Jaffa Impresses with Modern Israeli Cuisine

LA restaurants continue to add more weekend brunch offerings. One of the latest is Rosaliné, a Peruvian option. One, however, caught my attention because it featured “Modern Israeli cuisine”. I invited my cousin and her husband to join us for brunch at Jaffa.

Israeli cuisine goes back centuries, but more recently is a delicious melting pot of North African countries and its Middle Eastern neighbors (Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq), as well as the Mediterranean countries. Spices such as coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper, and turmeric are typical seasonings.

I was surprised to learn that Jaffa’s chef and partner is Anne Conness (Sausal) and executive chef Santos Navarro recently left Tin Roof Bistro. When they both attended a chef’s conference in Napa Valley, they found themselves drawn to chefs preparing Middle Eastern cuisine. They were hooked by the flavors and spent their free time learning the cuisine.

Out of curiosity, I selected a blueberry Jaffa Shake as my beverage. Because it was vegan, it consisted of almond milk fresh blueberries and tahini. The taste resembled peanut butter and instead of ice cream at the bottom, there was a clump of tahini.

Chickpea stew with a delicious stock

The chickpea stew is one of their more popular dishes. The stock was thin and more like a soup. The mix of tomatoes, chilis, yellow wax beans, cilantro, and seasonings was a delicious medley of flavors. We told our server that we were sharing everything and on her own, she split our large bowl into two smaller sized bowls.

Roasted cauliflower

Roasted cauliflower was enhanced with garlic labneh, tahina, turmeric, and cilantro. The flavor combinations were wonderful and this is a great dish to order if you are wanting to see what it is like to eat vegetarian.

Spinach Shakshuka with grilled pita

Jaffa’s shakshuka is quite different than most. Tomatoes were absent from Jaffa’s version. This was a less filling dish made with a generous amount of spinach. Despite the diversion from tradition, the flavors worked very well. I thought pine nuts and pickled onions were nice additions.

Open face shawarma with chunks of roast chicken

Georgian cheese bread topped with shawarma spiced chicken and pickled onions

They created a unique open-faced sandwich using a cheese filled khachapuri by adding shawarma-spiced chicken, toum, a Lebanese garlic sauce and red zhug, a Yemeni hot sauce. A serving of tabouli was served on the side. The bread (baked fresh on-site) was crisp and tasty and the chicken was well seasoned and roasted to perfection. This was one of my favorite dishes.

Brisket hash topped with two poached eggs

In the Israeli culture, it is common to use leftover braised beef brisket and create brisket hash. Jaffa’s brisket was combined with potatoes, sumac onions and topped with two poached eggs. While this dish was tasty, it did not seem to be unique. It was the type of dish you might expect to see on another restaurant’s menu.

Their non-alcoholic beverage offerings are quite interesting. They appear to be hand selected by someone with a passion for selecting quality beverages. They include San Pellegrino Orange, Virgil’s Root Beer, Mexican Coke, Llanllyr organic water and others.

The atmosphere is laid back and while we were there, I was surprised at the number of families with children that were dining.  It should be noted that Jaffa doesn’t appear to have a kid’s menu. You may be limited to bagels and jelly donuts.

Comfortable place to dine

Jaffa hit on all cylinders. Quality and fresh ingredients are used and each of our selections was tasty. In addition, the service was friendly and they are quite knowledgeable about the food. I’d like to come back for dinner and try their lamb couscous and their short ribs. Those are calling my name.

Jaffa, 8048 W 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048; 323.433.4978
jaffa.la