Food tour in Jerusalem famous Market| Machne Yehuda
The Machane Yehuda market is the center of Jerusalem. Its location in the city center next to the LRT station attracts residents, Israelis from all over the country and travellers. There is a sense of ‘community' when you go for a walk, as all suppliers know each other and will be happy to direct you to the destination of your choice.
I would like to take you to a market with special tastes, colors and perfumes, I hope you are hungry! Let's go to a virtual food tour together right now.
Kyortush- Imagine you are in Hungary
This is a traditional Hungarian patisserie with a special form. A 25- to 30-cm long cylinder with a hole in the centre. A well-known toping is chocolate and cinnamon. The hole in the middle makes it lighter than Corason. You can buy it in the market and eat it hot from the oven or pack it as a takeout dish. If you choose to eat it later, store it in a cool area to maintain good taste.
Knafe-Soft oranges colors.
Knafe is a traditional Arabic candy made from semolina with goat cheese and with a sugar syrup toping for an additional sugar. In some places the toping made of kaddif noodles with additional margarine or a butter together with a palm oil. Cooking all the materials together makes its color orange (usually a food-colored ingredient is added as well).To serve with pieces of fresh pistachio on top of it that gives it a «sweet-salty» taste.
The warm cheese inside the Knafe, with the crisp texture of the semolina gives an unforgettable tasting experience and flavour.
Halva, sweets to my sweet!
This dessert is famous all around the world in many variations. You can even find it in India and Morocco! Halva in Arabic is “Sweet” and you will agree the name is suitable after your first bite. In Israel we are straightforward so don’t be shy and ask for free taste samples!
Halva is mostly made of Sesame seed paste (same as Tahini) and sugar. Among the verity of flavors, you will find: Chocolate, Coffee, Vanilla, Pistachio and Banana. If you are daring, try tasting the whiskey flavored halva!
The Halva texture is great as it is melts in the mouth and you can immediately feel the happiness spread inside your body. One of its best advantage is that it can be stored in a room temperature for a long time.
The most tempting form of serving involves topping it with pistachio pieces above.
It is such a V.I.P sweet that you could even find two stores of it inside the Machne Yehuda market! Look for “The Halva Kingdom” sign. The two stores have a big machine that produce a tahini using huge millstones stones.
Olives- Ancient love
Olives is one of the ancient symbols of the land of Israel. Since ancient times the local people used it to make an oil as a fuel, cosmetic uses and for ceremonies such as funeral and anointing kings.
The Olives varieties can be divided into three types: Olives intended for edible, Olives intendent for making oil and the last type can be intended for both purposes together.
Some claim that right here in Jerusalem, the olive trees at the foot of the Mount of Olives in the courtyard of Gethsemane Church are among the oldest in the world, over 1500 years. However, experts claim that this is an urban legend and its age does not exceed 500 years.
Olive oil is considered particularly healthy because it can be created in the process of cold pressing, by a pressure compression action and not by heating. Thus, its important components as Aeolic acid and vital vitamins are preserved.
There are many ancient oil mills in Israel that are evidence of the use of olive oil in the area. A well-preserved oil mill can be found in the Beit Guvrin National Park.
In Israel, olives are simply loved in all their forms. Although there are many factories to produce olive oil the demand exceeds the supply and we also import from other countries. Among the Israelis favorite olives are the Greek olive kalamata and the Spanish olive Manzanillo.
The main olive fields are in the Western Galilee area and there are many boutique shops who sells their own olive oil. Look for the local “Parag” store which have a movie about the olives in Israel, olives, olives oil and olives spreads.
Drinks- Vitamin C Station
Here you will find Eli Uzi's famous juice shop with many types of fruits: Watermelon, Cherry, Melon and much more. In addition to juices, it also has cosmetic products that contain… fruits off course. There are many types of fruit juices. the famous one is the promenade which is well known for its health benefits. If you want the most common juices, try the orange and the carrot juice. Otherwise go for the ginger and apple, or Mango-Banana-dates (our favorite).
Accessories -Home is where are heart is
You can also buy here hats and products for your home. Among the stores you could find here “dream keepers” store, local Jewelries stores and designer clothes shop (for example : Talia Boutique which sells clothes from Italy at Agrippa’s 109 street).
You can also find flower shops. It is customary to buy bouquets at home on weekends to welcome the Shabbat with pretty flowers.
There are many more places which we did not mentioned: Cheese shops, Bakeries, Fish, Meatand so on, well we can not reveal all the secret here right? * We would love to answer any question about the market and give you a personal recommendation, please DM us.
During the night, this place looks different and the market become full of young people coming to drink their Beer and eat in a local restaurant, we will make an article about it as well.
Travel information
Entrance from the market is from Jaffa street or Agrippa’s street.
Market is open between: 8:00-19:00 every day, on Friday 8:00-15:00 and on Saturday its closed, but during the evening the pubs and bars are open.
Entering the market if from Agripas street or Jaffa street.
Arrival Using Local Transportation
The common way to arrive to the Machne Yehuda Market is to take the light train from the center bus station untill arriving to Jaffa Street entrance.
You can also take the following buses from the central bus station and stop at Agrippa’s Street:
Lines: 6,8,18,21,32,74 and 75.
opening hours
The Market is open all week long except for Saturday’s and holidays.
Sunday-Thursday open from 08:00 am until 19:00 pm.
