Marakiyah

Description:

• This little "souperia" looks like an outpost in Berkeley, Cambridge, or New York's East Village -- a mix of assorted old tables, chairs and sofas, candlelight, mellow background music, and garage and attic-sale decor. Marak means "soup" in Hebrew, and the menu consists of very good vegetarian soups (a different selection every night), served with bread and pesto. Among the standards are sweet potato; lentil with wine; spicy Yemenite tomato, onion, and cheese; and tomato with anise. Great shakshuka, a spicy egg-and-tomato dish, rounds out the hot menu. There's coffee, tea, pies, wine, and beer by the half-liter, and lots of leisurely conversation. There's also a rear patio, and live jazz Monday and Wednesday nights after 10pm when the Marakiyah gets really busy, with a mixed, but university-oriented, clientele.

• © Frommer's 2013