The conclusion… go for it!

Location

It’s close to Bezalel market, you’d see it as you come from carmel market heading to Dizengoff square.

The shop is tiny, but seating is still available. I guess the little shop can handle 12-16 dine-in customers!

Well, it’s always busy!

Menu

The menu is on the wall. 6NIS for a falafel!!  Additionally you can buy grape juice for 4NIS.

So, the concern is… why is it so cheap?

Well, with this price, it pretty much guarantees good business. And I actually find their falafel very good in taste and quality. You’d find 6-8 falafel balls, and you actually taste falafel till the very last bite!  It’s pretty solid!! And only for 6NIS!

Taim! (Delicious in Hebrew)

Aaris must be well loved by the locals in Jerusalem. I brought Aaris back to my hostel. And the Israeli teacher from the hummus workshop saw Aaris, and said with so much love,  “Aaris ”.

That’s the moment I found out Aaris was special. And Aaris is not a person, Aaris is a new store that sells creative Middle Eastern pocket size burger.

Location

It’s near Mehane Yehuda Market. Across Morduch.

The storefront of Aaris. There are some outdoor seats. I guess it’d be quite lovely to sit here and do some people watching This is a prime location of Jerusalem, by the way!

The kitchen and counter have taken most of the space in the shop. But there are still 3 seats inside. I like the open space design, and it does remind me of Taiwan. We like to eat outdoors too. (Not on noisy streets though)

Menu and Dishes

There’s no menu! Haha! So from what I remember, there are only 3 options. Beef, lamb, and Entrecote.

The price is around 35-42NIS. And you’ll receive a beeper.

After 10-15 minutes wait… voila! I came back and received a beautiful paper bag! Aaris! Inside, there was a box.

I opened it, guess what? 3 pieces of mini Middle-Eastern tacos! I don’t know what to call them. And you get 3 sauces too. The green one is made from Avocado (with mayonnaise?)

I was deeply amused by the odd number, 3. So who is eating the 4th piece?

Regarding the taste… well, let’s just say, I don’t like beef in Israel. It’s too strong for me. (And I don’t eat lamb…. )

But I’m sure the locals love it, otherwise, why would Aaris be popular?  I don’t blame Aaris. And you can see Aaris is generous with the quantity of meat! Isn’t that great?

About the price. Well, if this is 35NIS, it is definitely more expensive than eating shawarma in pita bread (normally 25NIS).

I did find the avocado sauce here special though, and I like the outdoor seating too.

So do I recommend this? Hmm. Well, if you like beef, then come here to eat! It is not that expensive

Remember to Give Thanks!

The Jewish tradition is to pray before and after meals. There’s a fixed prayer to read. And guess what…? I found it here! hehehe!

So take the hint, be grateful! God has been taking good care of you! Don’t complain!

About Beteavone

I found this shop through Beteavone (the coupon website).

I spent 65NIS for buying this 100NIS coupon, but I only ordered 2 servings. Eventually, I received 20% off instead of 35%. But even without any discount, Aaris isn’t expensive, to begin with.

Final Verdict

A cute little shop that sells Middle-Eastern like tacos. I like the avocado sauce. Not expensive, and maybe I’ll come back to try again.

What is Malabi? I overheard this from a Chinese guide in Jaffa. All tour members rushed to this little shop. The pronunciation of it in Chinese sounded like Mala-Ice Cream. It got my attention! What is it?

I thought I was going after ice-cream…

Malabi, as advertised on the signboard. 10NIS per serving ($3)

The blue one is Malabi. And the red one is Sahleb (a drink with spices).

See this friendly seller… this was in February! He was wearing a t-shirt! Let me tell you the best season to visit Israel is in winter! It’s nice and warm! (in Jaffa*)

So what is Malabi? It’s like pannacotta with jam and crushed nuts on it. And coconut powder. It’s not too sweet. And I genuinely like dairy products in Israel.

