Freshly prepared humous- can't be beat!
Zack's guests having lunch: Humous & falafel served with warm pita bread- Bon Apetit!
Typical Jerusalem hotel dining room scene
Delicious Israel hotel breakfast buffet- healthy way to kick off our touring day
Eating Out
Jerusalem / Tel Aviv / Eilat
Cooking from around the world
Israel is home to Jewish immigrants from over 82 different countries. Experience fine ethnic cuisine in local restaurants: Moroccan, Russian, Persian, Yemenite, Hungarian, etc.
Kosher Cuisine
Very easy to find in Israel. Strictly kosher restaurants openly display kashrut certificates from the Chief Rabbinate, which also require closure on Shabbat. In addition, many restaurants and eateries are self-declared kosher food establishments, but cannot obtain a certificate since they operate on Shabbat in order to cater to non-observant Israelis. Call to confirm kashrut status!
Vegetarians
Common in Israel: With our abundance of fresh local fruits and vegetables, Israel is a “Garden of Eatin’” for veggies! Most restaurants offer wonderful vegetarian options.
JERUSALEM RESTAURANTS
Arcadia NON-KOSHER
French, 10 Agrippas St., 02-6249138
A beautiful setting and exquisite foodmake this one of the best restaurants in the country. Tradition and modernity come together very well in dishes like bass tartar, grouper with saffron sauce, goose liver with jam of baby eggplants. Expensive *****
Café B’Gina KOSHER
Café & Dairy, Tel. 02-6720825
The restaurant is in a garden; it is a haven of serenity with its bright flowers and palms and the sound of birdsong and running water. The bilingual menu offers a mixture of cakes and drinks, light snacks and more substantial meals. This is a dairy restaurant so there is no meat on the menu. Middle Eastern snacks such as stuffed vine leaves with pine nuts and raisins cost, house salads, quiche and pasta dishes. A fish main course, which comes with salad and a baked potato.
Chez Simon KOSHER
French, 15 Shamai St., Jerusalem, Tel. 02-6255602
An exclusive kosher restaurant. Asher Elkayam, the world renowned restaranteur, invites the Jerusalem community for an elegant dining experience with personal service in the best of European tradition. Offering a variety of French cuisine in a pleasant and relaxing atmosphere.
Cielo NON-KOSHER
North Italian, 18 Ben Sira St., Jerusalem, Tel. 02-6251132
The only restaurant that not only serves Italian, but also speaks Italian. The menu and design have been crafted to reflect the restaurant's concept - a presentation of the finest traditional dishes, and modern flavors. Authentic Northern Italian cuisine in an intimate yet classic atmosphere.
Darna KOSHER
Middle Eastern & North African, 3 Horkanos St., Jerusalem, Tel. 02-6245406
Darna prides itself on its authentic N. African cuisine. Beautiful and authentic Moroccan setting. Needless to say, its specialty is couscous. Served in a bowl, big enough for two, the couscous comes with a choice of meat and vegetarian sauces in the traditional manner. Pie with Cornish hen and almonds, lamb and lentil soup, lamb tagine with prunes. A range of Oriental desserts awaits, and not to be missed is the famous Sahlab, a fragrant dessert made with soya milk and rosewater. Moderate-Expensive***
Eucalyptus KOSHER
Mid-Eastern, Tel. 02-6244331 Call to reserve
Jerusalem is the theme of this restaurant and its mixed Arab-Jewish staff serve dishes that reflect the two cultures. Award-winning chef Moshe Basson picks herbs and mushrooms from the hills surrounding Jerusalem and has a basket of herbs on display to show customers the plants mentioned in the Bible. He also runs seminars in English and Hebrew about cooking with local herbs. The menu draws on food mentioned in the bible, such as figs (one of the seven species), and food linked to Jerusalem's history such as khubeiza, a wild wheat eaten during the siege of 1948.
Focaccia Bar, NON-KOSHER
Italian, Mediterranean, 4 Rabbi Akiva St., Jerusalem, Tel. 02-6256428
This long established and popular restaurant is favoured by Israelis and tourists alike for its consistent high standards, cheerful atmosphere and most of all for the giant focaccias. Baked in the outdoor, stone oven, the piping hot half-meter focaccias arrive at your request with a choice of goat cheese, labane, pesto sauce, olive paste and more. Other dishes such as steaks and hamburgers are accompanied with homemade bread, and the giant stir-fried salads are perfect for sharing. The desserts are to be relished - try the warm Belgian chocolate cake with ice cream, or mouth-watering chocolate souffle.
