New and trendy restaurants: Is Ashkelon on its way to becoming a culinary powerhouse?
The southern city is experiencing an impressive awakening, and recently a variety of current and trendy restaurants have opened there: a wine bar, a cafe and tattoo studio, a Neapolitan pizzeria, a Japanese cafe with a decadent brunch menu, a fish restaurant and an Italian restaurant, a 24/7 cafe with a huge matcha menu, and in short - everything that makes the periphery much closer to the center. So what is the tastiest thing to eat in the southern coastal city?
When talking about the development of the periphery, it usually refers to state investment in cities far from the center. But in recent years we have been witnessing a different kind of development, completely private, by entrepreneurs who bring a real message to the northern and southern cities, a culinary message. New and current restaurants are also opening in satellite cities of Tel Aviv such as Kiryat Ono, Or Yehuda, Savyon, Petah Tikva, Rishon LeZion, as well as in Haifa, and in distinct peripheral destinations such as Sderot and Eilat. Restaurateurs have understood the need of city residents to go out and have fun without traveling to a big city, and we get to see how food culture can be a game changer for more distant cities, and how much potential it has to change the balance of power for them.
One of the cities that has recently been experiencing a real boom is beautiful Ashkelon, our southernmost coastal city. For years it had mainly old institutions, a pub or two and street food stalls, today it is filling up with super current places. "Tzafania Square has turned into something that has never been here, you can't find parking here in the evening," says Tal Holland, one of the owners of the De Tri restaurant that opened in the Frider complex, the central area of the city. "Once there were clubs, restaurants and cafes. Today the new places are a combination of everything. This area is about to become the Nahalat Binyamin of Ashkelon."
What is the biggest change you see? "The food cannot be less than excellent. When we opened the first pub here we didn't think about food at all, it didn't interest anyone. Today people are not suckers, they travel the world, they have been to Dubai, and it doesn't matter if you are pouring beer or vodka Red Bull or drinks, first of all we think about the food."
"Everyone is rushing to grab a corner for themselves because everything is coming to life. Suddenly entrepreneurs are arriving, and there are tenders and it is about to become the most vibrant and young area in the city," says Eli Gutman, one of the partners in Coffee Club, a new cafe that opened just recently next to Frider. "This is the area of all the young and cool people, of the tattoo artists and the cafes. In the evenings there is an amazing atmosphere here. Frider in Ashkelon is the Yipo of Tel Aviv."
And it is only one area that is experiencing a transformation. Ashkelon is also developing in the sea area, in the new neighborhoods, in the marina and on the beaches. Everything is in a momentum of impressive action and development, the kind that can turn Ashkelon into a culinary powerhouse.
So what are they eating here right now? We went out to taste, and the current list is before you.
Kumo
Kumo is the freshest addition to the celebration, a new, Japanese and kosher cafe, which opened just these days opposite the clock of Tzafania Square. This is probably the first Japanese kosher cafe in the country, if not the world. This place brings the trend of Japanese pancakes to the southern city, and other special things. Alongside the pancakes (including a fish-shaped pancake filled with ice cream), Kumo also has a showcase of ice cream, frozen yogurt, French crepes rolled and cut like sushi, matcha drinks, cold tea infusions and Japanese coffee jelly.
Tzafania Square, (opposite HaNasi 1). Kosher.
Joseph
Another restaurant that has just opened is Joseph, a kosher dairy fish restaurant that opened in recent weeks in one of the new neighborhoods with white residential buildings, on the street leading to the Ashkelon promenade. The running menu offers pizzas, pastas, salads and fish. A selection of starters includes kohlrabi carpaccio, tuna sashimi skewer, tuna tataki and cauliflower arancini. In the pasta department there are dishes like linguine with shredded fish and spinach and ricotta tortellini, and there is also an Ashkelon pizza, with tomato sauce, mozzarella, chili jam, hot peppers, kalamata and Bulgarian cheese. There are also 4 fish dishes on the menu, one of which is fish and chips.
Aryeh Tagar 13, Ashkelon. Sunday-Thursday 18:00-23:00. Kosher.
De Tri
A little over a month ago, the most Tel Aviv-style restaurant in Ashkelon opened in the Frider complex, under an ancient tree that also gave it its name. Shortly after opening, De Tri went up in flames, but as the owners of the place, Tal Hollander and Dror Simon, veteran entertainment entrepreneurs in the city, promised, today De Tri is already preparing for a reopening. In this location, the Kaufman bar operated in the past, and before it the legendary Style pub, and the owners' goal here was to bring a particularly current and fresh spirit to the city, and as Hollander defined it, to bring the vibrant atmosphere of Nahalat Binyamin to Ashkelon.
HaNasi 4, Ashkelon. Sunday-Thursday from 19:00. Saturday night until 23:00. Kosher.