Malabi is a dessert of Turkish origin. It is called sutlach in Turkish and sut is milk. Sephardic Jews eat this on weddings as a symbol of the sweetness of marriage. And some families eat this after 25 hours fasting on Yom Kippur.

I don’t like coconut, but I liked the rest of Malabi! Try it!

Old Jaffa is a seaport, so why not have some seafood here? I tried the Israeli version of Fish and Chips here. Fried squid and shrimp for only 39NIS! I guess it is cheap in Israeli standard!

Location

The store is in Old Jaffa. Close to Old Man and the Sea. (where you get unlimited salads for 50NIS).

Probably Old Man and the Sea will be the best for value. But I wasn’t hungry and I saw so many people checking out this Fish and Chips store, and I got curious!

Is this place popular? It’s chaotic and it certainly got my attention. Let’s see what’s going on!

Okay, so people were mostly waiting for their orders to be served. I found a cashier behind the guy in a black t-shirt and a hat. It requires determination and curiosity to put down your order at this place!

Prices

The menu is hung on a wall~  Prices are okay!

• Red Fish (300g) for 42NIS.
• Small Fish  (300g) for 32NIS.
• Fried Fish Fillet (300g) for 35NIS.
• Fried Shrimps (250g) for 39NIS.
• Fried Calamari (300g) for 39NIS
• Fried Shrimps with Calamari (300g) for 39NIS.
• Chips for 13NIS

Of course, I chose “Fried Shrimps with Calamari (300g) for 39NIS.”

The cashier understood English. But he didn’t speak English to me.

After paying, you’d get a piece of paper with your name and your order on it.

Give this paper to the kitchen staff. He’d stick it to the range hood.

And then you find yourself a place somewhere and wait for your name to be called! It took 10 minutes for my order to be ready.

I was looking at “the catch of the day”. I thought you could buy fish from here and let the kitchen staff cook it for you. But I guess no. They don’t have time for this. You can buy fresh fish from here and that’s all.

Napkins.

And finally! The serving size was more than what I expected. My wide angle lens makes it look smaller than its actual size. It’s fresh and nicely cooked. I like the batter and how lemon was generously given.   I think 2 people can share 1, if not enough, order chips for 13NIS.

However, it is quite chaotic and messy. And there’s no place to sit. So I guess the better option would still be Old Man and Sea if you are looking for a proper meal. But if you pass by this shop and found a shorter queue, then it won’t be a bad idea to give it a try!

On King Street in Jerusalem, close to many important institutions, there’s this Sephardic Restaurant called Meuchas.  The place is popular among locals because this is probably the most convenient place to eat. It’s a decent restaurant with good prices. Business lunch from 42NIS.

Location

Meuchas is 6 minutes walk to the Prime Minister’s house, the place is CENTRAL! The Knesset used to be on this street. Jewish Agency and JNF buildings are around.

I like the moustache. It’s a sephardic restaurant though! (Don’t be confused… just saying!)

It looks IKEA? Very cozy!

I love these windows. I love the set up!

This is a restaurant proudly serving kosher food! Good for Torah keeping Jews!

Menu and Dishes

The prices are surprsingly low. But the actual serving size is small. Maybe that’s not a bad thing since business people probably only need a venue to meet. Food probably isn’t the priority.

On the page, you can find “Business Lunch” up till No.47.

• Main Dish (choose 1) :  Schinitzel , Vegetarian Couscous, Fish Cutlets in Spicy Tomato Sauce, Meatballs,  Grilled Chicken Breast, Grilled St.Peter’s Fish
• Side Dishes (choose 2)：Rice, Sour Rice,  Lima Beans, String beans, Okra, Green Peas, French Fries,  Baked Potato,  Mejadra,  Arab Style Salad

We ate these :

• No. 3 Hummus 30 NIS
• No.16 Moussaka 45 NIS
• No.44 Fillet Steak 110 NIS
• Business Lunch)  Grilled Chicken Breast 49 NIS
• Business Lunch) Grilled St.Peter’s Fish 49 NIS

No. 3 Hummus 30 NIS, with mushroom! I like it!

