstraat 12
Amsterdam