Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #40: Don't Fear Those New Prefab WCs, Pleasantly Surprised

Unlike my previous Pishers' Guides, the list can be found at the end of the post, not the beginning. 

A couple of weeks ago I was in Jerusalem and entered Machane Yehuda via Shiloh Street. I'm at that age when it's unwise to delay visits to the WC, but I was nervous about trying this prefabricated one. I also know that there aren't many "nice" public toilets in the open market. 

So, I figured that worse comes to worse I could "hold my nose" or flee and search for another one.

This funny looking prefab structure is on the corner of Agrippas and Shiloh Streets. No nauseating odor greeted me, and I found it easy to open the door. The "lock" was pretty automatic after I shut it.

As you can see the instructions are in three languages plus icons on the outside.

Inside it didn't smell either. I was impressed.

As you can see in the photo, the toilet is stainless steel, meaning that it should be easy to clean and relatively unbreakable. It took me a few seconds to realize how the sink worked. I was pleasantly surprised by the warm water.

Now I don't fear entering these WCs. Of course, there can always be problems. Cleaning staff isn't there 24/7. 

What's your experience with these public toilets? If you reply in the comments, then please indicated location and hour.

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #39, Wonderful Surprise-- WC at Bus Stop

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #38, Gan Sacher Room for All

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #37 Jerusalem's Safra Square's Renovated

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #36 Cinema City- Not Just for Intermission

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #35 Pleasant Surprise at the Jerusalem Central Bus Station

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #34 Binyan Clal Public Toilets Renovated

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #33, New Public Toilets Downtown

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #32, Har Chotzvim, Not The Gas Station

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #31, Good Deal in "Supersol Deal," Givat Shaul

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #30, Speedily Out of Order at New Train Station

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #29, Kotel WC, Prayer Come True

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #28, Machane Yehuda WC, Fright at First Sight

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #27, CBS Revisited, Worth The Shekel

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #26, New Kraft Stadium, Complaining May have Helped

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #25, New Park, New Loo

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #24 Horse Park WC Staff Horsing Around

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #23 For One Shekel in the CBS

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #22 "High Tech" Loo, Not for Use

Pishers Guide to Jerusalem #21, Perfect "Pit Stop" on Emek Refaim

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #20, Gan Hasus, Horse Park, Like Russian Roulette

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #19, Center 1 Has Gone Downhill

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #18, Shuq Loo for You Ladies

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #17, At Least It was Clean

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #16, Iconic Location-- Nauseating WC

Pishers Guide to Jerusalem, New Loo #15 Up Close

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #15, New Guy in Town

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #14, Mega Yuck!

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #13, Hadar Mall: What Public Toilets Should Be

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem # 12, Center 1, Usually OK

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #11, Never Fear The Rami Levy WC

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #10, At Least There were Toilet-paper and Soap

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #9, Watch Out for Peep Holes!

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #8, Kupot Cholim to The Rescue!

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #7 A Supermarket to Avoid. Plus WC Tips

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #6, Bring Your Own Paper

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #5, Mamilla Mall Where Modern Stinks

Don't Be Afraid, A Pisher's Guide to Jerusalem #4

Historic Jerusalem Building, A Pisher's Guide to Jerusalem #3

A Pisher's Guide to Jerusalem #2 

A Pisher's Guide to Jerusalem #1

Bus Changes, Again, Finding a New "Pit Stop"

Dinner at Hatch Brewery, Great Beer and Wings

That's me (photo by Shelly Becker)

I finally discovered that a friend of mine also loves beer, so now I can finally go to the beer bars I've been eyeing with longing. She suggested to a number of our mutual friends that dinner at Hatch Brewery would be a nice experience. From a half a dozen who had originally shown interest, the number dwindled down to two, just the two of us. Their loss, we had a totally enjoyable evening out at Hatch.

The minute I walked in, I raised the average age by a couple of decades, but it didn't seem to bother anyone. The waitress just smiled, hopefully at my sense of humor, and the other customers were too busy eating and drinking. They weren't interested in someone old enough to be their grandmother.