No.16 Moussaka 45 NIS, I thought Moussaka always comes with minced meat. But in Israel it is eggplant and tomato. I was shocked.

No.44 Fillet Steak 110 NIS, why would this be $30? It’s about 150g….

Someone else order the same thing but comes in different presentation. I think it’s better to order some other dishes….

Business Lunch)  Grilled Chicken Breast 49 NIS, this is much better in value! It’s nicely grilled. (If you are not picky) (But definitely not half good as Amir’s)

Business Lunch) Grilled St.Peter’s Fish 49 NIS. Why is it fried though? But I think it’s good for value? St.Peter’s fish I had in Tiberias cost 70NIS.

So…  somehow the bill was about 100NIS per person. But if you stick to business lunch, it’s in the mid-range. Tips is 10% to the bill. But the waiter here was strange, he sat down next to me when ordering meals, and he kept forgetting who ordered what. And I said “You should tip me!” and then he said “sure!”

Final Verdict

Nice decor with average food. If you need a quiet place for business meeting, it could be an option. Business lunch for 50NIS is good! Though the serving is small.

While Tiberias is famous for St.Peter’s fish, my personal recommendation would be this restaurant called Yali’s. The Halloumi Cheese Salad here is so so so good! It’s so good that I didn’t mind that there wasn’t meat in it! Yes! It’s that incredible! Even as a non-vegetarian, I loved it!

Location

Yali’s is on the Main Street in Tiberias. The Great Mosque is right behind it. And I don’t understand why the rating is 3.9.

We were sitting right in front of the mosque!

Dishes

We didn’t come here for good reviews online, but simply because the restaurant seemed to have more customers than others in the area. That’s a good sign!

I chose a salad and pizza so that the 3 of us could share!

I never heard of Halloumi cheese, and to my amazement, every piece of it was a bite of happiness. It’s like fried cheese, and it tasted better than meat! And the salad was a combination of fresh mushroom, nuts and rocket leaves. I couldn’t believe this was in Israel! And this was large size salad (with complimentary bread), it was enough for 3 of us, even if we didn’t order pizza.

And pizza was good! The crust was crispy. The cheese was not boring, you could feel the love of the mother cow (seriously!) From my other reviews you’ll see I’m not a fan of cheese. But I love this pizza! Again, since it’s kosher, there’s no meat!

This is Sahleb, an Middle Eastern drink available in winter only. This was 17NIS I think.  Cinammon stick, nuts, cocoa and coconut powder. Well, it is okay. It’s very thick milk and spices. It looks pretty though!

And mint tea, you have to try mint tea in Israel! I think this was 12NIS

Our paked dinner. Yes we underestimated the serving size in Israel. I like this paper bag. The bill was about 175NIS.

So the 3 of us tried very hard to finish the lunch, yet we still had salad, one big piece of bread and two slices of pizza….. haha!

I couldn’t wait for dinner time because this salad was SO GOOD! And after finishing this leftover salad, I was already planning my next trip to Israel. For this salad! Seriously!

This restaurant honestly changed my view to Israeli restaurants. I could finally say that I found good food in Israel! It’s hard because I come from Taiwan where you easily find GREAT food at cheap prices.  And this salad was good because it is only 80NIS, not expensive in Israeli standard. But it was simple and good!

Final Verdict

1 of my only 3 restaurants in Israel that I will definitely recommend. Order Halloumi cheese salad!

It feels like if you haven’t had St.Peter’s fish, then you haven’t been to the Sea of Galilee. In Tiberias, there is a restaurant called Avi’s Restaurant, and it’s probably the best for value restaurant. In 70 NIS, you get a St.Peter’s fish, with salad, fries, some side dishes (falafel, pita bread) and fruit! It’s good if you MUST try St.Peter’s fish (because I don’t like tilapia)

Location

Avi’s Restaurant is in an alley off the main street. It’s not by the lake!

