Places to eat in Jerusalem District

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That was a rather good restaurant on our unsuccessful way to Bethlehem from Jerusalem. Its best quality for me was that we didn’t waste much time there (about half an hour) and could come back quickly to Jerusalem to go on an excursion.
Besides that we had an opportunity to visit the Mar Elias Monastery which is close to the restaurant while the rest of the tourists was finishing their meals, haha!
And the last advantage of the restaurant - a wonderful view at Har Homa and Bethlehem at the distance.

You can watch my 1 min HD Video Jerusalem District Ramat Rachel Elias Restaurant out of my Youtube channel.

Val’s Brasserie is open from lunch through late dinner all year round. Situated beside the pool and the Cellar Bar, guests will enjoy favorite local dishes, continental specialties and quick snacks in a cozy and relaxing atmosphere.
Afternoon tea, a British classic, is served here daily from 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. with tea, variety of sandwiches, scones with strawberry jam and fresh strawberries or English cake.

This restaurant was recommended by JadedMuse ( VT). It was an excellent suggestion, i loved this restaurant. I ordered the pasta which was differnent than i have seen before. It was a red sauce, lots of mozarella cheese and thick noodles, served in a big wooden bowel. It was fabulous. The restaurant is very nice, you go down some stairs when you enter. The bar is right there, then the restaurant on the left. Its a cozy place to have an excelllent meal.

Favorite Dish: The pasta dish with lots of cheese!

We visited the Old City for three days in August and ate at Amigo Emil four time. The girls (11 and 13) loved the 400 yr old multi-level cavern the restaurant sits in on Al-Khanqa Street in the Christian Quarter. Owner and former international banker Costandi Bajjali has done a fantastic job with the tasteful antique decor and lighting, a broad menu of delicious Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes, prepared fresh and piping hot to be washed down with an icy beer or freshly squeezed juice. Costandi is a charming, welcoming host and visits with all his guests regardless of the time of day. The ambience is intimate and private at any table in the house. The restaurant, bar, kitchen and bathrooms are impeccably clean and maintained that way.

Favorite Dish: The very best dishes were the roasted meats and the humus, babaganoush, and tabouleh. But the pastas, salads and sandwiches were also excellent. Helpings are large and reasonably priced.

Here you sit out on the lawn, surrounded by greenery, overlooking the surrounding hills and valleys, what you would be looking for if you could build your homes porch wherever you wanted.

Favorite Dish: We opted for simple Israeli salads and pasta, nothing fancy this time, just wanted to enjoy the area. The service was nothing to write home about, too slow by far and you felt ignored since you had to wait each time you required something, but if you are not rushed it is fine since you are sitting in such nice surroundings.

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I found this place on my way to the Western Wall. Its right as you enter the inside security complex to the wall( under the tunnel). It is at the end of the souq as you approach security area for western wall

Favorite Dish: Humus was excellent, chicken, salad......everything was great.

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After hearing about the humus joints of Abu Ghosh for so many years, I decided the time had come to try one. I had been to a concert in the Abu Ghosh church many years ago. We brought along my daughter, who was a baby then, and sat with her on a hard wooden bench as the choir launched into a lively rendition of Missa Creola, hoping against hope she would not burst out screaming. Luckily, she didn’t, but stopping at a restaurant afterwards would have been going too far.

So one recent Friday, when the weather was nice, we drove to this Israeli Arab village, about 10 minutes from Jerusalem, and walked around a bit, trying to figure out which of these humus restaurants was our best bet, considering that most of them offer the same fare. Hmm….Should we try Abu Shukry, or the Authentic Abu Shukry, or Abu Shukry – The Real Thing, or…you get the picture). For no particular reason, we chose the Caravan Inn. It had a glass-enclosed porch and a few straggly geraniums out front.

As we walked in, we were hit by a cloud of cigarette smoke. The place was quite busy, and many people were smoking in full view of the no-smoking sign. If it were up to me, I would have walked out, but my husband wanted his humus already…

Favorite Dish: A table at the window was covered with a white cloth for us, and we ordered a plate of humus, a plate of humus with pumpkin, and 2 soft drinks. The humus was creamy and freshly made, garnished with a few whole chick peas. The humus with pumpkin was sort of grayish and salty with some bits of sour pickle in it. If there was pumpkin, you couldn’t see it. It only added a kind of stringy texture. The pita brought to the table in a basket was on the stale side. The olives were bright green and not fully cured. The slices of pickled radish were limp.

A plate of 4 teeny bits of “baklawah,” each about the size of a fingernail, was the best part of the meal, and supposedly “free.” The bill came to NIS 44. With each plate of humus costing NIS 13, I am not sure how they arrived at this sum. My husband paid at the register and did not receive an itemized bill.

The elderly man who greeted us at the door looked a lot like Hajj Abu Musa, whose picture is on the menu. Maybe it was his son. Abu Musa built the restaurant in 1950, and was honored with lighting a torch on Independence Day in 1994 for helping to foster good relations between Jews and Arabs.

The Caravan Inn’s “calling card” is on the glass-enclosed side porch: some ceramic decorations embedded in the wall by Boris Schatz, son of the founder of the Bezalel Art School.

After a visit to the Sataf, which can be a little on the strenuous side if you are not used to hiking up and down mountainsides – although rest assured, this is not the Alps – grab a seat at one of the tables at the outdoor café and order a little something to get your wind back.

Café Sataf, on a wooden deck with a beautiful view of the Judean Hills, serves a variety of dairy dishes and salads. We ordered a baked casserole of sliced potatoes covered with cheese, tomatoes and basil, which came with a small vegetable salad (38 shekels). We enjoyed that, but at my daughter’s urging we all had milkshakes. They weren’t cheap, at 22 shekels apiece, but they were BIG milkshakes, thick and creamy and cold, reviving our spirits considerably on that hot summer’s day.