WSDC 1998: Jerusalem, Israel Reproduced from the competition handbook: A bit about transportation but mostly about eating and drinking Jerusalem may not be the culinary capital of the world, but, with respect, after seeing the night-life of Canberra and Bermuda, I can safely say that Jerusalem has one of the best and widest varieties of places to eat and drink relative to the locations the competition has been held in in the past. I'll try to lay out the places to catch good food, but first, a few useful tips: When entering malls and certain stores, there will be security guards that will ask to look in your bag. Don't worry, it's standard routine. It shouldn't take more than three seconds, and if they ask you if you're carrying any weapons, don't get cute. Since all Israeli citizens are required to serve in the army for three years, you will see a lot of soldiers carrying guns walking around the city and on buses. Don't freak out when coming face to face with an M-16; they're not loaded. Don't be afraid of taking buses, everyone uses them all the time. A local bus ride costs NIS 4.10, but if you think it's worth it, you can buy a bus ticket with 20 rides on it for NIS 41 (adult tickets have 11 rides on them). When taking cabs, always make sure the driver puts the meter on, pronounced 'moneh' in Hebrew (as in Monet, the impressionist painter). A quarter of the city's population is Arab and another quarter are ultra-orthodox Jews (the guys in long black coats and black hats), so you will see lots of both walking around. When walking around Jerusalem, don't be fooled: No, you are not in the 51st state of the USA, it just seems that way. You'll find many of the American fast food chains here (Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Burger King, Dunkin' Donuts, Kentucky Fried Chicken, etc.), but at twice the price. Take special note of the Jewish dietary laws, also known as kosher. This requires separation of milk and meat, and not all kinds of meat are acceptable. For example, if you see a restaurant serves milk products (pasta, pizza) don't expect to find pepperoni or spaghetti with meatballs; and lasagna will be with cheese, not meat . On the other hand at most meat restaurants you won't find cheeseburgers and so on. Sea food and pork products do exist but in only a few non-kosher restaurants. Jerusalem has four main recreational areas: Emek Refaim/German Colony This area is a fifteen minute walk from Beit Shmuel, or just take the 18 bus on the other side of the street (facing towards the King David hotel). It has an assortment of restaurants and two movie theaters. Look at the map. Walk out to King David St., turn to the left walking up hill, passing the YMCA on the right and the King David hotel on the right. After a few hundred meters you'll arrive at a large intersection. Continue walking down hill. You will pass the Liberty Bell Park on your right, and a large grassy area to the left opposite the Old City walls with a fountain with lions on it. If you cross the street, ending up at the gas station, and then continue walking straight, you will arrive at Emek Refaim (Hurray!) The Jerusalem Mall (Kanyon) in Malha The Jerusalem Mall is just like any other large mall around the world: clothes, food, books, department stores and movie theaters. You will find a fast food area in the rear-middle of the second and third floors (Burger King), a Pizza Hut on the lower floor, and a Dunkin' Donuts on the third. This might not be a very big mall by some standards, but I always manage to get lost. On the second floor is an eight hall movie theater. All in all, if you like malls, you will like this one too. It's a good place to do regular shopping and have a nice time, especially on rainy days. The Talpiot Commercial Area This commercial area has two main attractions: The Israel Mall and the Rav Chen Movie Theater complex. It is pretty easy to get there. You can either catch the no. 14 bus from Keren Hayesod St. (going south), or take a cab, and tell the driver you want to go to the Ezor Ta'asia (or just tell him exactly where you're headed). The movie theater in the area is called Rav Chen or just Chen. You will also be able to find some discos there, but you might want to think twice before attending those since they are frequented by the local Israeli punk, known as an ars. This rare species feeds on being annoying and rude, and is easily recognizable by its awful dancing and greasy hair. The ars's mate is called a freha, and can be detected by the tight leather outfit (or lack of outfit). Most of the discos are located on HaUman St., which is the same street the movie theater is on, and on Yad Harutzim St. where you can also find the Israel Mall, with its bowling alley and pool halls. The City Center In Israel, as in World Schools debating, everything divides into three, so it's no great surprise to find out that the City Center has three main areas: The Midrachov (Ben Yehuda Mall) This is the main place for tourists to walk around. The main part of the midrachov is Ben Yehuda street, with its restaurants, gift shops and bazaar stores. On the midrachov itself you'll find places like KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Blues Brothers (steak house), Ben and Jerry's, Big Apple Pizza, and many falafel and shawarma joints. Slightly off the midrachov, on Shamai St. you will find McDonalds and if you walk past it, and into a small passageway, you'll arrive at Second Cup, the Canadian "Starbucks." Here you can buy a cup of coffee, sit in a comfortable sofa, and prepare your team's points, or quietly read a good book. The coffee is excellent, the staff all speak English, and the chairs are comfortable, so this is a good place to meet with