MERKAVÁ: AN ISRAELI HUMMUSIYA SERVING MIDDLE EASTERN CUISINE IN MEXICO CITY
The Cost -$23 per person
The Atmosphere – Merkavá is a small eatery located in the La Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City. Its interior is decorated using natural tones, including lots of wood, in a modern way, giving it an upscale casual vibe. The restaurant offers outdoor seating in the form of a tented area on the street in addition to the approximately 25 diners that it seats inside. It is a good spot for a date or a casual dinner with family or friends. Reservations are not always necessary but are recommended for peak nights and hours.
Israeli food isn’t the most common thing to find around Mexico City but Merkavá, one of the city’s newer restaurants, specializes in the food of Jerusalem. Led by Chef Daniel Ovadía, Merkavá offers up dishes that you would typically find in the holy city and so it doesn’t just serve Israeli cuisine but food from the surrounding region as well, including dishes all the way from Morocco and Georgia (the country). The restaurant also considers itself to be a hummusiya, an eatery that specializes in hummus, and claims to be the first of its kind in Mexico’s capital.
The Order – Hummus Ajo Rostizado and a Khachapuri.
The Great – It is incredibly hard for me to resist ordering a kachapuri if I see it on a menu. The Georgian dish is typically made with excellent Georgian bread that is filled with cheese and egg. Merkavá’s Khachapuri wasn’t exactly typical though – while the large, filling appetizer contained a good quantity of cheese and a soft egg yolk in the center, it also contained minced beef and tamarind. The bread used was moister and wasn’t true Georgian bread but it was good and it went well with the mix of queso blanco and mozzarella cheese that it was filled with. The use of queso blanco and tamarind gave the dish a nice Mexican flare and the meat gave the dish an extra reason to be consumed as a main course rather than a starter. As long as you order it expecting it to be different than what you would get at a Georgian restaurant, you will enjoy the creativity and the flavors that Chef Ovadía brings to his kachapuri.
The Good – How can you go to a hummusiya and not order hummus? Merkavá’s menu has an entire section of its menu dedicated to the famous middle eastern dip, offering six different versions for you to choose from. I selected the Ajo Rostizado (roasted garlic) hummus which arrived at the table with a good amount of roasted garlic, cashew bits, and pickles, atop the creamy garbanzo and tahini blend. The hummus, which came with two pitas that just came out of the restaurant’s wood oven, was tasty but it didn’t blow me away and the pickles were an unwelcomed addition. While I wouldn’t run to order this hummus again, I’d definitely try one of the other versions on the menu on my next visit.
The Verdict – Most people come to Mexico City in search of the best tacos, mole, and quesadillas but if you are a local or if you’ve had your fill of Mexican food, Merkavá offers up a solid alternative. The restaurant’s Middle Eastern fare is another example of the growing number of eateries serving international cuisines and unlike many of the city’s top dining establishments, you don’t have to make a reservation a month or three in advance to get in.
Merkavá
Amsterdam 53, Hipódromo, Cuauhtémoc, 06100 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico