It continues to receive customers since its opening in the Ottoman era
«Titi Restaurant». The smell of food has not been in Old Nablus for 130 years
Titi spent 13 years collecting relics that meet the oldest history of the restaurant. Emirates Today
Mahmoud Titi: "Our restaurant has been receiving visitors from all regions since the Ottoman era."
The popular dish «omelette» prepared by the Titi from time immemorial. Emirates Today
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Wandering inside the Old City of Nablus in the northern West Bank, he smells the smell of popular food emanating from the stones of the historic walls, and accelerates his footsteps until he sets foot in the old restaurant «Titi», which witnessed the Ottoman era. The restaurant «Titi», which dates back more than 130 years, has an important historical position, as it was visited by princes and sultans in the Ottoman era, the British Mandate era, as well as Arab presidents, most notably the late Jordanian King Hussein bin Talal, and the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
At present, this restaurant, which is owned by the Nablus Titi family in its fourth generation since its inception, is an address for the people of Nablus and the West Bank, as well as Arab and foreign visitors to the Old City, due to its popular and superior taste, within a site that collects many of the collectibles of the eras.
A tour in the lap of history
Emirates Today toured the Old City of Nablus, all the way to the popular Khan al-Tajer market, or as Palestinians call it, the "Sultan Market", whose alleys include several old local markets, including what is known as "Dakhlet Jarwan", which are small commercial buildings adjacent to many decades old, while these ancient places are preceded by a small-sized restaurant with monolithic stones whose features have not disappeared through the ages.
In order to enter the restaurant «Titi», you must bypass two small gates, the first is the external adjacent to the street of the market «Dakhlet Jarwan», surmounted by a sign that reads the name of the restaurant, and the dust of time has escaped from it, and these lead directly - through terraces descending down - to the second and main gate of the restaurant.
At first glance of entering the narrow-cornered restaurant, the visitor feels his presence inside a historical museum, where small artifacts and traditional copper artifacts (antiques) are scattered on the ceiling of the restaurant, while hanging close to visitors. Mahmoud al-Titi (Abu Mohammed, 60, who inherited the restaurant from his father, successively after his second grandfather, manages it, preparing food, appetizers and popular dishes, and who also led the idea of collecting antiquities of antiquity, and hanging them on the ceiling of the ancient restaurant.
Al-Titi told Emirates Today: "I spent more than 13 years of my life collecting artifacts and art forms from all Palestinian areas, so that each piece tells the stories of entire eras, and harmonizes with the age of the years of the restaurant through different periods of time." He adds: "Our restaurant has been receiving visitors from all regions since the Ottoman era, which prompted me to implement the idea of hanging antique art pieces that attract visitors to eat our heritage dishes, in the presence of the monuments of historical civilizations."
Long menu
In the middle of Titi, its open kitchen without walls or doors overlooks the visitors' dining hall, allowing them to watch the chefs prepare meals within sight of them, in a permanent tradition followed by the family's first grandfather, the founder of the old restaurant. In the kitchen, Abu Mohammed al-Titi spends his time preparing the Nabulsi "omelette" for which the restaurant has long been famous, consisting of eggs and cauliflower, with the help of his sons, as well as the dishes of the mixture of "zucchini with milk", "potatoes with eggs", fried tomatoes (tomato fryer), Shami kibbeh, eggplant salad with tahini known as "baba ghanoush", as well as hummus and labneh dishes, falafel tablets, and other popular meals, according to the requests of customers who have eaten them over the years of their lives.
Abu Muhammad finishes preparing the different items, so that his eldest son completes the work, in response to the desires of customers, and next to the kitchen he sits, and says: «The list of popular and heritage dishes we have remains the same, it has not changed since the opening of the restaurant in the era of my first grandfather, as well as the taste of food that accompanied the years of life without difference, which kept the work of our restaurant until today». "Everyone who lives around Nablus and comes from different areas knows very well our restaurant, which has welcomed generations over many years," Titi said.
• The visitor feels his presence inside a historical museum, as small artifacts and traditional copper artifacts (antiques) are scattered on the ceiling of the restaurant.