Review: Totuma serves authentic, appetizing food from Latin American – primarily Colombia, Venezuela and Peru – at affordable prices.
With all the restaurants in Tel Aviv, there are relatively few representing the cuisines of Latin America. Take away the handful of Mexican restaurants, and there are hardly any picking up the slack for the entire continent of South America. Considering how many Israelis travel to the southern Western Hemisphere for their after-army trips, this is a market that is woefully underserved. Fortunately, Totuma Arepa Bar opened just a few months ago to meet this need.
Totuma is the brainchild and domain of Dalia Alhadef, who was a finalist on television’s Master Chef in 2012. She had Immigrated to Israel from Venezuela, where the arepa is ubiquitous, much like pita bread here in Israel. And it functions very similarly, meant to be stuffed and eaten like a sandwich. In the restaurant’s own words, it serves “fine street food.”
The vibe in Totuma is what you might expect in a neighborhood eatery: Basic but inviting, with a pleasant enclosed outdoor seating section surrounded by green plants. And clearly it has already been discovered: Even on an ordinary weeknight, the place filled up with customers, drawn by the good food and reasonable prices.
It is also the kind of place meant for quaffing a cold beer or sipping a tropical cocktail. There is a decent selection of chilled beers from Mexico and Argentina, as well as the familiar domestic brands. But the house cocktails looked just too tempting, and the waitress – who spoke excellent English – recommended the Pura Vida: A frozen rum concoction made with pineapple, banana, coconut, ginger and lime; it was not only refreshing and delicious, but since it melted quite slowly, it lasted through most of the meal.
Another rum-based drink (like the majority of the cocktails here), is the Caribbean Ginger Beer: Rum with Totuma’s homemade ginger honey, lime and ginger beer, garnished with a slice of ginger. It was a pleasantly potent drink, perfect for fans of ginger.