Ha-Makolet – Shoshi’s Market

GREAT MARKET. 100% authentic (coming from someone who lives with an Israeli). Our go-​to place for import items (Bamba, baby!) and their homemade counter items.
I couldn’t understand why my boyfriend rarely eats hummus in the US, until we went to Israel last year. Holy Cow, we are missing out over here! However, if you’re in Riverdale, Shoshi’s makes the real thing without the 13 hr flight. This is not the thick, gloppy, Tribe supermarket crap you’re used to. So it will be different, but different Better, not different Bad.
This market is one of the reasons why we’re ‘okay’ with moving to Riverdale after ump-​teen years in Brooklyn.

I had the hummus from the deli counter. It was alright.

I’m fairly new in the neighborhood after living in the gorgeousness that is Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. There isn’t much in Riverdale but this place is kind of a gem. Shoshi’s is definitely my favorite market in the neighborhood. If you only try one thing (or maybe a couple) in this market it has to be the homemade cookies. The owner is a Moroccan Israeli woman who is a master at baking traditional Moroccan cookies. These cookies impress old-​timers (i.e my parents and their friends). Other than that the soups are PHENOMENAL. Made everyday on premises and taste fresh and healthy. The staff there is super friendly and definitely the owner too.

Shoshi’s Ha-​Makolet is my go-​to place for all things Israeli when I’m in the neighborhood. Walking into this clean and welcoming store is always a pleasure, and their selection of Israeli products really can’t be beat. From prigat fruit beverages to elite chocolates, you’ll find that you have nearly the same variety of items available for purchase here as you would in a small market in Israel. It’s really great to have a local store that sells items like silan (date syrup) at a reasonable price. I also like to look over their color selection of nuts, olives, and pickles (the last two are presented quite nicely in wooden barrels).
Shoshi’s sells everything you could want from a grocery store, but for me the stand outs are its deli display items and falafel sandwiches. Their salads are always fresh and taste as great as the look (I recommend the quinoa and tabbouleh salads personally), and their cooked fillets of tilapia are quite tasty as well.
My favorite of course is their excellent falafel sandwiches. The falafel balls are well seasoned with a nice crunchy shell and a fluffy core. I like that they use bell peppers in the salad as I feel that this gives the sanwich an added sweetness. And at $ 4.95, it’s a great option for lunch or a snack-​time craving. If the owner of this store opened up a dedicated falfel joint next door, I would definitely be a loyal customer.

Excellent market with high quality foods. The hummus is amazing, and everything we tried from the deli was wonderful. Friendly people, and impeccably clean store.

I knew that they made falafel sandwiches and, for $ 4.95, I thought it was worth a try. I was favorably impressed. It was crispy and flavorful. They served it in a pita with Israeli salad (chopped tomato, celery, and green peppers), hummous and tahini. Excellent! Especially considering you could go next door to the Corner Café grill and pay almost twice as much for the exact same thing.

So this place has been here for a few weeks, I walked in once, and almost immediately walked back out. Today I picked up my laundry next door, and noticed they had a sign out front that said «Best falafel in Riverdale». I didn’t feel like cooking (too hot already!), so I went in to get one. It was around $ 5 and it’s pretty darn good. The falafel balls themselves are super flavorful and they added some salad. There was way too much room left inside. I’m used to overflowing falafel.
The rest of the place. I guess Makolet means «Israeli market», and the business card says «Kosher Vaad of Riverdale». Most of the people inside while I was waiting for my falafel were speaking another language, one I didn’t recognize. The owner or manager was very friendly, and seemed to know everyone who walked in and spoke to them in that language that I didn’t understand.
They need to expand some things, and most of their salads and side-​dishes looked pretty good, and they seemed very willing to give out samples if you wanted.