• Sights
• Restaurants
• Hotels
• Entertainment
• Shopping
• Travel Tips
• Features

Restaurants Overview

Jerusalem is less chic and cosmopolitan than Tel Aviv -- no question about it -- but you can still eat very well in the Holy City. Some cuisine designations are self-explanatory, but other terms may be less so. A restaurant advertising itself as "dairy" will serve meals without meat; many such places do fish, in addition to pasta, soup, and salads. "Oriental" on a sign is usually a literal translation of mizrachi, suggesting Middle Eastern (in contrast to Western). "Kosher" does not imply a particular style of cooking, only that certain religious restrictions are adhered to in the selection and preparation of the food. Remember that kosher restaurants are closed for Friday dinner and Saturday lunch in observation of the Jewish Sabbath.

Dress codes are pretty much nonexistent in Jerusalem's restaurants (as in the rest of Israel). People tend to dress very casually -- jeans are perfectly appropriate almost everywhere anytime. A modicum of neatness and modesty (trousers instead of jeans, a button-down shirt instead of a T-shirt) might be expected in a hotel dining room on the Sabbath, for example. Still, if you've taken the trouble to bring your dressy duds, you won't be out of place in a more exclusive establishment.