Friday open on 08:00 until 15:00
Saturday: The market is closed. However, in the evening the coffee shops, restaurants and pubs are open.
The best time to visit is from 09:00 am until 17:00 afternoon.
Arrival options
| Bus | From the central bus station there are many bus lines which stops near the market entrance at Agripas street- : 6, 8, 18, 32, 21, 74, 75 |
| Light Rail Train | This is a cheap and convenient way to reach the market. You can take a light rail train directly to the market from the central bus station. In case you are using a car, can park your car free of charge in one of the lightest trail train stations at Herzel Mountain (הר הרצל) and Givaat Hatachmoshet (גבעת התחמושת). You should by transportation card called “Rav-Kav” and pay for 1.5 hours, daily or monthly use. That way you can easily combine between the bus lines and the light rail train using the same transportation card. |
| Car | There are many parking lots nearby, please make sure you know the rate before parking there as some are extremely expensive. Our Recommendation: 1] Old Shari Tzedek parking lot (Shabat Tzedek streetרחוב שבת צדק) - only 5 minutes walking distance ahead. The cost is 10 Nis per hour .On busy Friday you could get free 2 hours of parking when bringing a receipt from the market for purchasing from 100 Nis budget and above. 2] Menorah parking lot (Zerar Bachar street ז'ראר בכר). Located about 10 minutes walk from the market and offers good rate of 6 Nis per hour and Fridays the first 2 hours are free if you show them a receipt of 100 Nis and above from the market. 3] The Market parking lot at Agripas 88 streets. The rate is 20 Nis for the first hour, if staying more it is 5 shekels per ant extra 15 minuets. The daily total rate is 70 Nis (this is not cheap, but has the best location). 4] not a walking distance, but easily accessed with the light rail train is a Mamilla parking lot .Located under “Mamilla Mall” at Itzhack Kariv 1 street (רחוב יצחק קריב 1). Open 06:00 am -02:00 am on the next day). First hour is free of charge, from the second hour its 12 nis per hour. Above 4 hours its 48 Nis total per day. |
| Taxi | Use a cab using “Get-Taxi app”. Local’s tip: if you see an empty taxi it might not stop for you as it has been booked ahead. |
| Walking | If the weather allows you can walk from the local bus station by foot on Jaffa street until you see the market entrance. |
Weather/clothing
Jerusalem is famous of it’s cold weather during the winter, there is even a saying about “The Crazy Jerusalem Wind which penetrate the bones” (In Hebrew its sounds better). As part of the market has a rooftop and part doesn’t not have one, If you are planning to visit during winter season take with you an umbrella and a sweater. However, The market itself it has rooftop structure that protects us from the summer sun and rain in the winter.
Toilet
You have here three free public and cleaned often toilet :one for men, another one for women and last one for both on Shizaf street.
1] Women Toilet :on Etch Hayaheem street in the entrance to the market from Agripas steet
2] Men and Women Toilet on Shizaf steet .
3] Men Toilet on Hatapuach street.
Site explaining
Entering the Machne Yehuda market, always reminds me when I was young and my grandmother used to come here every week with her” big basket on the wheels”, filling it up in vegetables and fruits, I was always curious what surprise will I get to taste today. The market symbolized the Israeli Society, it has it all the possible combinations of tastes from each local culture.
You have two entrances: the main one is from Jaffa street just in front of a light railway station and the other one is on Agrippa’s street.
The market has two parts: outdoor part and an indoor part with a roof that protects from the sun.
Entering the main entrance of Jaffa street will lead you directly to the open market.
After a simple security check by the guards you will notice lines of stores on your right and on your left.
Explore the trancing from the main gate. After entering you will immediately notice shopping as a market it is defiantly having the bustling atmosphere of marketers shouting and singing.
There are two main streets starting from Jaffa street and ending at Jaffa street: "Etzh Hachayeem" steet and "Mahane Yehuda" Street.Those streets, are crossed by small streets with names of fruits. Apart from that there are two internal markets called the Iraqi and Georgian market.
If you are open minded, we recommend you to explore the verity of tastes. I will do my best to give you a virtual tasting tour, Beteavon! (“Bon Appetit”/enjoy your meal in Hebrew)
Why does it called Machne Yehudas, who is Yehuda?
Yosef Navon was a Jewish entrepreneurship who pushed to build the rail way from Jaffa to Jerusalem on the beginning of the 19th century. Yosef and his two partners, a wealthy banker Johannes Frutiger and A businessmen called Shalom Konstrum built a new neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem that named after Yosef Navon big brother and called The neighborhood of “Machane Yehuda” . Later on, a local Jewish family bought a big parking lot inside the neighberhood which used as market place for locals to sell their products. This market named eventually “Shuk Machne Yehuda” (Shuk is market in Hebrew) The shuk has many years of changing: from small in the outdoor, to small stands and shops to what it looks like today.
The shuk saw the history changes :British Mandate replaced the Ottoman empier and then Israel was established. in the beginning of the 21th century the market has been trough a major transformation to what it looks like today.
Final word’s
The Machne Yehuda Market is one of Jerusalem most loved places and considered as a must visit place for tourists after The western Wall, Tower Of David and Yad Vashem Museum.
This is the place to meet local people and to eat and speak from your heart. There is something authentic which can not bee seen anywhere ells. It is there for more the 130 years for a good reason, come and check it out.