Top 5 bakeries in Jerusalem

Whether it’s for Friday night halla or just a snack on the way to work, Jerusalem has a great range of bakeries.

By LOREN MINSKY/ ITRAVELJERUSALEM.COM TEAM
Marzipan (photo credit: Courtsey)
Marzipan
(photo credit: Courtsey)
Jerusalem has a host of incredible bakeries with different specialities so it depends on what you’re looking for. These five bakeries in Jerusalem do what they do excellently.
1. Marzipan
Marzipan is most famous for the gooey rugelach. The most popular are the chocolate variation but they’re also available in cinnamon, vanilla, blueberry, sesame seeds, apple, poppy seeds, chocolate chip and cheese danish. With the rugelach taking center stage, it’s easy to overlook the bakery’s excellent hallot, cakes, savory pastries, biscuits, meringues and more. The flagship store on Agrippas Street is always teeming with American Yeshiva students and tourists, whereas the Emek Refaim franchise store is a little more suburban and has a small dairy café on site.
44 Agrippas Street (Original branch)
(02) 623-2618
Kosher (Rav Rubin, Beit Yosef, Rabbanut)
2. Lechem Shel Tomer
Lechem Shel Tomer is an artisanal bakery with scrumptious croissants, sandwiches, cakes, biscuits, focaccia, French bread and other healthy. crusty breads.
This small and charming bakery has branches in Rechavia and Old Katamon and also serves as a coffee shop with a small dairy menu. The bakery sells delicious items that go well with their breads like olives and sundried tomato spread, pesto and olive tapenade.
30 Azza Street
(02) 648-0751
Kosher Dairy
3. Magdaniat Pe’er
Jerusalem's oldest bakery, Magdaniat Pe'er has a branch in the German Colony and in Mahane Yehuda market. Magdaniat Pe'er makes the best non home-made halla in town (available in white, whole wheat, plaited or round variations), that are just the right combination of soft and sweet.
The bakery also offers cakes, sugarless cookies, pastries with whole wheat flour, bourekas, breads, danishes and decorative cakes for any occasion. The German Colony branch is just off Emek Refaim and has a small outdoor garden and a tranquil atmosphere. The Mahane Yehuda branch often offers two hallot for NIS15 on Fridays after 2 p.m. in winter and after 3 p.m. in summer.
5 Hamagid Street (German Colony); 33 Eitz Chaim Street (Mahane Yehuda Market)
(02) 563-2189
Kosher Rabbinate
4. Gagou de Paris
It’s easy to walk right past this unassuming bakery on King George Street in the center of town, but French-speakers in Jerusalem and those in the know head there for their fix of Parisian-style pastries.
The croissants are generally fresh and amazing and the millefuille (Napoleon), eclairs and French baguettes are great too. The place has a Parisian feel, is simply decorated and offers warm and friendly service.
14 King George Street
(02) 625-0343
Kosher Mehadrin
5. The Natural Choice
The Natural Choice is treasured by those who are health conscious and those with food sensitivities, but the bakery is also appreciated by a wider audience. The breads and confectionery on offer are both healthy and delicious with organic, gluten-free, sugar-free, egg-free and yeast-free options available (or a combination of these).
To start, it’s worth trying their whole spelt sourdough bread, the sweet rye halla, oat cookies and humus sambusak (savory turnover with fillings inside). The bakery often offers up to 50% discount in the early mornings on the goods from the day before.
111 Agrippas Street
(02) 622-3229
Kosher Mehadrin
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