Mahane Yehuda Market: 9 equal food recommendations in the most delicious complex in Israel (and two more nearby)

There's a morning sabih here with a secret surprise, a deli with a perfect bite and also excellent steaks at prices you can no longer see here, but that's not all

Yaniv Granot

22/02/2022

Tuesday, 22 February 2022, 08:00 Updated: 08:25

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Delicious thoughts about redemption.

Mahane Yehuda Market (Photo: ShutterStock)

The two strongest, most conductive, most uttered words in the Mahane Yehuda market area of ​​Jerusalem are "thanks to the corona."

Unsurprisingly, they are also two of the most refreshing words in Israel in general, and in its food world in particular.

There is really no need for convoluted explanations celebrating this expression, and there is of course no intention to reduce or flatten the intensity of the viral blow that has landed on our food people.

Yes there is, however, a desire to celebrate the possible and defeat the impossible, and there seems to be no place that does it better than the wearily crowded compound in the capital, and the city itself.

The popular market - and this is an understatement - welcomes you in 13 possible entrances, offering 30,000 square meters of alleys and about 30,000 bites. Seriously about redemption.

For everyone, and especially for the filtering mission, we got up on one of the coldest days on the calendar, just before the snow covered the city, got dressed well (but not well enough), got on the efficient Jerusalem train, and started eating.

Five hours later, we made the long way back, swaying and rounding - so you wouldn’t have to.

And in fact, for you to do the exact same thing.

enjoy your meal!

Hungry already on the way?

Three sweet must-stops before Jerusalem

To the full article

Roasters

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A strong urge to pounce starts to take over even before you enter, but you should channel it effectively towards "Roasters", coming from the coffee that whets your appetite.

This is a relatively old and relatively intimate coffee corner amidst the hustle and bustle, which allows for quick grab-and-go, determined standing, or the opening of a lazy parliament, and is based on what is probably an urban consensus - good, fresh and unassuming coffee.

The roasting is fresh and leaves a pleasant smell of more, the service is warm, and the sip itself - whether it's a soft upside or a tougher espresso - prepares you well for the culinary rampage that will come.

Ivgi Deli

Smoky dream.

Ivgi Deli (Photo: Walla !, Yaniv Granot)

Opposite, in what was rightly established as a successful and efficient coffee-and-bite combination, lies Nati Ivgi's empire, or as he calls it - "my private playground".

The real estate space is small, but you should leave your appraisal

ambitions outside, go inside, and see how you really need to arrange a limited amount of storage space.

Of European delight, with a bit of amerna cherry jam dripped precisely from above. Enough to dream of a Balkan beach vacation.

There’s also annual Matias making on its own, quite a few other delicious variations, and also well-established rumors of home-confiscated pots that come here on Fridays, quickly taking over customers ’consumer priorities.

Aricha

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Slightly on the outskirts of the market, but definitely in the lust-culinary range of this round, playing a concert with one main star, and a warm-up show that should have its own stage.

This is, if these words are too mysterious, a wonderful portion of Sabih, the anchor on which Aricha set up his humble stand with me (modest in dimensions, really not in taste).

Seven years of specialization and professionalism, of thin, soft-crispy eggplant slices, and of exploding but stable pitas, have done their thing, and you can see a lively movement of customers here from the early hours of the morning.

The limited menu also includes a vegan version (which lets fried mushrooms replace the egg) and satisfying winter soups, but a small, transparent showcase in the depths of the stall heralds a welcome expansion, coming from the deli you always wanted to stock up on.

"Aricha HOME" is Aricha's spread-salads-dip collection.

It features a really dizzying selection, in quantities and range of flavors, of medium-sized jars and huge in every other sense.

There is, among other things, ambala and eggplant jam, beetroot tapenade and smoked cuisine, sweet pepper cream and deep-flavored pickled lemon spread.

There is also what is defined here as "tahini cream, roasted pistachios and salted caramel crust", a combination of curious eyebrow songs for a start, and will open eyes and a smile immediately afterwards.

Maimoni's

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150 meters from these excellent pitas awaits an equally good carbohydrate quartet, in the form of "Mimoni's", a stand that started as a pop-up option at festivals and urban events, and decided to be permanently located close to the market.

