Akko's Sa’id Hummus Shop

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Happy customers at the Sa’id hummus shop, Akko. Photo by and © Vision Studio 

At Sa’id hummus shop in Akko, there is always a line to get in, but things move quickly, as the establishment specializes in only three perfect dishes, which are always ready for the table: hummus, foul (a rough mash of warm fava beans and spices), and mashawsha (a still rougher mash of warm chickpeas and spices), served in small hillocks on the plate and liberally drizzled with rich, dark olive oil, along with pickles, onions, vegetables, and a hot pile of freshly baked pita.

“Sa’id specializes in only three perfect dishes, which are always ready for the table: hummus, foul, and mashawsha.”

Guests sit at shared tables, eat quickly, and watch the process in the kitchen: vast pots of chickpeas and favas being systematically cooked, drained, mashed, spiced, and served. At Sa’id, the daily service ends abruptly when they run out of hummus, which is often in the early afternoon.

Sa’id Hummus >

Jaffa's Shuk HaPishpeshim

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Restaurant in a shuk. Photo by and © Vision Studio

“Just about any taste can be satisfied at the Jaffa market.”

Jaffa’s massive, twisty marketplace Shuk HaPishpeshim is punctuated with eating and drinking places and caters to all tastes, from the ubiquitous quick-falafel shop to posh European-style wine bars and cafés such as Sola, or the downright funky Puaa. Classic Italian food at Italkiya; American-style barbecue at Pundak Deluxe; snacks at a gastropub that may win the prize for the best name in town: Gibberish. Just about any taste can be satisfied at the Jaffa market which lies between Jerusalem Blvd. and Yeffet Street, Tel Aviv-Yafo.

Shuk HaPishpeshim flea market >

Puaa >

HaItalkiya >

Pundak Deluxe >

Gibberish
14 Ami’ad Street, Tel Aviv-Yafo
3-620-4022

Machneyuda Restaurant in the Heart of the Market

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Inside the kitchen of Machneyuda restaurant. Film still from Machneyuda promotional video 

The Machane Yehuda market has given its name—that is, if you say it quickly, as most Jerusalemites do—to the restaurant Machneyuda, located nearby on Beit Ya’akov Street.

“At Machneyuda, it is almost a tradition that customers break into dance, and the chefs often join them—though such fireworks do not detract from the pyrotechnics of the food.”

Even with reservations you often have to wait to be seated at Machneyuda—but once inside, all customers are happy, filling every table downstairs as well as the balcony that runs around the upper level. The restaurant space does double duty as a pantry: the walls are lined with shelves holding bottles of wine and baskets of vegetables. The music pulses; the waiters are charming, multilingual, and solicitous; and the restaurant’s three chefs, Assaf Granit, Uri Navon, and Yossi Elad, have taken on near-celebrity status.

At Machneyuda, it is almost a tradition that as the evening wears on the music escalates. Customers may well break into dance, and the chefs often join them—though such fireworks do not detract from the pyrotechnics of the food. The menu is coyly worded, many entries acknowledging their inspirations—“Sweetbreads and malawach like in Yemen,” “Seafood soup Uri Buri style” (named for a famous Akko chef)—or intriguing the reader: “Fish tartar doing synchronized swimming”; “400 grams of entrecôte you just don’t want to miss.” The desserts range from the loopy (but delicious) “Snickers-bar 2.0,” a brownie and peanut-butter mousse, to the most traditional malabi, a delicate, creamy rose-and-orange-inflected Israeli custard that is a mainstay on the the menu. And who could resist the invitation to try their “F***ing amazing Swiss cheese and fig jam”?

At Machneyuda, the dancing is not a distraction; it is simply a celebration of life and wonderful food.

Machneyuda promotional video.

Machane Yehuda market >

Machneyuda >

Highlights of the Bustling Machane Yehuda Market

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Socializing at Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda in the evening. Photo by and © Vision Studio

Much of the food scene in Jerusalem revolves around one of the world’s greatest food markets, Machane Yehuda, which bustles with some 250 stalls selling fruits and vegetables, baked goods, fish, meat, cheeses, nuts and spices, wines and liquors, clothing and housewares. Vendors entice, cajole, and sometimes browbeat potential customers in a gamut of languages; and buyers in turn elbow one another in an effort to gain access to the ripest pomegranate, the plumpest chicken, the nicest bit of halvah—quickly filling up bags and wheeled carts to be dragged squeakingly home.

“250 stalls selling fruits and vegetables, baked goods, fish, meat, cheeses, nuts and spices, wines and liquors, clothing and housewares.”

Just about anything food-related can be obtained here. Two small dining places that have been embedded in the market for decades are Azura and Rachmo, both of which serve delicious Sephardic foods—hummus, kibbeh, stuffed vegetables, and much more—all exquisitely prepared. The busy Teller Bakery offers crusty European-style loaves and sweet, soft challah, and everything in between. Basher Fromagerie brings in the finest cheeses from every corner of the world. The gray-bearded Yemenite Uzi-Eli Hezi makes juices from any fruit you can think of (including the etrog, the citron that plays a central role in the Jewish festival of Sukkot). Cylindrical mountains of chalky white sweetness await at Mamlechet haHalvah, the appropriately dubbed “Halva Kingdom.” Any taste can be satisfied at this thriving market.

Machane Yehuda market > 

Machneyuda >

Azura 4
HaEshkol Street, Jerusalem

Rachmo
5 HaEshkol Street, Jerusalem

Teller Bakery
74 Agripas Street, Jerusalem

Basher’s Fromagerie >

Uzi-Eli Hezi >

Mamlechet HaHalvah (Halva Kingdom) 
12 Etz HaChaim Street, Jerusalem