Living in a spectacular desert landscape as we do, they come here to make desert movies; directors, camera-men and actors from Tel Aviv check into our guesthouse for a week or two, they make us feel glamorous, then they leave. One of the movies was ‘At The End of the World Turn Left’.
The story takes place in the 1950’s; groups of Indian and Moroccan immigrants are decanted onto this barren patch of sand and it follows their struggle for survival, it’s a very cute local production and worth seeing if you get a chance. But the truth of the matter is that our village is positively bourgeois and a far cry from the image projected in the movie. If you are looking for the end of the world turn left, you will need to travel to Ezuz.
Ezuz is a 50 minute drive from the guesthouse, it sits on the Egyptian border, it really is the end of the line; the nearest supermarket, bank, shopping mall is 100 km away. It is a sort of village with 17 families all doing their own thing. When the building inspector comes to investigate a possible breach of the building code they chase him away with sticks. When they are not fighting with the authorities they fight with each other, it’s like Dodge City in the old westerns. It is so remote that they are pretty much left to their own devices.
To get there
To get to Ezuz you drive to Tlalim junction and turn left on route 211. From there it is a 30 minute drive through mostly empty desert; about three km shy of the Egyptian border, turn left at Nitzana and drive on a straight sliver of tarmac for nine km till you arrive at this junction.
You are now practically at the end of the world and you do indeed turn left! ‘But why have we come here?’ I hear you ask.
We have come here to eat.
Café Ezuz
The restaurant is built with chipboard, scraps of wood with a roof of palm fronds,
only the kitchen is made of concrete with modern equipment and a state-of-the-art Italian pizza oven.
The owner and head chef is Eyal who immigrated from Marseilles, ran a fashionable eatery in Neve Tzedek in Tel Aviv for several years but yearned for the end of the world so 15 years ago he came with his wife Peggy to Ezuz. Today people come to eat here from all over Israel. Eyal organizes live music in Cafe Ezuz, well-known acts come down to play, the walls are full of posters for past and future shows.
It’s not just the food and music, it is the atmosphere. It is so incredibly laid-back that paying for the food is almost jarring. It is so laid back that most of the food is served on low tables to people lying on mattresses.
On a hot day there is often a cool, dry breeze. At night you sit in this oasis of subdued light surrounded by total darkness, you could be on a desert island.
We think nothing of driving 70 km from our guesthouse to Cafe Ezuz for a meal – a two-hour round trip. Whenever we have our most special visitors, this is where we take them.
And on my plate…
The menu is simple Israeli fresh vegetarian (sourced from local farmers), and delicious.
My favorite dish is his baked aubergines served with tehina with home-made pitot. Quinoa balls, shakshooka, sweet potato lasagna, it is all fabulous. The pizzas are the best I have ever eaten in Israel.
If you want to go native, order different dishes for as many as you are, put them in the middle of the table and pick away, figure on about 40 shekels per dish.
Cafe Ezuz is open Wednesday to Saturday. Weekdays from 5pm to 8.30pm. On Fridays and Saturdays and Jewish holidays from 10am till late at night.
Café Ezuz est ouvert du mercredi au samedi. En semaine de 17.00 à 20.30. Le vendredi, le samedi et pendant les fêtes juives, de 10.00 du matin jusqu’à tard dans la soirée.
If you are a group and planning to be in the region when the restaurant is officially closed you can always call Eyal (+972 544 226 330) to see if you can talk him into opening for you.
When you are on holiday and visiting a new country, you tend to want to pack as much as possible into each new day. In this post, you will find everything you can do in the area for a full day of activities.
When you stay with us, we join you at breakfast and provide you with maps and as much detail as you can take in.
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