Jerusalem

I hope to be sharing tables and stands in Jerusalem soon, already guided by some LTH wisdom as in many other destinations. I've perused the following threads (and many offboard recommendations) and am creating a current Jerusalem-focused foothold, at least for the moment.

Suggestions in Northern Israel
2 weeks in the Middle East - Amman and Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Cairo <crickets>
Yazor Kabob - Jerusalem-Style Palestinian Food

Any updates from your travels? Abu Shukri vs. Lina hummus is on the agenda, along now I think with the Mahane Yehuda Market for Jerusalem mixed grill. Is there better Chinese (kosher or otherwise) than Korusin? Thanks for any insights.

Santander wrote:I hope to be sharing tables and stands in Jerusalem soon, already guided by some LTH wisdom as in many other destinations. I've perused the following threads (and many offboard recommendations) and am creating a current Jerusalem-focused foothold, at least for the moment.

Suggestions in Northern Israel
2 weeks in the Middle East - Amman and Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Cairo <crickets>
Yazor Kabob - Jerusalem-Style Palestinian Food

Any updates from your travels? Abu Shukri vs. Lina hummus is on the agenda, along now I think with the Mahane Yehuda Market for Jerusalem Mixed Grill. Is there better Chinese (kosher or otherwise) than Korusin? Thanks for any insights.

Here's some of our favorite places in Western Jerusalem (in no particular order; links where I can find them):
Darna, in the Russian Compound area - Moroccan, but with offbeat entrees like Veal shank with barley pilaf and smoked red peppers. http://www.darna.co.il/pages/english/home_en.php
Eucalyptus, in Yemin Moshe - a chef-driven restaurant, the theme being the foods of the Bible: http://www.the-eucalyptus.com/menu
Azurah in Machene Yehuda - Iraqi-style restaurant, known for its kibbe soup, but also kefta
Macheneyehuda, near the obvious place - loud and very trendy "modern Israeli" cuisine, but with the focus on Israeli ambience (including music), worth going to if you can get a reservation at the right time
Cafe Rimon, in Ben Yehuda Square - a 24/5 (it's Kosher) cafe, with meat and dairy sides, and a Jerusalem institution
1868 - fine dining near the King David, specializing in Kosher French
Joy Restaurant and Olive, Emek Refaim
Jerusalem Cinematheque Cafe - a wine bar, with the Israeli take on "healthy" salads, also excellent halva ice cream

If you're worn out on hotel Israeli breakfasts, we also actually like Waffle Bar (that's really the name) on Ben Sira. I'm a sucker for their yogurt+granola waffle, and they have somewhat offbeat drinks, like a Thai Coffee with nuts, cinnamon, and dried coconut as sides.

Beyond that, you can wander on Yaffa Road (Derech Yafo) and find fast food specializing in everything from Yemenite to Ethiopian food. There's also an excellent shawarma place in Ben Yehuda Square, the name of which escapes me. However, the real joy of eating in Jersualem is in the obscure places in Mahene Yehuda - where else can you find a stand specializing in different versions of kibbe?

In the Old City, I'd second the recommendation for Lina in the Christian Quarter. It's a hole in the wall, but quite popular with Israelis. And stay away from the Armenian place about a minute to the right of Jaffa Gate, in the Armenian Quarter - they didn't have listed prices the last time we were there, so expect sticker shock.

This is just Jerusalem - we go to Israel on vacation (and for the Jerusalem Film Festival) nearly every year, so I can also get into places in Tel Aviv/Jaffa, Haifa, and a few in Northern Israel.

This is wonderful - many thanks. I've also collected recent recommendations for Marzipan Bakery at the Mahane Yehuda, and Zalatimo Sweets, which is additionally covered in this David Lebovitz post.

Hummus of the Old City

A rabbi, an imam, and a Catholic priest go to Jerusalem together. Instead of a punchline, they and friends tell me where to get the best hummus. I end up doing more Stations of the Chickpea on the Via Dolorosa than Stations of the Cross over the next few days. The city is the finest locale I've ever had the dish in, but with surrounding proteins and vegetables and pickles so good, you might just want to save some of the calories for later.


Tala

Damascus Gate

Tala Hummus is a delightful tourist trap just inside the newly-cleaned Jaffa Gate, in the shadow of David's Tower, just across from Gloria's Hotel. Prices are fixed and the signs are in credible English. For about $6-8, lunch is a large bowl of hummus (hommos, hummous, and homous are more common transliterations in the region) with your choice of topping, an excellent cucumber and tomato salad, pickles, pita, and falafel. This version had pickled, slivered mushrooms, generously dusted with sweet paprika and dosed with good olive oil. Consistent with experiences throughout this particular trip, the hummus was served slightly warm from fresh processing. I can't tell you a thing wrong with this: creamy, citrusy, muted garlic, abundant.



