By Sandi Masori
SAN DIEGO —- Hamitbach, the kosher Israeli street food restaurant, has opened in Mission Valley to mixed reviews. It was originally housed in the downtown Chabad, and now has moved to 5664 Mission Center Road just north of Friars Road.
It’s been getting a great response from some Israelis and those who keep kosher, and mixed reviews from those who eat everything.
Before I go into the review I want to say how important I think it is to support Israeli and Jewish-owned businesses, especially now. And though many Jews in San Diego do not keep strictly kosher, it’s important to support the kosher restaurants too, or we won’t have them when we want to entertain our kosher friends.
Now, having said that, I have to admit it can be a challenge to review a kosher restaurant as a non-kosher eater, as I have a certain expectation of what makes a good restaurant that the kosher restaurants in San Diego have historically had a hard time living up to.
In order for a kosher restaurant to really make it here in San Diego it must get support from people who don’t keep kosher. The kosher community largely cooks at home, and historically cannot support a restaurant on its own. In order to make people who don’t keep kosher care about a kosher restaurant it has to have three things: 1- great food first and foremost. Especially when you’re paying a premium for kosher meat, it must not only be as good as the non-kosher version, but even better to justify the higher cost. 2- great service, if you don’t feel welcome in the restaurant, why would you ever go back? And 3- good ambiance. In my opinion, the kosher restaurants we’ve had here in San Diego in the past 24 years have managed maybe 2 of the 3, but rarely all three. Each restaurant seemed to bank on the kosher community not having anywhere else to go, and so the restaurant didn’t seem to try that hard.
So it was with some trepidation that I went to Hamitbach (The Kitchen) to try it. And I’ll be honest, though I really really wanted to like it, the first time I tried it, when it was downtown, I did not care for it much and thought they missed the mark on all three. But, my kosher and Israeli friends said that I must have hit it on an off day and I should try it again.
So I did and came out to their new location in Mission Valley, which only opened a couple of months ago. We can start with ambiance- as a fast casual restaurant where you go up to the counter and order, it hit the mark with ambiance- nothing special per se, but also nothing that made it feel off or uncomfortable. The place was packed, and there wasn’t enough seating, but for a new restaurant those are good problems to have. You will feel a little like you’re in Israel with all the Hebrew being spoken around you. The service was fine- again as a fast casual, they really just need to be efficient about getting the food out, and they were. The food didn’t come out together though- your name is called as each thing is ready- I’m guessing to keep it from being such a long wait and so you get to eat the food when it’s warm.
My Israeli friends say that the schnitzel is really good, but since I’ve never really been much of a schnitzel person, I tried the shawarma (made from turkey), the kabob plate, and the sweet potato appetizer.
The shawarma I had also tried on my first visit. I’m sad to say that I still wasn’t impressed with it and found it lacking flavor. I tasted everything while still at the restaurant and then brought it home to be sampled by various family members. My Israeli ex-husband thought that the shawarma was pretty good, but was a bit dry. Otherwise he thought it was a decent representation of a turkey shawarma. He thought it might be lacking the lamb fat that makes shawarma in Israel so moist and juicy. He thought the salads were more or less as they should be.
The kebab came out as little patties rather than the skewers I had expected. They were pretty good, although not dream worthy.
The salads were okay. I thought that the cabbage salad could have been a bit more flavorful, and same for the humus. Both seemed a bit bland to my palette.
The pita itself is phenomenal – the perfect thick-walled easy to open pita that is so hard to find here in town. I don’t know if they buy them or make them themselves, and I don’t know if they would sell them in packs of pita alone, but the pita is, as they would say in Israel, sha-ve (worth it).
Now, I’m not normally a potato person, but the herb potatoes that you could get as a side instead of the fries or rice were incredible. I would actually go back there just for the potatoes. The same for the sweet potato. It was a large sweet potato with chimichurri and garlic confit. I don’t know that the chimichurri would pass an Argentinian’s test as authentic, but it added a nice flavor and texture to the sweet potato.
Next time I go I think I’ll try the minute steak and the cauliflower appetizer. Both look interesting. And I have heard really good things about the Friday-only schnitzel sandwich, so one day I will try that as well.
All in all, I could see myself dropping in regularly to pick up pita and the two potato dishes. And of course, I’m very glad it’s there so I can treat my kosher friends to a decent meal to thank them for hosting me at their homes.
Hamitbach is open everyday from 11-7, except on Friday when it closes at 3, and Saturday when it’s of course closed for Shabbat. I think that everyone who is Jewish in San Diego should go in and support them and try it at least once. And, I’m willing to be wrong, so I’d love to hear what you guys think about the places I review.
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Sandi Masori is a food and theatre reviewer for San Diego Jewish World. When she’s not covering food or theatre, she helps authors self-publish, hangs out with her kids, and searches for the best sushi in town.