The place is tiny, a showcase and nothing more, with a few street chairs, and the concept is simple and sharp - four pitas, without meat and without fish, made like pitas are supposed to be made, and refusing to apologize for the vegetarian-vegan theme.

Here you will find cauliflower shawarma (with caramelized onions), eggplant steak (with raw tehini, sesame, feta and nut crumble), beetroot carpaccio (with the same crumble and feta, thassos olives and balsamic) and "house kebab" in the form of wild rice patties and lentils (With tzatziki or tahini, garlic confit and lemon zest).

The dishes all come in ready-to-go cardboard trays, in a great two-half configuration, and with a small salad that can easily star as a flagship dish.

There are also specials like artichoke saucers on polenta, and my heart is great as a sweet stamp.

Assada Camp

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I rioted really recently with 754 words on this great meat stand, and there is none of them I want to take back, but it is still worthwhile, and contrary to the norm in the profession, yes to repeat myself - this is an excellent, rewarding and very affordable meat sandwiches and bowls option, probably considering its sisters Tel Aviv.

The base is a great vagio meat, marbled and fatty but also chewy and present.

It can come as a pile of schnitzels, as a slice unloaded from cooking, as thin steaks on the grill or as home-made sausages - and each of these options will fit itself into a huge challah, or into a huge bowl, with more invested sauces than you are used to getting, and other bite-enhancing additives .

Black Iron

Disassemble the meaty formula, and reassemble.

Black Iron (Photo: Assaf Carla)

The sister of “Asada Camp” is younger in age, and more mature in character, with more restaurant vibe, more seating food, and more evening-oriented activity hours.

All this "more", however, does not attack you aggressively upon entering the place, nor upon the arrival of the bill.

"Black Iron" is a meat restaurant focused entirely on Wagyu, and makes sure to stay young and accessible.

In other words - chunks that do not tear the pocket, and do not leverage "luxury" in the meat to a price.

In the words of the owners of the place - "We decided to earn a little less, absorb certain costs and not roll them over to the customer. The result is not money from a falafel dish, but excellent meat at an affordable price, without paperwork and without fuss."

The atmosphere is London-oriented, the Wagyu from Japan, growing up in Australia and ending its professional processes in Israel, and this international festival ends in front of a refrigerator laden with marbled meats, from which you can choose a portion in person, or photograph, laugh, and trust the staff.

There are, among others, Denver Cut and Picnic, Prime Rib and Ramp Steak, Entrecote and Sirloin.

There's also a wagio burger, beef bourguignon based on the same meat, wagio and egg and also more playful starters, such as carpaccio, fresh sourdough bread with wagio butter, and vegetables that have just finished dancing on the grill.

All of these, along with the cocktail menu and the market happily sizzling in the back, manage to break down the local meaty formula we’ve had to get used to all these years, and then reassemble it, more tailored, and better.

Have mercy

Sometimes the obvious needs to be emphasized.

Rahmo (Photo: Walla !, Yaniv Granot)

It is almost ridiculous to pretend to recommend the mythological restaurant - one of the few that deserves a title, also because it is the oldest restaurant in Jerusalem - but sometimes what is taken for granted, occasionally needs a few exclamation marks, which will emphasize the point.

The bearers of the merciful scepter in recent years are Liron Keren and Meirav Gil, a third generation of the restaurateur family who settled in the strategic corner of the market, and has not moved away since 1954 (although heated debates develop daily, and hourly, on the exact opening date, And for what preceded why).

Rahmo's granddaughters do not shake the ship or try to quarter the pot circle, but they do continue to cook, serve and run a real food institution, not forgetting its most important base - the taste.

There is, you probably already know, old-fashioned chickpeas, in a good section, soups that are poured and warmed up by customers very early in the morning, a colorful Cuban collection with an M-and-S-L-M shell and an ideal filling, as well as a magic known here with modest simplicity "Beans and Rice."

cymbal

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Avi Levy's latest piece - a Turkish-Israeli skewer concerto played with a monstrous butcher knife - also got its own stage here, as it deserves, but that does not mean that the head and stomach (and heart, some heart) do not need a reminder or a bit of snooze, even if the location leaks A bit out of the official boundaries of the market, and a few feet away.