As you can see in the photo above, we ended up at what could be called a "table for two" and carefully perched ourselves on the stools. They were very sturdy and more comfortable than expected. We had a nice view of dried peas and lentils. Really. Hatch is in Machane Yehuda, close to Rechov Agrippas, 28 Rechov Haegoz, just around the corner from Michmoret.

Each plate has 12 wings

Our friendly, helpful waitress gave us menus. Since we were there for the beer, plus food, we needed a bit of assistance, being first-timers. There were some interesting dishes besides a nice choice of "wings" and "fries." Hatch has a couple of vegetarian options, including a salad. There were also some tempting sandwiches, but when we noticed the "special," 12 wings and four generous tasters of their beer tasting flights for only NS65-... no contest. That's what we each ordered.



Presentation of the four beers was aesthetic and clever. The wings and beer filled me up, making a perfect meal. Wings were freshly cooked, tasty and meaty. I had eaten a giant Tuna Salad in a dairy restaurant for lunch, so my "greens quota" was filled for the day. And don't forget that there are hops in beer. That's also a vegetable...

About the beers, the IPA was excellent, light and fruity. The Sour was lemony. There was supposed to be chocolate in the stout, but I could only taste a trace of it in the last drops. Without a doubt, I liked all of Hatch Brewery beers, and I ended up tasting about five. I really enjoyed the Hatch beers much more than any of the beers I had tasted at this past summer's Jerusalem Beer Festival.

My dining partner and I had only praise for everything, the beer, food, ambiance... Since we got back we've been telling all of our friends, recommending they join us next time we go to Hatch. Yes, Gd willing, there will be a next time. BTW Hatch is certified Kosher, Rabanut Yerushalayim Mehadrin. All meat is Kehillot. Phone 02-656-3691. Hatch facebook. #hatchbrewery

Here are more photos. All photos taken by me, unless otherwise indicated.

Signs of Spring: Fresh Garlic!

The other day when I went down to our local Shiloh macolet, grocer-supermarket, I was greeted with a sure sign of spring, fresh garlic.

When we were newcovers to Israel, I couldn't understand what the garlicky smell was on buses every year between Purim and Passover. It was like suddenly being in an Italian deli.

It took a couple of years to discover what fresh garlic is, and that this is the fresh garlic season. When we were growing up, garlic was just of the powdered variety, bought in small jars. Very rarely did my mother ever buy a fresh garlic bulb/clove. And that was around the time I wasn't living fulltime with my parents and siblings.

The first time my husband and I bought fresh garlic, it lasted a year. I only cooked with it on very rare occasions. We still were using powdered garlic, and at that time I didn't buy the dried cloves/bulbs. Now, we always have a supply of "real garlic." And I don't buy powdered garlic, just the coarser ground in jars, which is rarely used.

Next week I'll have my husband buy fresh garlic in Machane Yehuda, and we'll hang it to dry before using. He's a shuq addict. I try to patronize the local store, but that's another post...

Fish in The Shuq

Grilled Trout in Michmoret מכמרת, fantastic

 A couple of nights ago I went to Jerusalem's nighttime restaurant and bar/pub hotspot, none other than Machane Yehuda, the "market." It used to be an open-air market, but over the past decade or more, it has been renovated and covered to help it compete with the discount supermarkets. Today's shuq isn't the shuq of old in so many ways.

As day fades into night, and the leftover produce is packed away, out come the tables. Instead of hearing the sellers calling out bargain prices, there's music blasting. And there's an amazing variety of food places, from ice cream to steak to fish. My companion and I knew exactly what we wanted, fish at Michmoret. They keep the prices down with a simple fixed menu. For ns80 each, we started with a table full of Israeli salads and very tempting wholewheat bread. Then the fish arrived. I had ordered the trout, and we both had it with vegetables, not chips, which is the other choice. Everything was perfectly prepared, delicious! I cleaned the plate. We sat inside, where it was relatively quiet. It was truly a perfect meal. Then we walked around the shuq a bit before going home.

Michmoret is also open lunchtime. There's a variety of beers, wines and other drinks, if you want them along with your meal. It's located at 7 Hatut Street, close to Agrippas Street, so there are buses that go there and the lightrail on Yaffo Street. If you're in the center of Jerusalem, you can easily walk to Michmoret. Phone 02-579-4847.