Their falafel was peak - succulently moist on the interior, redolent of freshly picked parsley and cracked cumin, hinting even of cloves. Why doesn't it work like that here? I sense an NYC bagel hard water / wine terroir exegesis incoming.



The fettoush was beautiful, but their mint had not yet been delivered, so it was a bit too similar with the standard table salad to warrant an extra order. The torshi in it were crisp and salty rather than my preferred aggressively sour.



***

Lina, on St. Francis / Shchunat Hanotzrim on the steep way down from the New Gate to the Via Dolorosa, was busier with local activity, although since I walked past it daily for a week, I did catch a few hummus pilgrims stopping to pray, cameras in hand. This place is well documented online; here is a good video (YouTube skirmishes come with the territory, cf. comments):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKurIIKsDOo

I went with the standard chickpea hummus for comparison, although they are better known for large morning plates of the more textured and layered mesabha. I was told by several hummushands that Lina was edging Abu Shukri of late, and while it was softer and smokier than Tala's, and served with a bit more love, I would put it in the middle of the pack, which is still a notch above anything I've had previously. Lina's hummus features a prodigious amount of olive oil, which I applaud. Any garlic is a whisper.

***

Abu Shukri, a third-generation stalwart on Al-Wad where the Via Dolorosa jogs over, is a dim cavern of a room with crowds split on several observations between tour groups and locals. It is well-loved for good reason. A dedicated juice stand (constantly provisioned from the alley) turns out short, inexpensive glasses of remarkable citrus nectar. Housemade harissa is thin, salty, and fresh. Quartered onions for dipping are well-cleaned and almost impossibly sweet. If the pita is nothing special, the hummus is most distinctive here - whipped almost into a foam, and served with tiny stewed chickpeas (and pine nuts, in my case), little tahini, and judicious garlic, caramelized in flavor. This is a completely aerated and apotheosized chickpea.


Abu Shukri

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... IJ4jymzDpA
video: Alex Budman

This said (and eaten), the best hummus I enjoyed on this journey, which included much outside the walls as well, was at Abu Kamel, in the Muristan, the above-ground labyrinth of shops at the heart of the Christian Quarter. This had it all going on (except autofocus): creaminess with some tug, balanced spicing, winter citrus shining through, mellow garlic, and bright herbs.



Uniquely, the olive oil was added here tableside, from a bubbling metal beaker; it was poured smoking hot into the crater, and seared some of the garnishes, releasing a small amount of smoke. Gimmicky or other-traditional, it added to the experience, but I think the core dish would have sailed with or without it. Another special that day was aromatic, fatty rice with minced chicken bits and sumac:



I loved the signage and hosts, and went back another day for cheps, fol, coffe, and shawarma. The last was one lower note, since I arrived late in the afternoon after the spit had been closed, and they had to (earnestly) prepare me a sandwich from some new unmarinated breasts on the griddle. Thankfully, I had plenty of other entries in that category as well.

I spent one long and sunny day exploring bookstores, antique shops, cafes, and markets along Jaffa Road, stretching out from the northwest of the Old City walls through West Jerusalem, and facilitated (since late 2011) by the sleek Jerusalem Light Rail, which is part of a much-needed network in progress. Helped considerably by suggestions from sdrucker and boudreaulicious, I enjoyed many stalls at the bustling Mahane Yehuda Market (/Shook /Machne), sampling halva to kibbeh to spices and nuts. I ended up with some amazingly flavorful pilaf mixes - almonds, currants, handfuls of dried spices - that did somehow make it back with me, and are perfuming my kitchen weeks later.

Dinner at the meat half of Cafe Rimon was very rewarding - perfectly grilled lamb skewers, fresh bread with pesto, a prodigious bowl of beef goulash, and some awesome home fries. Like a dinner earlier in the week at 54 Hamoshava, the servers mentioned the ingredient sourcing with pride, some items from kibbutzim. While waiting in line at the busy spot I was concerned I might need to run back to the market for a totally ubiquitous kippa (mine was left at the hotel), but the similarly uncapped host waved me over with a smile.

The goulash made me bold, so I decided then to walk all the way across and up Mount Scopus to a concert event at the Ambassador Hotel. In the darkness, I then hummed my way back downhill to the American Colony. At a five star retreat in Jerusalem, baklava and soul-warming Turkish coffee still currently runs you less than $5. The honey and caffeine eased the rest of my walk back to the New Gate, a day of more steps and delights than most months provide me.

Great pictures!

It looks like it was a great trip. I can't wait to hear the details the next time we meet.

Beautiful stuff Santander - the hummus, falafel and particularly the halvah (a weakness for me, can't stop eating) - very nice!