Tel Aviv, Israel — Newsflash: Tel Aviv is so hot right now. It’s like, super trendy and whatev, but you know what: it’s also as hot as the fourth ring of hell for a lot of the year. There’s only one cure for how hot Tel Aviv can be, and that is frozen treats. As such, the Korean-style tart frozen yogurt mania that hit the U.S.A. with Pinkberry and Red Mango, etc. did not skip a beat arriving in Tel Aviv. I can name at least 4 such establishments in this city (Yogo, Moo, Kafoo, and Tamara), several of which have multiple locations. Here, though, they advertise them as American-style, because the Korean dairy industry does not invest as much money into their ad campaigns as the state of California, etc., where happy cows live, as I have learned from years and years of anthropomorphised cows in sunshine telling me so on the TV.
According to Tracy Jordan of 30 Rock, greatest genius of our time, most frozen yogurt shops are named with titles that could easily be confused with strip clubs. The best frozen white yogurt shop in Tel Aviv, Tamara, is no different. But its mascot, the giant woman on the side of the store would be kind of scary in the flesh, methinks. Anyway, since Pinkberry is the Kleenex or Xerox of this kind of yogurt, I will use it as the benchmark to which I compare the Queen of all Yogurt Tamara.
In sum, Tamara is precisely one bajillion times better than Pinkberry. Pinkberry can lick the dirty undersides of my feet before it could come close to being as good. First off, the yogurt is better. It’s creamy and smooth, no iciness at all. Secondly, Tamara offers around three times as many toppings as Pinkberry, and they are extremely more varied. The fruits change all the time, but here’s a sampling: strawberries, bananas, dates, persimmons, kiwis, mangos, papaya, honeydew. There’s also granola, chinese pecans, white chocolate, chocolate, tiny chocolate balls, halva, shaved almonds, etc.
Thirdly, now that you have all these toppings to choose from, you can have as many of them as you desire, no B.S. extra charge like greedy old Scrooge Pinkberry. Third-point-two, there are syrups galore. You have the hot chocolate, though it gets hard if you put it on the ice cream so its best to get it on the side, maple syrup, dulce de leche, sweet tehina, and all kind of fruit syrups. What does Pinkberry offer? Maybe they’ll spit on your yogurt, on the house, but that’s about all they’ll do for you (jerks!).
Last but not least, Tamara is a place to hang out, unlike most Pinkberries. There are many chairs, even swings inside the restaurant. They also have a sink in the main room in case you eat like I do, which is to say getting most of the food on you before it reaches the insides of your mouth.
In conclusion, on a typical 1000 degree day in Tel Aviv, there’s nothing better than sitting in the swings or on the mod plastic chairs and stuffing your face with 3000 calories of “healthy food” that leaves Pinkberry in the Middle Eastern dust. Tamara: so hot right now that it’s past hot and already COLD. Boom. I went there.
1 year ago • Notes