Herzliya, Israel — For being so much closer to Asia, technically in Asia, Israel has pretty shitty Asian food. Now, I consider myself to be an expert in this matter, having grown up in Northern California (where the colonies of Asia and Mexico are surruptitiously fighting for supremacy) and having gone to one meeting of the Asian Club in high school after I heard there were to be refreshments. So as a qualified scholar of all things Asian, I can say with authority that there is really a remarkable lack of edible food from this region in this country.
Zozobra is angry about this (reference: the boy in the pictures.) But they aim to do something about it. Located in Herzliya Pituach, the Silicon Valley of Israel, the restaurant caters to mostly techies, a population demographic that is usually highly Asian or Asian-friendly, so it needs to be a cut above. The communal style long tables and benches are full of nerds all the time, and the waiters and waittresses all carry around high-tech palm pilot type ordering devices to avoid any human error and also ingratiate themselves to their nerd constituency.
The food itself is tasty, but still not quite authentic (not greasy or spicy enough for that). However, it’s not food-court Asian food either, so it is a step in the right direction. Owned by the same people as Moses (arguably the most popular burger joint in Israel) and Tony Vespa (arguably the most popular pizza joint in Israel), among others, Zozobra may become the next restaurant phenom. One notable quirk to their operations is that their policy is to bring the food out whenever its done, so if your appetizer takes longer than your main course, you better be happy with it as dessert. Or else take it up with the angry Asian boy.
I may still not be able to have my itch for a solid plate of Pad Kee Mao scratched unless I fork over a couple thousand shek to get to Bangkok, but Zozobra’s noodles will keep me from going insasian (definition: mental breakdown through lack of green curry chicken) until I do.
1 year ago • Notes