Hashipudiya KOSHER
Israeli Mid-Eastern, 72 Agrippas St., Jerusalem, Tel. 02-6254036
An Israeli Mid-Eastern restaurant whose specialty of charcoal-grilled meats on skewers has given it its fame and name (shipud - skewer in Hebrew). The secret of the special taste of its grilled meats has to do with the daily provision of highest quality fresh meats from the nearby Mahane Yehuda market and the professional expertise of maintaining an exact and constant temperature of the grill.
Ha-Tsriff NON-KOSHER
French, Hyrkanus St., Jerusalem & YMCA (across from King David Hotel)
Ha-Tsriff Restaurant on Horkanos St. is more than a restaurant. It's concept. For more than a generation - a renowned culinary and social institution. A place where people, Jerusalmites and tourists love to mingle in its unique ambiance, seeking forgotten times in the delicate flavors of Ha-Tsriff's renowned pies and unique cuisine. Where the camaraderie of another era is rediscovered in the olive tree-shaded court yard. Ha-Tsriff restaurant at the YMCA, across from the King David Hotel, is unlike any other. It's an architectural gem lovingly preserving the colonial ambiance of the British mandatory period. An enchanted refuge where guests who seek to delight in rich cuisine can enjoy gracious service and relax on a spacious Jerusalem verandah, surrounded by 40 decorated columns and a grove of cypresses in the atmosphere of times past.
Hess GLATT KOSHER
Jewish eastern European, 9 Heleni Hamalka St., 02-6255515
No fancy décor, but excellent knockwurst, bratwurst, and pastrami, fantastic liverwurst and goose liver pates and good kneidlach soup.
Ima KOSHER
Jewish Kurdish, 189 Agrippa, Jerusalem, Tel. 02-6246860
Ima ('mother' in Hebrew) is an Israeli-Oriental restaurant with a touch of Jewish-Kurdish cooking, the touch of the mother of the family who owns and manages the restaurant, and gave it its name. This touch can be found especially in the Kube soups, the stuffed dishes and the typical Oriental condiments. The salads are also homemade and the meat main dishes are grilled on a charcoal grill. The restaurant is located in a beautifully renovated old Jerusalem house of several rooms and a terrace, at the end of Agrippas street, just across the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A private parking lot serves the guests. Reasonably priced.
Kohinor KOSHER
Holiday inn, 02-6588867
Charming atmosphere. Fine tandoori chicken, lamb curry, lamb chops in masala sauce. Moderate-Expensive
Mama Mia KOSHER
Italian, 38 King George St., Jerusalem, Tel. 02-6248080
One of Jerusalem’s most beautiful and renowned restaurants. The old stone building and its exquisite garden were recently renovated to preserve the original architecture and provide modern comfort. Mamma Mia is one of the first Italian restaurants in Jerusalem and has since established its reputation among those who care about first-class Italian cooking. It is owned and managed by a family of Milanese roots and culinary tradition and offers a very large selection of typical Italian dairy dishes that can be savored as a light or full meal. The pasta and desserts are made daily at the premises. There is a large garden and several rooms, including a separate one for smokers.
Misadonet (Kurdish Kitchen) KOSHER
Middle Eastern & North African, 12 Yoel Salomon St., Jerusalem, Tel. 02-6248396
One of the many unusual restaurants to be found in Jerusalem, this location offers homemade Kurdish food in a rustic Eastern-style decor complete with comfy embroidered cushions and colorful hanging rugs. Dishes on the menu include Giri-Giri (lambs heart stuffed with mixed nuts), and Koubeh (thick spicy soups with different kinds of stuffed meatballs). This is hearty food, which averages at moderate to expensive entrees that are well worth its prices. Meals come separate from its wine selection.