A very visible flag of Tripadvisor! Well I found this place because of Tripadvisor too. They’re glowing with so many positive reviews there!

The outdoor seats… you get the idea. It’s a cozy little restaurant!

There’s a fish tank, These fish must be glad that they aren’t big enough to be eaten (or they don’t know about that? haha). There’s an office behind this fish tank, and there was an old man sitting there. Maybe he was Mr.Avi?

Dishes

I came to Avi for St.Peter’s Fish. You can choose either “grilled” or “fried”. The price is the same, 70NIS.

This one is fried. You get whole fish but there are tiny fish bones! If you don’t know how to eat a whole fish like this, maybe you should go for the grilled option.

Grilled St. Peter’s fish. No bones. But the meat is dryer and honestly there’s nothing special about the taste of tilapia. I like the sauce though!

If you prefer juicy meat…  I guess you should go for the fried version. Just be patient with fish bones….

These are small appetizers served for two.  The place is very generous on giving olives!

This is called Falafel.  Each gets two.

Olives. Looks super healthy…  I should learn to like olives!

Garlic bread.

Pita bread (am I supposed to eat this with fish? :/)

And fruits as desert! This is for two.

Final Verdict

Since I grew up having seafood, I find it hard to like tipilia, which is so common in my country. And the meal cost 150NIS for the two of us. So I guess unless you are dying for this experience, there are other things that you can eat with this budget! But if you have to try St.Peter’s fish in Tiberias, Avi’z place is very good for value!

Nazareth, a famous as you think it is, turns to a quiet little town at night. There’s not much happening at night except food and sleep. While walking around, I found this small restaurant by Mary’s well. An English menu was placed on the sidewalk, so hard to miss. Chicken kebab in pita bread for 20NIS?” Not a bad idea” I thought, ‘meat’ at decent prices is rare in Israel. And to my surprise, Skewers al-Amir turned out to be SO GOOD! 

Location

It’s close to the square by Mary’s well.

It is just one of those many shops. I’m sharing this simply because I enjoyed a meal here (and also because it’s CHEAP!). If you are in Nazareth during the day, it won’t be a bad idea to come here for takeaway food!

There are 3 tables inside, and 4 tables outside.

Prices

The prices look good! Chicken kebab in pita bread for 20NIS! Why not?

Everything was freshly prepared. The shopkeeper grilled 2 skewers of chicken from the freezer in front of us.

Israeli find satisfaction in falefel and hummus, but for me as an Asian, it is hard not to have such ‘simple and healthy’ food for every meal. But meat is expensive….. so finally! Feels like eating real food again!

Chicken kebab was delicious, not spicy and it was juicy! I was so satisfied!

The Owner Amir was NOT fat nor a liar

I was happy after the meal, so I wanted to leavae them a review Google Maps…. and then I saw so many bad reviews about this place. And I was confused? People said the owner here was fat and a liar, prices were not clear and microwaved food was served.

I asked the kebab man if he knew about the review of this place on Google Maps, and I read to him. “Basically they said the owner was a liar, and a fat liar.” And out of curiosity, I asked “Who’s the owner here?” I didn’t expect an answer, but I asked simply because I had a good meal here. And then he said,

I’m Amir. I’m the owner here. Am I fat?

I laughed. He wasn’t fat at all (the guy in green t-shirt in the third photo in this post was him). And then he took out his wallet… I wasn’t sure what was he going to do, until he showed me his ID. He was pretty serious!

So, I think he had enemies in the neighborhood or something. I left him a good review, and I hope he’d have real customers leaving him good reviews in future!

