Girl: You'll not get out of here hungry, and that's a promise
Yes, it's full of oil, yes, it's not a friend of the good cholesterol in your body - and yes, it's insanely worth it
David Rosenthal
10/05/2022
Tuesday, May 10, 2022, 8:30 p.m.
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Less than a year ago, Rishon Lezion residents Artium Dolgofiat and Linoy Ashram won the gold medal in Tokyo, and Mayor Raz Kinstlich was proud of the champions who came from his creator.
seemingly.
From that moment on, Karma decided to take command and land a heavy sporting blow on the city of wine.
Maccabi Rishon Lezion, the city's proud basketball team, has been relegated to the national league.
In football, Hapoel Rishon Lezion will face a fateful survival game against relegation to the first division on Wednesday, and even in handball, where the two great dominions of the industry play, there will be a final series without a representative from the city for the first time in 35 years.
But real sports freaks do not despair, and in the absence of real rivalry on the field they are going to look for it in other districts - the culinary world.
Just less than a month ago, I visited, and not for the first time, Herzl 2, the old institution of shawarma lovers.
Even before that I received a recommendation for a newer place that is only 600 meters away - Gerella.
I knew that when the day came I would get there too.
I did not know it would happen so fast.
More on Walla!
This shawarma institution has rightly earned the reputation it has built for itself
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Big, beautiful, inviting, satisfying, delicious.
Gerla (Photo: David Rosenthal)
The built-in advantage that Gerla (what is the point of this Yiddish name?) Over most places of its kind in the big cities has nothing to do with the quality of the food, the attitude of the employees or the size of the dishes (we will get to that as well).
It has a huge plus that boils down to one word: parking.
In the heart of the old industrial area, 7 minutes walk from the SoHo, in one of the most crowded districts in the fourth largest city in Israel, there is a huge, adjacent area, designed for local guests, a very small matter to consider when wanting to go down for meat during rush hour.
We arrived late in the evening.
After experiencing the problem of Tel Aviv stinginess in my last review, I came in with a slight distress.
The restaurant is bright, spacious, inviting and conveys that it wants to entertain you in a big way.
That in itself still means nothing, but the free-salad salads located in the center, along with the huge chips stand, sent a big hug and I heard them whisper kindly "plump, you have nothing to fear".
It later became clear that the big concern in general belonged to a different type of survival.
After all, no human can live without breathing, and I almost stopped doing that.
Because in Gerella it is very easy to week even before you have tasted the first course.
My wife and I made an effort to wait patiently while we snacked on some starters.
Crowds of people caused slowness in the service (an advantage for Herzl 2, experienced in this sector), but the smiling guy full of charm and sense of humor who prepared the dishes for us passed this time pleasantly.
Then came the food.
The salad-free stalls located in the center, along with the huge stand of chips, sent a big hug and I heard them whisper kindly "plump, you have nothing to fear" (Photo: David Rosenthal)
In the display case lay strange pitas that looked like schnitzel.
That is, more or less, what they are.
Gerella's pita bar is coated in bread crumbs after deep frying.
We decided not to gamble and ordered shawarma on a plate.
Load us with all the good, all the extra and all the heart.
We also took five falafel balls, brought us nine.
You can not say about the guys of Gerella that they save you, hungry you will not get out of there and that is a promise.
The shawarma was good, not excellent, but here I must make sure it is properly revealed: we had returned from Turkey a few days before.
Eating shawarma in Israel after the Turkish doner is like returning to economy class after flying business - possible, nice, but not the same.
And yet, this dish is definitely worthy and does not embarrass the Israeli stalls.
Our eyes rested on the pita-bar ordered by two guys who sat down next to us.
It looks good, this thing.
We regretted not ordering ourselves and decided to grope carefully.
We started with "sorry, guys, if you can ask" and all this flattering sailing.
They were kind enough to share with us their delight.
We saw this about them even before they uttered the first words, which quite by chance were "it's amazing".
It was impossible to make a mistake in the look and certainly not in the so authentic response, which indicated that one must try.
A arterial blocker, and worth it.
Gerella's pita bar (Photo: David Rosenthal)
We were full.
Blown up.
We were faced with a fateful decision - to leave now or complete the picture.
We did not linger.
We will not leave here until we taste this pita, a trend that began in the days of the Corona and who knows how long it will stay with us.
We had no place, but as Dr. John from the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas says, "For good food is worth dying for." So we sampled and stayed alive. From the perfect combination of the crispiness of the pita and the meat in it. Yes, it's full of oil, yes, it's not a friend of the good cholesterol in your body - and yes, it's insanely worth it. By the way, the nice guys barely finished theirs, Yes.
There is even parking outside (Photo: David Rosenthal)
We came out swinging from Garla.
For a whole day we built up an appetite to get into it, and half an hour later we retraced our steps when our hearts were good on us.
Returning to the sporting starting point, you ask is this place better than Herzl 2?
Well, here you will not find a decision.
As a father who loves his two children equally, so too do I embrace the benefits of each of these places.
One thing can be said for sure: in such a black year for the sport of Rishon Lezion, at least in the culinary sector we get a worthy derby, and he will stay with us for many years.
Gerla, Shmotkin 1 Rishon Lezion
Food
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Shawarma
Street food
