Dining Out / A step up from sliders

At first glance, Tel Aviv's recently opened ShigiDigi looks like anything but a restaurant. The almost tunnel-shaped stainless steel walls leading into a long narrow space remind one of the Starship Enterprise. Huge quasi-realistic paintings hang on the walls and the glass partition separating the dining area from the kitchen. And then there are the light fixtures, which look like massive multicolored condoms hung from the ceilings. And no, I was not alone. Even before I'd placed my order, several people had wandered in and asked the young man at the cash register "what is this place"?

To set the record straight, ShigiDigi is a hamburger joint, so hamburgers it was meant to be. The burgers here come in pairs - that is to say two burgers, each weighing 100 grams and each placed in its own roll. Two things set these mini-burgers apart from what Americans call "sliders." First of all, instead of being thin and greasy enough to keep sliding across your plate, these are about three centimeters in diameter - quite thick and not greasy at all. Second, whereas sliders are generally devoid of flavor, these were actually quite tasty.

The two main choices seem to be the Shigi Burger and the Digi Burger, the first made of beef, the second of lamb. I opted for the Digi. The roll, said to be similar to a brioche, was actually little more than a standard hamburger roll - but this was fine as the shredded lettuce, slice of tomato and bit of onion were fresh and the burger, cooked medium-rare as I requested, was full of flavor. A bit of garlic rich, aioli-like sauce complemented the dish nicely. However the deep-fried coating on the sweet potato chips that I ordered were actually dripping with grease and unappetizing.

I continued with an offering of what the menu calls spare ribs, this too was served a pair of sandwiches, each on its own oval-shaped roll. Because this is a kosher restaurant and spare ribs come from pigs, I knew what I was being offered was actually the meat of short ribs of beef - cooked in a somewhat Asian sauce and then shredded before being spread on the sandwich with lettuce and tomato. The somewhat spicy meat was flavorful but somewhat dry after being left on the grill too long. A bit of the mildly hot sweet-and-sour sauce solved that problem. The chips made from regular potatoes were crisp, greaseless and tasty, aided only by a generous sprinkling of salt.

A pair of hamburgers could indeed make for a light meal. Burger prices vary from NIS 40-50, to which a bottle of Tuborg beer adds NIS 16. As only plastic glasses are offered, I suggest drinking your beer straight from the bottle. A good bet for a quick, inexpensive lunch if you work in or are visiting the area.

ShigiDigi: 10 Ha'arba'a Street, Tel Aviv. Tel (03) 561-3888. Sun 11:30-24:00; Mon-Thurs 11:30-03:00; Friday until an hour before Shabbat; Sat from close of Shabbat until 02:00. Kosher.