With the season of miracles here, we took it upon ourselves to indulge in a calorie craze to choose the ever-tough call of where to get the best Hanukkah sufganiyot. With endless options on every corner, we had about as many choices as there are ways to spell (C)hanu(k)ka(h), we narrowed it down to these final eight.
(1) Rinat's
Celebrating 55 years on historic Allenby Street, Rinat’s Conditoria (sweet shop) is the perfect stop for the classic, jam-filled, but also their modernized take on sufganiyot.
Allenby Street 57
(2) HaMa'afia
New to the center of town, this bakery opened in 2016 in an area saturated with historic pastry shops. Despite the competition, their sufganiyot stand out; impressively fresh for a commercial bakery and balance the basics (jelly) with the innovative - Oreo, Lemon Pie, and Chocolate Nutella.
Allenby Street 88
(3) Showroom Bakehouse
Photo: Showroom Bakehouse
One of Tel Aviv’s best place to get daily donuts in non-Hanukkah season, the Brooklyn-style Bakehouse is selling the holiday edition in their flagship shop, as well as in their pop-up stand opened in the Sarona Market specially for the holiday. Salted Caramel, S’mores and their classic version of the cronut are the trendy offerings worth lining up for.
Malkhei Israel 11, and a pop-up stand at the Sarona Market
(4) Roladin
No “best-of” sufganiya list would be complete without the inclusion of the most extravagant and excessive (read: Instagram-friendly) variety. Roladin’s choices would take a whole extra post to describe the elements of each type, but a few stand-outs include the Meringue Cheesecake (mango pineapple cream, topped with meringue, almond crumble and a syringe of tropical syrup), Halva Bianca (halva ganache with a white chocolate layer), and Yolo Gold (chocolate cream with a chocolate and hazelnut lace covered with praline cream and dazzled with gold bits). Intense!
Locations throughout the city, including Dizingoff 49 and Azrieli Center
(5) Cafe Xoho
Photo: Xoli Ormut-Durbin
Vegan-friendly options are always a pleasure to add to the list, and Cafe Xoho never fails for delicious choices for the egg and butter-free crowds. This year’s choices include classic jam, beetroot icing with lemon zest, and Rusty’s almond-nut butter and jam.
Gordon Street 17
(6) Dallal Bakery
Like everything at this French-influenced bakery, Dallal keeps their puffy dough versions classy and minimalistic. Smooth and silky chocolate or pistachio cream, jelly and unfilled are their staple options that come in a size of dough more manageable-sized than some of the classic massive puffs. As always, a Delicious Israel favorite, satisfies our sweet tooth with its gentle touches.
Kol Israel Haverim 7
(7) Milk Bakery
The lightest and fluffiest dough of all of the offerings, leading it to be the easiest to gorge on. The Milk Bakery’s sufganiyot fillings are creamy and smooth with classics, as well as the praline or lemon custard insides.
Beit Eshel 5, Jaffa
(8) Shemo
Like Roladin, this bakery seems to adopt the more elaborate and carnival inspired, syringe-toting sufganiyot with shiny layers of strawberry marshmallow cream and Amarena cherry cheesecake flavors.
Yehuda HaMacabi 60, as well as locations throughout the country
Other notable options:
Back Door’s unique options include Chocolate Ganache with Milk & Honey Distillery’s Whiskey.
Lehamim is always a favorite and classic, but didn’t beat out the others as it has become much more commercialized over time. Though, notably they have a spelt version for gluten sensitivities (not celiac).
In Jerusalem, the must is from Cafe Kadosh, hands-down.