"Cymbal" already declares in its name that it is a home for Jerusalem street food.

As such, you will find here a huge, Turkish-inspired shawarma skewer, and a kebab he has already made there.

You will also find thin and hot bakes that come out non-stop from a stone oven that has been poured with the show in mind, goat-flavored sopritos, fresh, fresh salads and also some worthy sweets, meal-finishers and shanit touches

. And the hand - equipment that only the thought of should send you here, market or not market.

Kabum

Invested handiwork of precision and pan.

Kabom (Photo: Walla !, Yaniv Granot)

One of the newest entrants to the market is Liran Ayalon's Krembo Circus, which opens right at the height of winter, but is planned to stay here well after, and shatter the seasonal dessert concept along the way.

The showcase is just as colorful as one might expect, but Instagram photogenicity should not obscure the investment in what really matters - taste.

The base is a crunchy dough with a much more successful texture than the crembo we know, which serves as a base for a high mound of meringue that stops right at the tasting point between fragility and softness, and on top you can load up on more delicious things like melted chocolate and other toppings.

All of this goodness, handcrafted by Duke and Pan, comes in at least a dozen flavors, including familiar vanilla or mocha, deep caramel, fruity blueberries and raspberries and also requested corruptions like chocolate-banana filled with chocolate ganache and Chinese pecans, or rosemary and caramel and strawberry creme brulee.

Thinkers

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Another new line in the complex, and especially necessary, is the "Thinkers" distillery, a very fresh Israeli alcohol brand, with high ambitions and no less high receipts.

The impressive and overseas-designed building on Agrippa Street offers a glimpse (and much more) into the beverage production process, including "Vodka 40/60" which combines wheat from champagne and water from Jerusalem, dry gin seasoned with eight spices, and an Israeli "sunset" gin. "A stain, with rose petals and red fruits.

The worldview that guides the distillery owners is based on Furthering, a phrase that has warmed up in global high-tech companies, shifted gears in Tesla's production and development halls, and just wants one simple thing - to go more and do more.

For now, "This philosophy is reflected in the direct marketing of the company's brands to its customers, while trying to neutralize the cutting of consumer coupons along the way, and in operating an interesting visitor center on the site, which offers instructive introductory tours, and tastings of course.

Holy coffee

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Very deceptive on my part, and very geographically challenged, to include the caffeinated love story of Keren and Itzik Kadosh in the article "Equal Places in the Mahane Yehuda Market".

When you add to that the 1,645 words I wrote about the place very recently, difficult, complex and justified ethical questions also arise.

But the real cheat would be to write about equal food in the capital * without * mentioning "sacred coffee", and the real geographical challenge would include futile attempts not to be attracted like a magnet from the market to the cafe not far away.

And in general, 1,645 words is really little when you think about it in depth.

And so, having settled the reservations in mind, let's just say - there is no Jerusalem food tour that does not begin (or end, everyone and their schedule) in this cafe, and there can be no fun day in the capital that does not include at least one (and much more desirable) of the showcase models. In the vast majority of cases - do not ask how I found out - that's really all it takes.

The Jerusalem wonder called "Mahane Yehuda Market" has seen 25 unfortunate closures of restaurants in the past year.

In the exact same period of time, 28 new places were opened in the complex.

The last two sentences, and especially the relationship between them, are all there is to know about the culinary passion in the region, about the economic dreams that drive it, and also about its status at the top of the country’s food destinations.

And if you need some extra, you can easily find it in the masses of places not mentioned in this very partial list, including huge hits and huge dishes that do not need additional recommendations (but will certainly get such in parts B-S of this mapping).

The urban effort focuses on attempts not to interfere with all this happening, but also not to contribute to the gentrification of what is here called the "authentic market."

In other words, you will not see here a wine bar set up on the ruins of a fruit and vegetable stand, and nothing like it.

The result is a muscular, stable and sturdy market, but also one that knows how to listen, be careful and be aware.

Take all of these, mix the Jerusalem character and hospitality, photograph the unique food inventions and refreshing drinks that take them down your throat, and you will get only one result - the most delicious place in Israel.

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Tags

• Mahane Yehuda Market

• Jerusalem

• Sabih

• steak

• pizza

• Shawarma

• Falafel