Soho House Tel Aviv, Jaffa

Worth getting out of bed for

Jaffa (officially merged with Tel Aviv in 1950) might be the oldest part of the city at around 7,500 years old, but it's young at heart. It pops up a few times in the Bible (it’s named for Noah’s son Japhet, and where Jonah – of ‘being swallowed by a whale’ fame – is believed to have started his fateful voyage); but after the city was annexed, young creative sorts, both Arab and Israeli, reinvigorated its cultural momentum. Get caught up in its creativity; visit the Secret Art Market for handicrafts and paintings, Urban Gallery for contemporary local works, the Ilana Goor Museum for curiosities collected in an 18th-century inn, Gordon Gallery, and Magasin III Jaffa, established by the hip Swedish magazine of the same name. Or wonder at the enjoyable folly of modern dignitaries rendered in painstaking detail at the Jaffa Mosaic House Museum, then enjoy the mind – and spoon – bending madness of the Uri Geller Museum (open to groups and filled with ‘items relating to Uri Geller’). See what’s going on in the indie-filmmaking scene at Jaffa Cinema, where each month emergent directors introduce their work, and what’s playing at the Nalaga'at Centre, a not-for-profit theatre space for deaf-blind actors; and creative studio Craft and Bloom might be hosting art classes. Jaffa’s Flea Market (closed on Saturdays) has both trash and treasure on stalls spread out over various streets; dig about, then head to the historic Clock Tower and climb up for city-wide views,and stop into Saga Gallery for more organised and very covetable homewares. From here you can enter the maze of slender alleys, limestone stairs and antique arches of Old Jaffa; worthy stops are St Peter’s Church, the waterfront and port, magically suspended orange tree (yes, Jaffas do come from here), and the HaSpiga Garden, pausing at the Wishing Bridge to touch your zodiac sign, look out to sea, and tell it your heart’s desire. If you wished for cheese-filled burekas, hummus fresh from a hole-in-the-wall and a big-boy shawarma, well it’s been granted on one of the many street-food walking tours that roam Jaffa. 

Local restaurants

Whether nibbling on bureka and wrangling a deep-filled shawarma while navigating ancient alleyways, carb-loading on buttery baked goods, or indulging in elegant seafood while staring out over the water, Jaffa’s dining scene is as diverse and creative as its people. Sushi joint Selas’s menu reads more like an EDM set list: ‘tectonic plates’, ‘on dream box scale’, ‘earthquake… But the likes of salmon tartufo with pineapple salsa and an apple-and-herb consommé, and fish dumplings with yuzu crème fraîche and citrus ponzu deserve an introduction. Stay for the ‘aftershock’ of coconut ice-cream dipped in matcha chocolate with wasabi crumble and finger limes. A touch more traditional – although in an art-led way (the space is also a studio) – is Beit Kandinoff, where amid old stone walls and eye candy galore you’ll eat tuna ceviche loaded with mango curry, Thai basil, shiso and tapioca tuile; smoked eggplant and yoghurt dumplings with yoghurt, mint and chilli; or asado slow cooked in wine and pomegranate. Intimate and affordable, Dok is ideal for a low-key date night; and plates – made using grows from their own garden – have personality that belies the dining room size: orange-marinated-lamb tacos with cranberry and avocado leaves, hibiscus salt, habanero and calamansi; charcoal-roasted trout skewers in pomegranate syrup, barley and strawberry vinegar with burnt-onion cream; and mango in lavender-and-geranium syrup with honey tuile. For seafood and electric-blue views dine at Cassis on the coast, and blue-and-white Kalamata has fine iterations of all the dippy, picky and super-fresh of Greek cuisine.

Local cafés

Join the crowd outside Abulafia bakery by the clock tower to pick up sticky and sesame-covered treats to nibble on (their pizza slices are good too. For cheese-stuffed, syrup-drizzled pastries and toothache-sweet knafeh, Said el Abu Lafia and Sons is a popular spot in an ancient stone building, where the focal point is the huge oven for pizzas and flatbreads. And to hone in on two Israeli classics, you have Abu Hassan, whose hummus has reached legendary status (try it with brown beans and labane); and Dr Shakshuka cures sore heads of a morning, with various takes on the breakfast classic, plus meaty shawarmas. 

Local bars

Jaffa has a juiced-up party scene with youthful crowds thronging its bars and terraces. BeerBazaar is a tiny shop with tables spilling out into the street, but we like its house beers’ fun names (‘your aunt’, ‘honey time’, ‘yeti’) and bottles of strudel or apple and pomegranate wine. At the other end of the scale, Jopea has cathedral-like proportions and a bar that reaches the ceiling like a magical drunken bookcase; there are hundreds of spirits, including rare whiskeys, 50-strong wine list (with Israeli picks), and a well-curated soundtrack. Travel-themed cocktails? Don’t mind if we do… The Imperial Craft Cocktail Bar flies through flavour, to Kyoto (tequila, plum liqueur, yuzu sage and hojicha tea); Indonesia (vodka, absinthe, coconut water, papaya, chilli and pineapple); Geneva (Courvoisier, fig liqueur, burnt-cherry cordial and hazelnuts; among other destinations.