your team and discuss things. Around that area you will find a few more coffee shops, better known as "Espresso Bars." At the bottom of the midrachov, near Zion Square, you will find a store called Happening, which is an Israeli Hallmark, or Cardies. Other good gift shops are Mr. T, Lord Kitsch and another T-shirt shop across from Happening. Further down the midrachov is Zion Square (not named after me), where you will find Bonkers, a good bagel store, and Dunkin' Donuts. And this leads me to my next point... Nahalat Shiva' At the other end of Zion Square is the beginning of Nahalat Shiva', an old Jewish neighborhood, redone into a commercial area. The main road here is called Yoel Salomon St., and you will find many good restaurants, such as Yemenite Step, an ethnic restaurant, serving Malawach (a flat, oily piece of fried dough) with meat and other assorted goodies. Sounds bad, tastes great! You will also find Italian (Luigi, La Pasta, Ostaria Papas etc.), and meat restaurants (Pampa Grill, La Brasa, Gilly's, Meditrana, Paprika and El Gaucho -the best steaks in town). If you're feeling adventurous, walk in some of the alleys. They are fun and this is where you will find some of Jerusalem's best pubs. At the bottom of Salomon St. is a large square. When it doesn't rain, there is a market there known as The Cat's Market, where artists sell their work: earrings, bracelets, hats and so on. You will be able to find cute and inexpensive presents here. But don't count on the market being active because it's winter. At the beginning of Salomon St. off Zion Square, is a disco called Underground. Russian Compound The Russian Compound is home to Jerusalem's finest liquor establishments. It's located off Jaffa Road. Just walk up Heleni HaMalka St. On your left you will see some pubs and bars, but don't make too much trouble, because on the right is the Jerusalem Police headquarters and the local courts. Recommended places are The Mad Hatter, Glasnost and Mike's Place, all the places are OK. As you walk deeper into the depths of Heleni HaMalka St. you will see other roads such as Monbaz St. and Sira St. On both of these you will find good bars. Again, a reminder for the record. The legal drinking age in Israel is 18. Vegetarians If you are vegetarian, Israel should be a pretty good place for you, because of the Jewish dietary laws. There are three good vegetarian restaurants in Jerusalem. The first is on Emek Refaim Street, called Te'enim. The second, Village Green, is on the Midrachov, and the third, Etnachta, is on Nachalat Shiva'. There are two good places to eat near Beit Shmuel. The first is called Rosemary, and is located just past the YMCA. The second, Little Italy, is on Keren HaYesod, the street parallel to Kind David, on the corner of Jabotinsky. On the other side of King David St., past the intersection, are two pubs: The Midnight Pub and Capricorn Pub. There is an internet Cafe in Jerusalem. It is Strudel, at 11 Monbaz St. in the Russian compound. From here, you can send e-mail, search the web and so on. Israeli food, which is actually Middle Eastern, Arab, Balkan or Greek in origin, tends to be greasy, fattening and high in cholesterol. Those three words alone mean only one thing (for me at least): It tastes really good!!! The basics of streetside Israeli cuisine are: Stuff something into a pita (a round, flat kind of bread, which can be opened and filled with food, much like an envelope), cover it with salads and french fries (known only as chips in Israel), and voilà, you have lunch. Falafel are round balls made out of chickpeas, deepfried in oil until brown and hot. They tend to be crispy on the outside, soft and greenish inside. A mana, serving of falafel should cost no more than NIS 7. You can cover it with humous, a chickpea spread, tehina, a sesame sauce, or amba, a mango sauce. The ingredients of the latter two have absolutely nothing to do with what they taste like. Beware harif, the word for spicy in Hebrew. This usually means something made out of green and red chili peppers, that will make curry seem mild. Then again, some people like it (me included). A mana of falafel will usually consist of humous, a few balls of falafel, salad, pickles and french fries. Just point to the toppings you want, and he will put them in your pita for you. Most Israeli storekeepers will have a broken English that they will be more than happy to share with you. Another kind of food is shawarma: A long piece of meat on the grill, made out of turkey, lamb or beef. Shawarma is usually about NIS 13 or 14 a portion. Again, you will receive the toppings you request with the meat cut off from the grill. It tastes really good. You can easily change foreign currency in Israel. On King David and Jaffa Road there are many places where you can change currencies to Israeli shekels. You usually need your passport for this. Beit Shmuel doesn't offer this service but there is a dry cleaning establishment on Emek Refaim St. called Washamatic. It's run by an American called Jason. Postage Air mail letters Europe, Asia, Africa 1.80 NIS There are two kinds of public phones in Jerusalem. The first kind is quite simple, you insert a one shekel coin. You will be able to find these phones in public places, restaurants, etc. They are small and grey. Avoid calling internationally on these phones as it is probably cheaper to fly back home. The other kind uses phone cards known as "telecards," which you can buy at most kiosks, post offices and autiomatic tellers. They come in cards of ten calls, 20, 50 and 100. The phones that take them are orange and some also take international credit cards. International calls are preceded with 00.
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