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Look south of Israel’s burgeoning culinary scene in Tel Aviv to witness Jaffa’s own edible renaissance happening throughout its bustling streets. With so many new cafes popping up, we show you where to go.

Croissants at Milk Bakery

Milk Bakery

Bakery, Pastry Shop, Israeli

Cafelix Coffee
Kaie Bird/Sharing Tables
A fairly recent addition to Jaffa’s culinary scene, Milk Bakery has been completely embraced by locals and food enthusiasts throughout Tel Aviv. You can find it nestled quite well inside the corner of the newly renovated Market Hotel building. The French educated pastry chef and owner, Adi Kihan, creates edible art that will leave you floating after every bite.

Having limited space indoors, Milk often sets up tables and chairs outside their store so that the visiting crowds can sit and enjoy the life happening all around them on the busy Beit Eshel street. Milk’s main staples offer a vast range of croissants, divine choux a la creme (cream puffs), numerous cake specialties, and beautiful mille-feuille. The pastries aren’t Milk’s only speciality. The baristas have also refined an almost perfect technique for a balanced cup of coffee, created from Caffè Diemme beans.

This tasty coffee is presented to you in a chic pink cup with Adi’s logo of a cow udder. Milk Bakery challenges Tel Aviv’s confectionery scene. Every item sold has been honed to perfection by Adi and her crew. Adi’s personal favorite treat is her original butter croissant. Should you fancy yourself a patisserie connoisseur, look no further than Milk Bakery in Jaffa.

Cafelix

Cafe, Coffee Shop, Israeli

Calefix coffee counter
© Nicole Hakakian
In the past few years, a coffee revolution took place that completely shook up what it meant to ‘enjoy a good cup of coffee’ in Tel Aviv. One of the main players involved in this revolution, that challenged the old face of coffee, is Cafelix. This was led by owners Yael and Phillipp Schaefer, and partners Ofir Ben-Harush and Yaniv Goldberg.

It all started here in the extended part of Jaffa, lovingly called the Noga District, at their flagship cafe on Segulah street. When you go to Cafelix for your coffee, you mean business. Of course, some folks just come and enjoy Cafelix’s cultivated house brew and mingle with the other neighborhood locals.

If you are one who wants to play around with distinct tastes from the best beans collected across the world, the Cafelix team eagerly await your arrival. They perk up when they recognize other coffee aficionados and admire seeing their patrons as excited about coffee as they are.

For them, it comes as a challenge to provide you with the exact coffee you desire, so don’t be shy if you want to try something new. They encourage and welcome this curiosity wholeheartedly. If the cafe is too busy inside, take your coffee cup across the street and sit at one of the park tables in the little playground area. This area is a great place to take in all of the Noga life unfolding, as you sip your superb blend.

Knaffe Noga

Restaurant, Israeli

Bringing together food connoisseurs since 2013, Knaffe Noga serves up traditional Arabic dessert in their cute cafe in the Noga District of Jaffa. Knaffe is a beautiful dessert that, traditionally, is based around a goat cheese center and kadaif noodle hairs that taste sweetly divine.

For knaffe first-timers, Knaffee Noga is the only place to go, as the dish can become a bit too sweet. This is something the English chef and owner, Danny Phillips specifically avoids in his version. He has perfected the ‘happy food’ treat that everyone can enjoy. It works, as everyone keeps coming back for more.

Danny has created a vegan version, using coconut cream instead of goat cheese, that instantly inspired an almost cult-like following for this East London-vibe cafe. One of the best details of Knaffe Cafe is that they create every order once it is requested. This means your knaffe treat hasn’t been sitting out on the shelve for hours. Your knaffe is created for you personally on the spot. This means you may enjoy the warmth of the dish that is a large part of its tastiness.
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