Mishkenot Sha’ananim KOSHER
French, Yemin Moshe, Jerusalem, Tel. 02-6251042
The view through the large windows of Mishkenot Shaananim, in Jerusalem's scenic Yemin Moshe, takes in the walls of the Old City, David's Tower and Mt. Zion, plus the edge of the Judean Desert as well. For 22 years it's been the semi-official Jerusalem restaurant for very important guests from home and abroad, politicians and authors, artists and top journalists and business leaders. That fact is documented by a rotating display of photographs at the entrance, from Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin and Arthur Rubinstein to Jacques Chirac and John Le Carré. The decor may be old-fashioned, but that also means that there's silver and crystal, and the service is of an international level. Owner Moise Peer's wine cellar is one of the biggest and best in the world, including vintages of one or two hundred years. Some of the bottles are literally worth their weight in gold. Dishes based on the best ingredients. From the filet in pepper sauce that melts in the mouth to the goose liver in fruit sauce, via the appetizers, the duck à l'orange, the milk-fed veal with mushrooms and even the steak tartare, all the way to the desserts.
Norman’s Steak ‘n’ Burger KOSHER
American, Steak & Barbecue 27 Emek Refaim, Jerusalem Tel. 02-5666603
Possibly the best place in town for gourmet American food. Hamburgers, steaks and fries are in abundance and the meat is wonderful. Choose between six different sizes of burgers and a variety of steaks and fish dishes. Ravenous eaters who finish the 1kg colossal burger, the largest on the menu, will receive an official T-shirt and be entered into the Norman's hall of famed website.
Pinati KOSHER
Middle Eastern & North African 13 King George St., Jerusalem, Tel. 02-6254540
The quality of the food more than makes up for the busy atmosphere. The hummus with meat is considered a delicacy by most, along with its moussaka, and koubeh soup which is only served on Fridays in the summer. Everything is served with a hunk of onion, a whole chili pepper for the bravest diners, pickled cucumbers, and a hot pile of pitta bread replenished upon request. Since this is a place largely undiscovered by many tourists, don't expect silver service; however you are guaranteed an authentic homemade feed at a good price.
Primavera KOSHER
Sheraton Plaza Hotel, 02-6298691
Italian cuisine, formal but not stiff; good fish and dairy dishes. Potato and artichoke salad, fish carpacciao, St. Peter’s fish, Florentine, linguini with pesto. Moderate**
Sima KOSHER
82 Agrippas St., 02-6233002
Jerusalem landmark, famous for its “mixed Jerusalem grill” (chicken hearts and livers and bits of lamb, seasoned marvelously and fried with onion and garlic.) Reasonable*
Vaqueiro KOSHER
Grill, 54 Haneviim St., 02-6247432
Tasty South American and South African grilled meats and good salads in a pleasant atmosphere. Reasonable**
Village Green KOSHER
Vegetarian, Tel. 02-6253065
Popular, canteen-style restaurant along the busy Jaffa Street which provides wholesome food made from fresh, natural ingredients. The Village Green draws an eclectic crowd which includes religious Jews (its menu is Mehadrin Kosher), healthy eaters, students (who want a cheap, chock-full of vitamins feed) and tourists. The menu includes hot dishes of the day, such as vegetable and seaweed pie, sweet potato quiche and spinach lasagne. The cream of butternut soup comes highly recommended. Chilled water is free, as is the delicious home baked, whole wheat bread. There is a good range of desserts and herbal teas.
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TEL AVIV RESTAURANTS.