When you come to Akko in Israel, Hummus Said is THE hummus place locals go for lunch. Hummus didn’t say anything, that’s just the name of the founder, “Said” (like Saeed). You’ll taste what ‘authentic’ hummus is like here, and a serving is only 17NIS! Very cheap and affordable!

Location

The store is in the old market. Google Maps location is pretty accurate for now. And remember that you should be there before 2pm! Expect to queue for 10-15 minutes as the place is quite popular.

We came here past 1pm. And there were at least a dozen of people lining up, so we waited for 10 minutes…. most people here were locals, so you know this is the RIGHT place to go.

And voila, nothing fancy inside the shop. But the good thing is that you get a place to sit. I took this picture when the shop was closing.

I bet he is Mr.Said.

Menu?

Hummus Said sells authentic hummus, so you are here for hummus. There are 3 options

• Hummus
• Faal? (some sort of beans)
• Another type of hummus called Moshusha?

Menu is on the wall, this is the price for 1 serving. You can go for half portion (at half price)

I got half portion hummus (left) and that Moshusha thing (right).  To me there was no difference in taste, except hummus was finely mashed and moshusha included some chickpeas. But I must say this is the first time that I understood what ‘freshly prepared hummus’ is. You simply know that when the aroma of chickpea is in your mouth!

All of this cost me only 17NIS! 3 pieces of pita, and some salads. We were startving but this was enough for 2 of us. Probably because hummus is filling and plus psychologically hummus to us is not a meal. It’s like eating tofu, just tofu with some bread. (Yes I know there’s ‘tofu’ burger in western wall… but I’m not used to that idea)

What’s offered in salads? Hmmm pickles, tomatoes, super sour olives and onions. It’s hard to pretend that I like olives…. But some people like olives right?

Chili and coriander. Add them! Finally my hummus has some flavor ~

And then I wanted to order tea. When I told this to a waiter, I asked the waiter what that yellow drink is on some other table. He pointed at that yellow drink, and asked me “this?”  I said yes. And then he didn’t answer my question…. but later he came back with another glass of this yellow drink. I asked him once again “what is it?” I couldn’t tell from the smell.

Then my mom took a sip. Then 3 seconds later, another waiter who could speak English came to us and said

It’s oil.

 Why is olive oil served in a glass?  Maybe it’s beyond his imagination that there are people in this world who don’t know what this yellow “drink” is….

And they were wrapping up at 3pm. While we were still eating, they started to clean up. That’s it! From 3-4pm they are free! And I guess they would sleep at 8pm and get up at 3am for making fresh hummus. I think.

And the bill was….. 17NIS!  Was the tea complementary? The waiter said “Included”. I was stunned. No wonder this place is so popular among locals!

Final Verdict

Hummus Said is definitely a chamion in hummus world. If you can only bear to have hummus for 1 meal in Israel, then this is the place to go!

If you mention Ticho House, everybody knows there is a good restaurant. The name is Anna Italian Cafe. The place is named after the hostess of Tichno House, Anna. The service and atmosphere here is so wonderful that you will forget how expensive the meal is! The dishes here look humble but they are surprisingly good! Different than what you’d expect! I think that’s the charm of this place, or the hostess Anna!

Location

Anna Italian Cafe is inside Ticho House, on the top floor. Ticho was a doctor, this house was one of the first houses that were built outside the walls of Jerusalem. There was a lot of conflict between Arabs and Jews during British Mandate. His eye was hurt in one of the riots, so he practiced at his house. His wife Anna was a painter. After they died, this mansion was donated to Israeli museum.

It’s nicely painted inside. You can still feel that this house has a lot of histories. The place is crowded but the atmosphere was quite pleasant.

Open kitchen! The staff was courteous and greeted us the curious tourists during their busy work.

Menu and Dishes

Anna would have looked like this during the day.

The menu that I took. A proper menu can be found on Anna’s website. I would love to come back here for breakfast, for 44NIS, or 2 for 130NIS.

