Azura

This restaurant is an culinary oasis in the heart of one of Jerusalem's biggest markets. The food is absolutely amazing, with accesible prices as well, overall excellent price-quality ratio. The place also has a unique vibe that makes the visit worth it. The waiting line for indoors dining is about 10 minutes, but you can also eat outside.

There is no doubt that the place serves good food, but — and this is a big *but* — the attitude toward customers is disgraceful! Especially considering that we stood in line for forty minutes. It’s simply disgusting the way people are treated — service below any acceptable standard. The place is far from being clean or well organized. On top of that, the prices are very high, but this is characteristic of many food businesses in Mahane Yehuda Market. Business owners cynically take advantage of the heavy tourism in the area, and despite their relatively low expenses, they allow themselves to charge inflated prices.

Azura has a cozy atmosphere and the food tastes homemade. Most of the food is already cooked so the wait time is minimal. The food is very traditional and authentic to the Iraqi Kurdish cuisine. The Azura was tasty and had a combination of flavors. It consisted of an eggplant, ground meat, pine nuts and cinnamon. The portion was a bit small and I was not a huge fan of the cinnamon but overall it had a great texture. The Kubbe in the soup was delicious and probably my favorite thing I tasted. Keep in mind that this soup is a bit sour since it is made with lemon. For those that like something spicy ask for their schug, it’s great! Also the staff is very friendly and makes you feel welcome. (They also have English menus)

A great authentic local restaurant. Amazing dishes with original and unique combination of ingredients. If you want to feel and taste and original Jerusalem flavour, so this is a must visit place to eat. Great for lunch and will recommend to book in advance, as the place is overloaded in rush hour. Enjoy 🙂

Why 5 stars? The Food. Great taste, good portions, relaxed family atmosphere. Everything about this place is right. Family run, super busy, classic dishes. Price is on the high side, but the value is there. Shimon Peres, former President and Prime minister of Israel used to hang around this place. Not a bad recommendation!

This place has truly amazing food. However, be prepared to either get there early or wait for a long time as it gets very busy during peak times. We went on Friday lunch and had to wait for at least 30 mins to get a seat. We went again on Wednesday before lunch and got a seat without waiting. We had the beet soup, bean soup, beef head, moussaka, rice with beans and hummus - all of which were amazing together with warm bread.

A tasty good old restaurant. Their stovetops are full of pots brimming with hearty delights like Kibbe and other stews The service is good, the prices are reasonable and the food comes VERY fast due to the fact it's mostly long cooked and prepared. I had beetroot kibbeh (קובה) soup which was good but a bit too soft and too oily for my tasting.

I haven't had a chance to stop in this trip. I just wanted to post the kosher certificate, because I am never able to find it online anywhere.