This month, Townsville welcomes its newest eatery, an Israeli street food restaurant and takeaway shop named Balabite, that is set to liven up North Ward Village with a whole lot of flavour, colour and a little taste of history. 

There’s a new restaurant in town, and it’s serving up Middle Eastern food, fast and fresh. Balabite’s menu is simple, focused more on flavour and freshness than how many pages can fill a menu folder. 

One of the menu options is fresh pita breads baked on site, stuffed with vibrant salads and your choice of aromatic chicken or lamb koftas, all grilled  fresh to order, and vegan options are available. Not interested in pita? Enjoy your fillings on a plate, fresh from the display. 

“Israeli street food has a strong history,” says Balabite head chef Avi Cohen, who hails from Israel originally. The first Balabite is in Townsville, which Avi believes locals will embrace.

“Israeli street food is a mosaic of flavours,” continues Avi. “It’s unique; there is nothing else like it anywhere in the world.” 

“Israeli street food is a mosaic of flavours.”

The reason, he says, is that Israeli street food is a mix of cultures, caused by the Jewish peoples’ movements throughout Europe over the past 2000 years, since being forced out of Israel and being able to return in 1948. While some Israeli cuisine echoes a southern route, injected with flavours of Morroco, Yemen, Libya and Egypt, Avi’s own family took a northern route 500 years ago travelling from Spain to Israel, via France Italy Greece Hungary and Turkey.

“As my family journeyed back to Israel, over many years, they collected cooking methods and flavours from all the countries they passed through. When you go to Israel, you see this mix of flavours in the street food. You taste it.”

The other Balabite menu staple is Avi’s famous homemade hummus,. “Chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, lemon and garlic – it’s fresh, healthy, simple. We offer our hummus different ways inspired by authentic recipes from places in Israel,” says Avi.

To stay up to date with Balabite and Avi’s other plans for Townsville, follow him on Instagram @avichoen61. Balabite is open, seven days a week from 10am.