Michmoret, Heavenly Fish in the Shuq

The other day my friend and I decided to have a nice early dinner together. She asked me for suggestions, and I told her about Michmoret. It's an excellent fish restaurant in the Machane Yehuda Open Market. I always take a table inside, since I find the shuq much too noisy. This time the piped music was a bit too loud for my taste, so I asked them to lower the volume a bit, which was done immediately.

There's a choice of fish for NS75 or NS85, depending on which fish you order. And there's a choice of side dishes, either vegetables or french fries. If you want a fresh salad, as a side dish, it cost a bit more. This cost much less than a fish meal in any of the popular dairy restaurants.

You start the meal with a variety of Israeli salads and freshly baked bread. The salads are replenished and taste delicious. The wait staff was extremely polite, and although Michmoret's a small restaurant, we weren't rushed out.

I had the Denis, which was perfectly cooked. My friend and I just drank water, although Michmoret has a very well-stocked bar.

Michmoret's on 7 Ha-Tut Street, just off of Agripas Street, Machane Yehuda Market, Jerusalem, Israel, telephone 972 -2-579-4847.

Just Peachy

The other day I was pleasantly surprised to find nice looking peaches at a decent price in Machane Yehuda, so I bought a few. Once I got home, I saw that they weren't 100% perfect, but they are exactly what I need for my breakfast.

Ginger "scrapings," apples, goat yogurt* and peaches are a great breakfast combination.

I guess summer really has arrived!

*In addition to the peaches, I found a nice supply of my favorite goat yogurt, the one from Susiya, in a grocery store on the same shuq street as the peaches.

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #28, Machane Yehuda WC, Fright at First Sight

This is a continuation in my ongoing series about public toilets in Jerusalem. See  #27,  #26,  #25,  #24,  #23, #22, #21,#20, #19, #18, #17, #16,  #15a, #15,  #14, #13, #12, #11, #10, #9,  #8, #7,  #6,  #5, Saved by The First Station aka #4a, #4, #3, #2 and #1

It is located by this fish store close to the corner of the shuk street, not lane.

Lots of people have asked me to review these public toilets. It's not that easy, because I don't get to Machane Yehuda very often, and I rarely succeed in finding the 00, WCs. Today after my friend and I ate in one of the new shuq "eateries," we continued wandering around and I was overjoyed to find the loo.  That is until I began to walk in.

I must say that besides the off-putting disgusting mess, the WC didn't smell, and to its credit it also had toilet paper and soap.

It seems to me that the Jerusalem Municipality has been trying its budget-cutting skills in the department that is responsible for public toilets. There has been a serious deterioration in the standards of Jerusalem Public Toilets in the past couple of years. WCs I've used for years without complaints have become BYOP-Bring Your Own Paper and HYN-Hold Your Nose. And on the rare occasion I find them clean and equipped, I think I've won the lottery.

The mess of paper that greeted me must have been from those women who used it in between the last cleaning and my arrival. My only complaint that can be blamed on the municipality is that they have to fix the lock of the handicapped stall.

Of course, maybe I was just lucky and arrived there within an hour of cleaning. But we all know that smells remain in toilets which aren't cleaned well and sufficiently frequently according to use. And I had no complaints about that problem in the shuq loo.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

French Press "Rides" Again

A few days ago I finished the last of my American ground coffee, so I had to make do with Elite Turkish Coffee perked in my classic stove top percolator. Finally, yesterday I combined my biweekly shopping in the Shaar Binyamin Rami Levi for fresh chickens with a shopping trip to Jerusalem.

This was a nice rainy day, which is what winter is supposed to be, and equipped with an umbrella and a smile I took care of a lot of shopping errands.

Getting ground coffee was the priority, so once I got to Jerusalem I made my way to Machane Yehuda's main covered market street/lane and searched for Rosmarin, where I had found the best prices plus a coffee-grinder that doesn't overgrind.

It's the only store I've found that has some coffee for under ns10 per 100 grams. You can choose between Brazilian and Columbian for ns8 per 100 grams. I bought some of both. They totalled about 600 grams altogether in two separate bags. Maybe another time I'll have them mix the coffee beans. What do you think?

This morning I was back drinking coffee from the French Press. I opened the Columbian, and it was fine. Yes, I'm awake.

