It is not an everyday occurrence to see my introduction to Israeli cuisine in Melbourne, Miznon, turn up on Lonely Planet. It is just the place my colleague and I walk to for lunch.
Before Miznon, I do not think I had ever tried Israeli cuisine. The first time we walked over, I half expected yellow rice, a tabbouleh-style salad, and a hearty hummus. I had obviously been mixing up my Middle Eastern cuisines. (In my defence, nobody has ever accused me of geographical accuracy before lunch.)
What I got instead arrived inside a half-cut pita, puffy and warm and made in-house, with a generous filling of lamb and a few other things I could not name. But the secret sauce lifted the Israeli sandwich in my hand from a good work lunch to a great one. I still cannot tell you what was in it, and I have decided I do not want to know. We also shared a whole baked cauliflower, which turns out to be chef Eyal Shani’s signature dish and is very much deserving of the fuss.
That is the whole concept, apparently. Shani opened the first Miznon in Tel Aviv in 2011, and the idea was to take a city’s flavour and translate it into a pita. Melbourne got its branch on Hardware Lane, where my colleagues and I would happily walk blocks to for lunch.
Miznon this year has been what the Belgian Beer Cafe was in 2016, and the Brazilian place in 2018. Every so often, a restaurant becomes the marker of the year, the one I hang out at the most with work people and friends and then think fondly about years later. Miznon has made the list for this year.
Miznon address: 59 Hardware Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000.
Follow me on Instagram @KultureKween for more recent updates.
[…] — Some other memorable eating experiences this month: an extended Miznon lunch with office mates; ordering Peko Peko for another team lunch; 3 Panko Prawns for $5 that I […]