For dinner, we tried these

•  Focaccia, Olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, Chili, Garlic confit 18 NIS
• Green Salad, Salnova, Endive, Almonds, Danablu, Honey mustard vinaigrette 56 NIS
• Caprese, Tomatoes, Mozzarella,Basil, Balsamic Reduction 56 NIS
• Margarita, Mozzarella, Tomatoes, Basil 58 NIS
• ANNA Bianca 2.0, Sunchokes, Mozzarella, Herbs, Arugulla, Grana Padno 64 NIS
• “Tartuffo”,Linguini, Sage Browen Butter, Mushrooms, Truffle Oil 76 NIS
• Salmon, Pomme Puree, Roasted tomatoes, Broccoli, Gremolata 94 NIS

And desserts! Muah~

• Tiramisu 40 NIS
• Chocolate mousse 44NIS
• Lemon Tart 42 NIS
• Panna Cotta 42 NIS

My mouth was drooling simply by reading the menu, though I hardly knew what we ordered. Haha! Fortunately there aren’t too many options here, otherwise it would have taken the whole night.

Focaccia, Olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, Chili, Garlic confit 18 NIS. Freshly baked garlic bread! It was tasty with vinegar.

Green Salad, Salnova, Endive, Almonds, Danablu, Honey mustard vinaigrette 56 NIS. Well, it looks bad on photo but it’s the second best salad I ever had in Israel!  My brother told me that plants are still alive in the first 24 hours being picked from the ground. And yes, this vegetable was alive! So fresh! This is worth trying!

Caprese, Tomatoes, Mozzarella,Basil, Balsamic Reduction 56 NIS, this is ‘okay’ because cherry tomatoes is common in Taiwan.

Margarita, Mozzarella, Tomatoes, Basil 58 NIS. Wow, this pizza will make you cry! The crust was perfect! As soon as you finish this, you want another one!

Anna Bianca 2.0 Sunchokes, Mozzarella, Herbs, Arugulla, Grana Padno 64 NIS, it is good, but it cannot compare to the pizza above.

“Tartuffo”,Linguini, Sage Browen Butter, Mushrooms, Truffle Oil 76 NIS , everything was perfect! Truffle oil was special! This is worth trying!

Salmon, Pomme Puree, Roasted tomatoes, Broccoli, Gremolata 94 NIS, personally I think it is good for value. But you don’t necessarily have to order salmon in Anna.

We enjoyed those dishes in Anna, so we decided to try their desserts!

Tiramisu 40 NIS, just like Tiramisu I had in Italy, very authentic!

Chocolate mousse 44 NIS,  I think it is just ‘okay’, maybe that’s because I’m not a big fan of chocolate!

Lemon Tart 42 NIS , this was ‘wow!’ Sweet and sour, perfectly balanced. This one is a must-try!

Panna Cotta 42 NIS, I think this is good for value because of the serving size. It goes with cookie crumbs and jam. A happy ending!

At first we didn’t think we would go to Anna Italian’s Cafe because you can have Italian food pretty much everywhere in the world. But this place was close to our hotel and we were lazy. Since the rating was pretty high, we came here. And then we discovered that even though we thought we knew Italian food, Anna successfully revolutionized our senses! I would say that Italian food that I had in Italy was only about 80% as tasty as this place!

I think Anna succeeds because of righ ingredient, right cooking method and right atmosphere! This was a perfect dinner that we had in Jerusalem!

Final Verdict

If you have enough budget, yes, choose Anna! Everything was good! You can order a pizza and salad for 120NIS. And if you order Focaccia, drinks and a dessert (lemon tart!), then the bill will be around 200NIS for two. It’s more than satisfactory in terms of taste, atmosphere and service, even if you think you know Italian food!

Good News？

There’s a discount website in Israel called Beteavone. I once saw a deal of Anna there~ If you ever see great discount like this, then don’t hesitate and go to Anna!