When asked about opening another restaurant, the team from Tel Aviv’s renowned and high-end Basta restaurant joked that they might open a shawarma stand. During the Covid lockdown, they started a shawarma delivery project, turning the joke into reality with Mifgash Rambam. Located in the Nahalat Binyamin pedestrian mall, near the original Basta restaurant, Mifgash Rambam quickly became one of the city’s best and most successful shawarma spots.
Yoni Marmelstein, formerly of Barbunia fish bar, joined forces with the Basta team to create this shawarma haven. Their secret lies in the high-quality, fresh, and balanced veal and lamb spit that’s meticulously assembled every day by Efi Raz, formerly of Sabich Tchernichovsky.

quality raw ingredients and minimal intervention. photo by: Noam Preisman

“The culinary approach is based on the use of quality raw ingredients and minimal intervention. These lead to maximum flavor,” says Yuval Ziv. “The pita here is constructed horizontally, in layers, with a lot of attention, so that every bite has everything, and it’s just perfect: juicy meat, tzatziki, tahini or amba (I prefer tzatziki, which makes everything lighter), parsley, a slice of tomato, onion and sumac. This is where I truly understood the phrase: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

During the day the place functions as a grab-and-go street food restaurant. But, in the evening, it turns into a grill bar, a kind of tavern, which sets out tables and chairs in the pedestrian area, with table service and a wide menu of skewers grilled over charcoal, salads, and riffs on vegetarian dishes from the Basta menu, as well as wine and alcohol at very accessible prices.

Have a note you want to share about the Mosaic? Email us at [email protected].