Ali Oli NON-KOSHER
Spanish, 2 Brenner St., 03-5281378
Tapas bar restaurant par excellence. Gravlax, pickled mussels, sardines with paprika and onions, grilled shrimp and crabs, garlicky sausages. Moderate-Expensive****
Ali Baba KOSHER
Middle East, 10 Hashomer St. 03 – 5160995
Amore Mio NON-KOSHER
Italian, 100 Ibn Gvirol St., 03-5244040
Hospitable trattoria dining. Mixed antipasti, raviolis with salmon in cream sauce or tagliata de manzo, sirloin strips in lemony sauce with arugula salad. Chocolate truffles for dessert. Reasonable-Moderate**
Batia NON-KOSHER
Jewish, 197 Dizengoff St., 03-5221335
Cholent, gefilite fish, kishke, calf’s foot jelly, roast goose and baked beef. Moderate*
Beni Hadayag NON-KOSHER
Fish restaurant, Tel Aviv Port, 03-5440518
Informal taverna-style dining. Sit indoors or at water’s edge. Extensive meze, baked or grilled fish, calamari or jumbo shrimp in wine, butter and garlic sauce. Reasonable-Moderate**
Hahoma Hasinit KOSHER
Chinese, 26 Mikve Israel St., 03-5603974
Simple but friendly; authentic Chinese food, delightful noodle dishes. Reasonable**
Ha'hodit Shel Yirmiyahu KOSHER
Indian, 252 Ben Yehuda St. 03 - 6055377
King Solomon KOSHER
French, Hilton Hotel, 03-5202222
Formal, imaginative dining. Veal carpaccio with guacamole, quail breast with shallot confit, red snapper fillets with couscous, chard and a garlic-saffron aioli sauce. Moderate-Expensive***
Maganda KOSHER
Middle East 26 Rabi Meir St. 03 – 5179990 KOSHER
Mifgash Habalkan NON-KOSHER
Balkan, 43 Jerusalem Blvd., Jaffa, 03-6830719
Long established place, easygoing atmosphere and good food. Cabbage soup, chicken stew, moussaka, lamb chops, kebabs. Reasonable to Moderate**
Mon Jardin NON-KOSHER
Rumanian, 186 Ben Yehuda St., 03-5231792
Olive Leaf KOSHER
Continental, Tel Aviv Sheraton Hotel, 03-5219300
Appealing and sophisticated. Herb-filled ravioli with porcini cream, veal sweetbreads on shallot and apple couscous. Cornish hen wrapped in goose breast, veal scallopini with broad beans. Expensive***
Pasta Mia NON-KOSHER
Italian, 10 Wilson St., 03-5610189, 34 Habarzel St., Ramat Hachayal
The kind of place that gives simplicity its good name. Excellent offerings include gnocchi with butter and garlic, cheese ravioli in mushroom and red wine sauce, and for dessert a splendid tiramisu. Reasonable**
Pundak Shaul KOSHER
Middle East, 11 Elishav St. 03-5173303
Sea Bass NON-KOSHER
Fish restaurant, 11 Yehuda Halevi, 03-5100635
Welcoming and informal, with fixed price fish and seafood meals. Calamari, shrimp in a lemon-garlic butter sauce, crabs in Pernod, fried and grilled fish. Reasonable**
Shmulik Cohen KOSHER
Jewish, 146 Herzl St, 03-6810222
The par excellence heartland of Yiddish cuisuine. Roast goose, chicken soup, cholent with kishke, baked beef. Moderate-Expensive**
Yehuda Avazi KOSHER
Middle Eastern, 54 Haetzel St., Hatikva Qtr., 03-6379918
Simple but pleasing meze and grilled meat on skewers. Grilled goose liver, kebabs, chicken livers. Reasonable*
Zion Exclusive KOSHER
Yemenite, 28 Pedui'im St. 03 - 5178714
An old time Yemenite restaurant, informal, well worth the visit. Reasonable
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EILAT RESTAURANTS.
Brasserie KOSHER
French, King Solomon Hotel, Eilat 08-6363444
Prime rib, goose liver in Calvados sauce, veal sweetbreads a la Reine. Moderate-Expensive**
Denise Kingdom KOSHER
Fish, Fish Hatchery, Lagoon, Eilat 08-6379898
Very popular but pleasant. Child-friendly. Sea bream and sea bass dishes, salads. Reasonable*
Last Refuge NON-KOSHER
Fish and seafood, Coral Beach, Eilat, 08-6372437
Located on the beach, Coquille, seafood and oyster mushrooms, grilled fish with garlic and butter sauce. Moderate*
Pago-Pago NON-KOSHER
Fish, Lagoon, Eilat, 08-6376660
Set on a barge, casual. Grilled garlic shrimp, deep fried calamari, grilled fish with garlic and butter sauce. Moderate*
Tandoori NON-KOSHER
Indian, King’s Wharf, behind the Laguna Hotel, Eilat 08-6366666
Chicken tandoori, mulligatawny soup, lamb in gree masala sauce, shrimp curry. Moderate**
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