Jerusalem Street Food Festival Brings Market Flavors to a Five-Star Hotel

A Jerusalem street food festival at the Inbal Hotel surprised a reviewer who expected hotel formality, not authentic market-style eating. The hotel courtyard, now fully kosher meat, was described as warm and relaxed, with hanging lights, Jerusalem skies overhead, and Levantine music setting a pleasant tone. The experience was presented as the opposite of a stiff five-star dining room, with no pressure to finish quickly and no waiter hovering over the table.

The festival, which was dairy last year, has now shifted to meat, a change the writer said better fits Jerusalem street food. Four stands were offered: a Jerusalem bagel stand with a hot bagel topped with olives, vegetables, za’atar and salt; an oven station serving meat sambusak, lahmajun and other hot, crisp pastries; a falafel and masabacha stand with hummus, tahini and falafel with sumac; and a station for arayes and Jerusalem mixed grill, described as closer to the old Agripas Street version than today’s typical version.

Each stand came with its own appropriate salads and condiments, instead of one generic salad table, including cucumber, onion and hot pepper with the arayes, and tahini and hummus with the masabacha. The reviewer said a diner can keep returning for refills, eat at their own pace, and leave full.

The evening ended with watermelon cubes, handmade basbousa and black coffee served from a pot, likened to the Old City and “how it should be.” The festival runs Tuesday through Thursday evenings, at the Inbal Hotel courtyard in Jerusalem, under rabbinical supervision as a meat event.