French press coffee Yay!
bought ground coffee in the shuk
Cold, dry day not good 
#morningcoffeehaiku

About That Coffee I Bought in The Shuq

 

 A couple of weeks ago, I realized that I would run out of coffee for the French Press before a new stock would arrive from the states. I even tried to find the link to a coffee place here in Israel that delivers, but I failed.

Then, by chance, I was in Machane Yehuda and came across a new coffee place, possibly a branch of a more veteran one. It's called Rosemarin, or Rosemary, and it's on the "main drag." They had a better price for Colombian coffee, so I decided to give it a try.

I asked for a quarter of a kilo, but the young man working there gave me more and had to keep asking the manager how to use the machinery. The store seemed that new. I didn't mind getting 400 gram, about a pound, because at the time I didn't know when some would arrive from the states.

As you can see from the photos the store looks nice and is stocked with all sorts of food, coffee and spices. The staff was very polite and accommodating. The grinder even had a label saying "French Press." I hadn't seen that in other stores.

My first taste of the coffee wasn't all that auspicious, since I could taste large pieces of what could have been the shell of coffee beans.  And the taste was nothing all that great. I was very upset.

But subsequent cups of coffee made with their coffee were good. I realized that the problem may have been from the fact that I had mixed the very last of an older different coffee with this new one.

And after a week or more drinking this Colombian coffee, which was also the best price I've found in Jerusalem, I'm happy. I've also been experimenting with different milks, as some readers may have noticed. Now I have almond milk and don't add the sugar, or as much, which had been a strong part of my coffee enjoyment.

The Rosemary coffee place uses high quality bags, as you can see here. I think it keeps the coffee fresher than from other stores which just use a reinforced paper bag. And once I get the coffee home, I store the bagged ground coffee beans in one of the empty tins from American coffee.

I'm glad to have found this Rosemary place with better prices and a better coffee grinder.

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #18, Shuq Loo for You Ladies

This is a continuation in my ongoing series about public toilets in Jerusalem. See #17, #16,  #15,  #14, #13, #12, #11, #10, #9,  #8, #7,  #6,  #5, Saved by The First Station aka #4a, #4, #3, #2 and #1

A few months ago, when this series began taking off, I got a couple of requests to find and review the Ladies Loo/WC/00 aka public toilets in Machane Yehuda, the open air market in downtown Jerusalem, also known as "the shuk, or shuq" however you want to spell it. For whatever reasons, the "facilities" have been moved around the area, which is a few square blocks of warren-like lanes and roads serviced by a nice selection of bus routes and the Jerusalem Lightrail.

I promised to find the loo, and this week I succeeded. At present it's just off Machane Yehuda Street, on one of the side streets/lanes that leads to the "main drag" of the shuq.

To find it, you must "look up," since there are signs.

Now, I must admit that although it is one of the most trafficked places in Jerusalem, even on a very busy Tuesday evening, when prices were being slashed by the sellers of fruits, vegetables etc so they could soon close their stalls for the night, and the bar/restaurant scene was getting into full swing, the public toilets were relatively clean. The floor was wet, but it didn't smell. I guess it had been recently swabbed but not dried.
 

And as you can see here, there's plenty of pink soap, plus a cup for ritual washing according to Jewish Law. There are also a few stalls, including a designated handicapped one large enough for a wheelchair or giant shopping-cart. So, comparing this WC with others, especially the relatively nearby Binyan Clal, I must say that this loo gets a passing grade plus.  The Jerusalem Municipality is doing a much better job here than in its own complex at Safra Square, which is one of the very worst I've been to recently, which in my recent experiences gets cleaned and resupplied only once a day.

Ladies, have no fear when shuk-shopping. There is a place to go...

PS I must find a willing male to review the "men's room," wherever it is.

Jerusalem Purim, 5777, 2017

This year our kids "spoiled" us. They did the entertaining on Purim, both days, even. So we weren't home much at all. On Shushan Purim, we were in Jerusalem, and even though it was a bit drizzly, London style, there were plenty of people in the streets dressed for the holiday in costumes, or at least funny hats. The trains even had some decals decorating the windows.

Here are some of the pictures I took.