Encino: Get All the Appetizers at Itzik Hagadol

I’ve been meaning to check out Itzik Hagadol in Encino for a couple of years now. Ever since I heard about the tremendous appetizer spread, served a little like Korean banchan style where it’s refillable. The difference however is you do pay for the appetizers- either you pay per person just for the appetizers or for an additional fee, you can tack on the appetizers to your entree. Either way, it’s quite the deal.

Itzik Hagadol is considered Middle Eastern but what does that mean? Some told me it’s Israeli. I was really excited since I didn’t think I ever tried Israeli before. But after looking at the menu, it seemed very familiar with skewers and a variety of dips to go with the bread. So, “Middle Eastern” which is a blend of foods I’ve seen at Persian, Greek, Armenian and Mediterranean restaurants. They did have some specialties including hanging steak and turkey testicles.

We opted to add the appetizers on to our entree. You’re served 20 different small dishes along with a humongous round of bread. It was a little stiffer than pita and more airy, just perfect for dipping or acting like crostini to our mounded salads. Seeing that Itzik Hagadol is in Southern California, there was an appearance of two appetizers that suspiciously looked like salsa and guacamole. For the most part though, expect a lot of cucumber and at least 3 different eggplant dips. There are also some mayo-based dips including what I dubbed egg salad. It went great with the bread as well.

After gorging on all the salads which didn’t include hummus (that’s a separate order), we began to suspect getting just the appetizers may be the way to go. The good thing is you can pack up the appetizers to go.

I chose the kefta kebab, a blend of different ground meats. I am glad I only got one skewer. Usually I get two skewers. I got fries instead of rice or salad (considering we had a lot of appetizers that were like salads and bread). The fries were all right. The star of the show was the kebab which was very flavorful.

 

My friend opted for the Merguez sausage which our server said you wouldn’t find anywhere else in the Valley. The short plump sausages were grilled to juicy perfection.

This would be a great restaurant for both vegetarians and meat eaters alike. Vegetarians could go for the all-appetizer combo while others can explore the “steakhouse” side of the menu.

Itzik Hagadol

17201 Ventura Blvd., Encino, CA 91316  —  (818) 784-4080

© The Minty 2014