I’ve done food tours in New York with Urban Oyster and knew that I would love to go on a food tour in Israel. Thanks to Twitter and @funjoel – my cousin and I had the opportunity to have a food tour thru Mahane Yehuda with Joel.

Please meet Joel!!

Joel is originally from the New Jersey and is now a licensed guide in Israel. He’s also a foodie and knew exactly where to take us in Mahane Yehuda, which is a popular food market in Jerusalem.

Here are the highlights.

Jachnun Bar: (30 Ha Egoz) This is a Yemenite restaurant that recently opened in the market.  I ordered a Fatut salad and would order this again in a heart beat. I loved the texture and the originality of this dish. What is Fatut? small pieces of malawach fried with egg, cheeses and toppings. Joel brilliantly described it as “kind of like matza brei”.

Halva King: (10 and 72 Ets Hayim St) These guys sell a gazillion types of halva (pure halva – not sugary, processed halva) AS WELL as a gazillion flavours of tehina. I was so impressed with how they make the tehina (see the photo) – that I purchased a container of tehnina to take home!! This is indeed AUTHENTIC tehina.

Manou Bashouk. At this restaurant we enjoyed a sliver of some meat pie. I say a “sliver” cause we were so full from lunch!!

Oozi Eli: At this store, we were introduced to some interesting combination of natural juices. i.e Gat juice, Almonds and Dates, Lemon Mint and Etrog, Passion Fruit and Goats Milk and more. We even shmeered some lotion on our necks in the hopes that we stay young and youthful forever!!

We even visited a family member of the Dr. Laffa owners. What a small world!

My cousin has lived here for 4 years and said (early on in the tour) “I would have never found these places”. Clearly Joel was instrumental to our  tour thru Mahane Yehuda. It would not have been the same visit without him.

I am also eager to connect Joel with many of my foodie friends and other friends who visit Jerusalem on a regular basis. Fun tour guides are hard to find and Joel was definitely fun and knowledgeable. Once again, I’m thankful to twitter!!

Our night ended at a restaurant that was suggested to me by three separate Toronto foodies (@rosieschwartz, @abeworno and @foodie411). Once again, my twitter friends guided me to the most amazing restaurant in Jerusalem called MachaneYuda (10 Beit Ya’akov St) The menu changes daily so I’m not going to list exactly what I ate as there is a good chance that it wont be on the menu the next time!!  What I can tell you is that the flavours, execution, presentation, service and atmosphere will be flawless!!

There is a reason why this is one of the top restaurants in the country!

Sadly my trip to Israel has ended.  I’m really really sad about leaving but know that I will be saving my loonies for another trip soon!   However my  vacation continues and the next blog post will be about my food adventures in Barcelona! Stay tuned.

For more information:

Joel can be found on twitter (@funjoel) or on facebook and has a great website too.

 

 

If you are looking for food adventures in NYC, then I highly recommend the following:

a) Go on a food cart tour with Urban Oyster. I went on a food cart tour last year and I was so impressed that I did it again this year. It’s well organized, informative and DELICIOUS. The tour guide (last year and this year) is a food blogger (@EatThisNY) and knows his stuff, so you can’t go wrong. Plus I love how accomodating they are; i.e if you dont like spice, if you dont eat meat etc.

Food Carts on the tour that we visited:

• El Reydel Sabor (King of Flavor)…quesadlias made with pumpkin flour
• Trini Paki Boys Halal Food….veggies with a tarmarind sauce over rice
• Bapcha Korean Cuisine…noodles with stir fried veggies
• Biryani Cart…kati rolls
• Treats truck…for dessert

b) Attend a cheese class at Murrays Cheese. I participated in a mixologist and cheese class in 2009 and it was on my list for this years trip. The beer and cheese class worked out well with my schedule so thats what I signed up for. Once again – the presenters for the evening were entertaining and well versed on their respective subjects. Enjoyed listening to both of them.

c) Visit Smorgasburg in Williamsburg. This outdoor food flea market was launched last weekend and I was thrilled to have found out about it (thank you Google Search)!! The variety of vendors, the setting and the layout was perfect. It was hard to figure out what to eat cause I wanted to try so many things…thankfully @norecipes joined me so we could share everything (problem solved!!). We enjoyed Kelvins Natural Slush & Co, anchovies from  Bon Chovie, a noodle dish with peanut sauce, Grass Jelly, Coconut Milk Infused Corn with Scallions and more!

d) I also found out about Taste of Tribeca (thank you again – google search) and went to check it out – after Smorgasburg. By this time I was FULL – but still managed to try out a few vendors. It was quite the festival – lots and lots of vendors and lots and lots of people. This was a charity event and you could tell that the restaurants and the neighborhood came out to support this cause.

e) It was suggested from @winedanddined that I visit a block in the East Village (7th avenue between 1st and Avenue A) for “great food”..and I did. She was so right!! Lots to eat on that street plus I discovered even more food a block away on St. Marks Pl. Between the two streets this is foodie “heaven”:  ButterLane, Lukes Lobster, Porcetta, HolyLand, Crif Dugs, Chocolate Library, and Abreca Coffee.

Oh yeah – one more thing. I went to check out Eataly (in my spare time). I was blown away with this concept. Only had a coffee but I certainly enjoyed walking around and snapping up photos.

Needless to say, I picked a great weekend to visit the city. Sadly there was so much going on that I didn’t actually go to a restaurant in the city. No room in my stomach!! Im not complaining…I know I will be back.

Last year I went to the Fancy Food Show in New York City. I loved eating my way thru New York City and eating my way thru the show.

I plan on going back to the show but this year it will take place in Washington D.C. (July 10-12). However I really want to go back to NYC and decided that I’m going to go the long weekend in May. Before the heat – before the major crowds.

On previous trips this is what I accomplished (ok – ate):

-attended a cheese and mixologist course at Murrays Cheese

-walked for hours thru the Union Square GreenMarket and Chelsea Market

-went on a food tour of Greenwich Village with Foods of New York

-went on a food cart tour with Urban Oyster.

-had drinks at the Spotted Pig and Blind Tiger

-ate at Momufuko, Nougat by Jean Georges (well kinda), Todd Englishs Food Hall, Shake Shack, Risotteria(a gluten free restaurant),The Donought Plant

-was lucky enough to stumble upon a jello competition with students from Parsons School of Design.

THIS YEAR: This is what’s on my hit list.

-attend Taste of Tribeca which is a culinary festival featuring great restaurants and wines.

-participate on a tour of Brooklyn brewerys with Urban Oysters

-attend a beer and cheese class at Murrays

-attend the opening weekend of  Smorgasburg in Brooklyn – described as a food flea market!!

I’ve been doing some research on the Manhattan chowhound board but havent made any final decision yet in regards to restaurants.  Ive also been using this website too. Nothing like finding out things to do in NYC for FREE. wwww.nycgo.com

What else should I do? Where else should I eat? What else should I visit? should I see a play? should I go shopping (ya think?..LOL)

Look forward to reading your comments.