West Jerusalem

The spices, aromas, and flavors of West Jerusalem’s complex edibles come from the Middle East, Italy, Eastern Europe, India, France, China, Ethiopia, Morocco, Yemen, Ind Russia, Most eateries close Friday afternoon and reopen Saturday night after sundown, so stock up at the markets on Thursday and Friday mornings. Pick up the Jerusalem Post “Good Food Guide” and Jerusalem Mentis magazine from the tourist office and ask about dinners hosted by Israeli families.

The cheapest food is sold in Mahaneh Yehuda, the raucous open-air market ketween Jaffa Rd. and Agrippas St., to the west of the city center. Fruit and vegetable stands, pita bakeries, and sumptuous displays of pastries line the alleys, and there’s a small grocery store (makolet) with rock-bottom prices at almost every corner. You can find pita here at 10 for NIS2 or less, and tomatoes at NIS2 per kilo. The Yemenite section (follow the alleys leading east from Mahaneh Yehuda St.) is the cheapest for produce, and the stands along Etz haHayim St. sell the best halva at NIS5perha!f-kilo. A specialty of the area is me’orav YerusbcUmi ("Jerusalem assortment"), a mix of inner parts grilled with onions and packed in pita pockets. Agrippas St. is lined with me’orav vendors; Sima and Stekiyat Hatzot are rumored to use higher quality meats, if for slightly higher prices. Ask for half a portion (hatzi mana)-it’s more than enough.