Coffee Club
Coffee Club is located on the outside of the Frider complex, a self-service cafe with a humorous design (animals and Greek statues, a tribute to the nearby museum), with most of the seating outside, under a huge tree next to the ancient clock. The place is open 24/7, and the atmosphere and the crowd change throughout the day: in the morning there are parents with strollers, at noon young people and in the evening revelers. The star of the place is a magnificent matcha menu built by Eli Gutman, one of the partners. There is also a pastry showcase, New York pizzas, desserts and a full alcohol menu, including cocktails. The atmosphere at Coffee Club is more reminiscent of south Tel Aviv than Ashkelon, and it is a clear example of the influence that food culture can have on the periphery.
Tzafania Square, Afridar, Ashkelon. Open 24/7, not kosher.
Coco Vino
This trendy wine bar opened about a year ago, and with white tablecloths and luxury wine glasses on the tables, it definitely radiates a vibe of abroad. On the wall at the entrance to the place there is a drawing of pink wings that are very hard not to take a picture next to, the tables are arranged along a railing, and you can sit here and watch the busy Frider area that comes to life at nightfall. This is one of the trendiest places in the city, and towards sunset it starts to fill up with revelers who come to drink and snack. Sommelier evenings and live performances are sometimes held here, and the kosher menu has a selection of correct dishes: a plate of spicy food, artichoke and labneh, burrata and a cheese platter, tuna carpaccio, leaf salad, ceviche sashimi and fish kebab.
HaNasi 3, Ashkelon. Sunday-Thursday 18:00-23:00, Saturday night until 24:00. Kosher.
Giorgio
Another new place in the city is Giorgio, a new Italian restaurant open throughout the day. You can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner here. In the breakfast menu you will find all the most photogenic and trendy dishes, for example, cheddar toast and avocado bruschetta. The starter menu includes arancini and salmon ceviche, and there are also pizzas, Caesar salad and pastas served in deep plates wrapped in lots of sauce. The selection of pasta dishes includes mascarpone agnolotti and polenta tortellini, just like in the current places in Tel Aviv.
HaNamal 9, Ashkelon. 08-6234555, Sunday-Thursday 08:30-23:00. Friday until 15:00, Saturday night until 24:00. Kosher.
OM Cafe
OM Cafe is a new cafe-restaurant that opened next to the Oren Mashi bakery, not far from the Ashkelon marina. Everyone comes here for the crazy showcase with the biggest sandwiches I've ever seen in my life, and for decadent breakfast dishes served throughout the day. This place started in 1999, a small bakery that became a place of pilgrimage. Last spring the place became a real cafe, with classic brunch dishes like French toast, avocado bruschetta with a poached egg, Caesar salad and shakshuka pan bread with long-cooked matbucha, two poached eggs, tahini, green leaves and harissa oil. There is also Eggs Royale and Croque Madame, frittata and cloud scrambled eggs. In short, the perfect place to have brunch in the morning-afternoon hours.
Yafe Nof 32, Ashkelon. 050-6422570. Sunday-Thursday 08:30-15:00, Friday 08:30-14:00. Kosher.
Gazor
On the pedestrian street of the Old City, a young guy named Amit opened Nono Pizza Bar. It was last spring, at the height of the war with Iran, and in the meantime Gazor has become one of the favorite pizzerias. Nono bakes Neapolitan-style pizzas here from sourdough dough that is fermented for 48 hours, and serves them with scissors as is customary in worthy Neapolitan ones. Besides pizzas, the menu also has pastas (for example, linguine with tomato butter which is praised), focaccias, arancini and salads. 10 types of pizza are baked in the oven here, including pizza with cream, parmesan, corn and mushrooms, or pizza with artichoke, garlic confit and caramelized onion.
Golomb 1, Ashkelon. Sunday-Thursday 18:00-24:00, Saturday night until 24:00. Kosher Lemehadrin.
BaSalon
BaSalon, a new beach restaurant that opened last May, brings a young and fashionable entertainment atmosphere to the Ashkelon beach area. The food here is served in beautiful dishes, plated here like in chef restaurants, and the menu has mezze and bite-sized dishes, kubaneh with dips, Jerusalem artichoke risotto and zucchini chips. In the mains you will find lemon butter spaghetti, tagliatelle with parmesan butter, rigatoni with white fish skewer, sweet potato and mascarpone pizza or truffle pizza with cream and parmesan, raw fish and bread pudding or Basque cheesecake for dessert. On Thursday and Friday evenings there is a DJ here and the place takes on a party atmosphere.
Dalida Beach, Ashkelon 08-6729000. Sunday-Thursday from 18:00. Friday-Saturday from 16:00. Not kosher.
Aristo Cafe
This is the oldest place on the list. It opened in 2024 during the war, on the face of it a simple cafe, but there is a uniqueness here because it is a connection between a cafe and a tattoo studio. The place was founded by Dylan Azulay and Ari Edri, and it has an unusual hipster atmosphere, especially if you settle in the backyard with the grass. The interior space of Aristo Cafe is designed in the spirit of 16th-century French vintage, the furthest from Ashkelon or any city in the country, in fact. The menu is not large, and it has sandwiches, pastries, coffee, matcha and infusions. There are also pizza nights here and above all a cool atmosphere.
HaNasi 3, Ashkelon. 054-4768679. Sunday-Thursday 09:00-23:00, Friday 08:00-15:00, Saturday night until 24:00. Kosher without certificate.
