Food, Shopping & Going Out
Eating in Jerusalem like a local: markets, kosher restaurants, cafés and nightlife, with practical tips written for residents rather than tourists.
A CIA-trained private chef in Talpiyot who cooks Shabbat meals, simchas, birthday dinners and full fridges for visitors and Jerusalem families.
The Dead Sea is about an hour from Jerusalem. Here is how to get there by bus or tour, which beach to pick, and how much you can fit into one day.
Gates, quarters, the Kotel, the tunnels and the rules nobody tells you. A practical guide to the Old City, with prices and a half-day route.
Some of the best of Jerusalem happens after dark, and a lot of it is free. A local's list for evenings, couples and tight budgets.
Jerusalem is not cheap, but it doesn't have to be expensive. Here is what a day really costs, from a backpacker's budget to a comfortable family trip.
From Friday afternoon to Saturday night, Jerusalem changes completely. Here is how to plan a visitor's Shabbat: food, getting around, what's open and what's worth doing.
We do not keep a restaurant list, because hours and certificates change every month. Here is the durable part: how the system works, where the clusters are, and how to choose well in any of them.
A good date needs somewhere you can hear each other, sit for two hours without pressure, and leave easily. Jerusalem has plenty, including the hotel lobbies that shidduch dating runs on.
Jerusalem is a hill city with forests and spring-fed valleys on three sides. Here are the walks locals do on a Friday morning, by season and by how much effort you want.
Kosher food is everywhere in Jerusalem, but the certificates are not all the same. What Rabbanut regular, mehadrin and the badatz agencies each cover, which ones match what an OU or Star-K family keeps, and how to check a certificate.
Groceries, electronics, clothes, furniture, second-hand and the international sites that ship here, with the delivery and customs realities behind each.
Where to go for clothes, electronics, furniture and a rainy afternoon with children, and the shopping habits that differ from what you are used to.
Jerusalem has three tiers of supermarket, a world-famous market and a makolet on every corner. Here is how they differ, when to go, and what the signs at the till mean.
Jerusalem is not Tel Aviv and does not try to be; its nights are in the shuk's bars, the centre's pubs, the First Station's terraces and a handful of music venues. Here is the map, and the Shabbat caveats.
Which supermarket to use is one question; what is on the shelf is another. Kashrut labels, the price-controlled staples, the Israeli versions of what you miss, and how to order it all online.