Shuk, the bustling food hub at 2 Mitchell Street North Bondi, has become a favourite meeting place for locals and tourists alike. It is a corner café, bakery and deli, which offers the freshest produce and dishes from Isreal and the Mediterranean. On Thursday 20 November 2014, Shuk celebrated their first birthday party and I got invited me to sample a variety of their impressive dishes.
For 40 years this location served the area as the local corner shop, but the new owners transformed the space into an elegant 80 seat establishment, offering an incredible array of Israeli/Mediterranean delights for breakfast, lunch and dinner, seven days a week.
“The food we offer is inspired by what we grew up with in Israel, where the cuisine available is one of the largest melting pots on the planet, with food coming from a variety of cultures that migrated to the country from 130 different countries in the past 50 years. The menu is directly influenced by Arabic, Turkish, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines,” says co-owner, Yoni Kalfus. Together with business partners, Erez Beker and Ariel Hefer, the trio are bringing their passion of food to life, sharing traditional Israeli dishes they learnt from their families back home.
A central feature of this establishment is the bakery, so everything is made fresh daily on the premises; bagels, pastries, muffins, pasta and, of course, their signature bread loaves including country sourdough, rye and fruit bread. The bread is stacked in abundance, in rustic boxes for all to see and choose from.
SHUK’s breakfast and lunch menus are bountiful with many delicious dishes to choose from, ranging from the traditional Middle Eastern speciality, shakshuka, eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, chilli, peppers and onions ($16), to the sweeter beghrir, cinnamon and almond meal pancakes with honey-lemon glaze and halvah ($15).
Lunch favourites include the signature Lamburger with charred eggplant, harissa aioli served with chips and sage salt ($18) as well as house made gnocchi with cherry tomatoes, fresh mint, oregano and ricotta ($19).
SHUK is definitely making itself known to the Sydney dining scene, promising a treasure trove of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavours.
