Asaf Granit's 'De Pita' VS 'Akka's' Doner: Which is tastier?
For the last two weeks, everyone has been talking about 'De Pita', the new shawarma place from the Machneyuda group in Jerusalem. But does it manage to put up a real fight against the famous doner from the Mahane Yehuda market, which is only 100 meters away and has had lines for 6 years in a row? We went to check and returned surprised.
The Machneyuda group of chef Asaf Granit does not close places, but rather takes what is no longer relevant and repurposes it. This is what happened with the 'Tzemach' restaurant, which became a steakhouse, and now with 'HaDekel 3' — a small nook in an alley parallel to the Machneyuda restaurant, where an intimate bar of the group operated. Now, instead of the bar, 'De Pita' has opened there, a new and talked-about shawarma place which threatens to be an alternative to what is, in our opinion, the best shawarma in Jerusalem, and perhaps in the country as a whole — 'Akka' in the Mahane Yehuda market. The physical distance between the two is about 100 meters, but a comparison revealed that in other respects, the distance is much greater. So who will win the battle of Jerusalem's shawarma — 'De Pita' or 'Akka'?
'De Pita'
The colorful space of 'De Pita' is full of plastic tables, the work at the counter is done quickly, and there is only one skewer of meat consisting of ribs, entrecote, Denver cut, and tail fat. They start at exactly 11:29, and finish when the skewer is gone. Today (Thursday) the place will open for the first time in the evening and will operate from 18:30 until the skewer is finished. Next week, the place will operate on Thursday all night, for the benefit of the Selichot crowd.
Besides the skewer, there is a steaming machine for pitas, a counter with roasted peppers, bowls with fried pita ends, a pot with meatballs, and a grill on which skewers are roasted. On the menu, there is a 'Russell Camel' shawarma dish (58 NIS); pita with kebab, lamb fat, chopped onion, and parsley (62 NIS); chicken breast (62 NIS); liver with burnt onion and garlic confit (58 NIS); Kubbeh Hamusta (62 NIS); and a pita with meatballs, which we will refer to later. The selection of toppings is not large and includes tahini, sumac onion, parsley, matbucha, and spicy sauce. You can take pickles by yourself and add chips with a tasty sauce for an additional 18 NIS.
'Akka'
'Akka' is a tiny place with two doner shawarma skewers consisting of beef ribs, ground meat, lamb fat, and pine nuts. Half an hour before the place opens, a line of regular customers gathers here. The meat is packed inside a thin, light, and elastic Lebanese pita. Not a laffa, not an Iraqi pita, but a kind of thin tortilla made of 80 percent whole wheat flour that absorbs nothing, only serving as a shell for the meat.
On the menu, there is only one dish — doner, in a laffa version or on a disposable plate (64 NIS). You can add a small potato sautéed in goose fat and served with garlic aioli and an aromatic green sauce, and reach a price of 82 NIS. In the laffa, they spread skordalia, spicy sauce, and vegan yogurt based on soy, and then add tomatoes, herbs, purple onion, mint, and green onion. There is no hummus or tahini, but you can add amba. The portion is a friendly size, with intense flavors of meat and spices. The toppings do not burst out but are present quietly, accompanying the powerful flavors of the doner.
So what is tastier?
In my opinion, the quality of shawarma is measured by 3 parameters: meat, pita assembly, and fat. At 'Akka', you feel the tasty influence of the fat on the meat, but you don't feel it itself inside the portion. In 'De Pita', there were large and unchewable chunks of fat, but the aroma was not felt in the meat, as if they were separate. Additionally, Asaf Granit's shawarma is cut very small, while at 'Akka', the shawarma is carved into large and chewable chunks, and the meat is felt well in every bite.
Regarding the pita — Asaf Granit's pita is wonderful. It is flexible and absorbs all the toppings, but if you don't eat it fast enough it starts to tear. The bite is very tasty, but it passes as a pita with meat more than as a shawarma. The shawarma of 'Akka', on the other hand, is cut into thick slices with an excellent roasting taste. Its seasoning is very strong, but where the meat meets the yogurt, the intensities are balanced. 'Akka' is a Turkish doner and 'De Pita' is an Israeli shawarma, which explains the differences.
Is it possible to skip a visit to Asaf Granit's shawarma?
The answer is unequivocally no — but not because of the shawarma dish. There is another dish there that completely stole the show: a pita with round veal meatballs wrapped in grape leaves, cooked for a long time in a vegetable stew. A kind of combination between a Jewish ratatouille and home-style Jerusalem meatballs inside a cloud-like pita — a dish that seems to put all of Jerusalem into a dough pocket with plenty of sauce and seasoning. For this 62 NIS pita, it is worth coming to the place specifically.
'De Pita'. HaDekel 3, Jerusalem. Sunday-Wednesday from 11:29, Thursday from 18:30. Kosher.
'Akka'. HaShikma 6, Jerusalem. Sunday-Wednesday 12:00-21:00, Thursday 12:00-03:00. Kosher.
