On Cobblestone Mall along Kerikeri Road, Cafe Jerusalem has been cooking traditional Israeli food for the Bay of Islands since 1999. The cafe takes its inspiration from the classic dishes of Israel — warm pita straight from the oven, bowls of homemade hummus and labaneh, spice-scented schwarma and koftas — and serves them fresh and flavoursome every day of the working week.
The kitchen's philosophy is simple: consistently good food, honest value and great service. The team sums it up in a line they use themselves — 'we love what we do and we do it with love' — and it shows in a menu that covers lunch, takeaway and dinner with equal care.
Dietary needs are well catered for, with gluten-free, sugar-free, vegetarian and vegan options flagged across the lunch, dinner and takeaway menus. The vegetarian side of the menu is a genuine strength rather than an afterthought: falafel, levivot (spicy veggie fritters) and a combined veggie plate sit comfortably alongside the meat dishes.
Whether you duck in for a pita at lunchtime, order a mezze platter to share with friends, or settle in for a slow dinner finished with baklava and homemade lemonade, Cafe Jerusalem offers a taste of Jerusalem's food culture in the heart of Kerikeri.
Tucked into Cobblestone Mall on Kerikeri Road, Cafe Jerusalem has been a fixture of the Bay of Islands food scene since 1999. For more than two decades it has done one thing and done it well: traditional Israeli cooking, made fresh and served with warmth. The team's promise is consistency — good food, honest value and great service — delivered with a line they genuinely mean: we love what we do and we do it with love.
An Israeli meal at Cafe Jerusalem often starts the same way it would in Jerusalem itself — with dips and warm pita. The starters list covers garlic pita and hot basil/tomato pita, burekas (savoury pastries filled with labaneh and zaatar or spicy potato and mushroom), homemade hummus, labaneh (a yoghurt-based soft white cheese), Salat Hatzelim (an eggplant dip), a spicy veggie soup and, at dinner, a dip platter and dukkah dip with olive oil and zaatar.
The mains carry the spice cupboard of the Middle East. Vegetarians are spoiled with falafel, levivot (spicy veggie fritters) and a veggie plate combining the two. Meat eaters can choose koftas of minced beef and lamb spiced with coriander, cumin, turmeric and chilli; schwarma lamb; schwarma beef cooked with onion; Jerusalem Morav (spicy pan-fried chicken livers and hearts); shishlik (herb-marinated diced chicken breast); and metuvlun, chicken breast and onions in a special spice blend.
At lunch and takeaway, each main can be ordered three ways — stuffed into a pita with salad, tabuleh, hummus, spicy tomato salsa, mint yoghurt and tahini; served on a bed of greens and tabuleh as a salad; or as a full meal with rice, salad, tabuleh, hummus, mint yoghurt and pita. At dinner, mains arrive with rice, salad, hummus, mint yoghurt and pita.
The Mezze Platter is the dish Cafe Jerusalem loves to talk about: 'try a bit of everything'. Designed for two or more people, it lets the table choose four mains — with vegetarian and meat combinations — and the kitchen prices it per person. It is an easy way to turn a first visit into a guided tour of the menu.
The sweets cabinet is a destination in itself: taim, halva, Turkish delight, chocolate apricots, baklava (which contains peanuts), baklava with ice cream, ice cream with chocolate sauce, and Yuffit's yummy chocolate cake. Alongside the traditional Israeli desserts there are sugar-free treats, so nobody has to miss out.
To drink, the cafe pours what it calls amazing coffee, Kerikeri organic tea and fresh mint, with wine and beer available — including a Marlborough white by the glass. But the drink the team most wants you to try is the homemade lemonade, described as a typical Israeli refresher.
Cafe Jerusalem is open Monday to Saturday from 10am until late and closes on Sundays, so plan a weekday or Saturday visit. Reservations can be made by calling 09 407 1001 or through the booking page on the website. Gluten-free, sugar-free, vegetarian and vegan options run across the lunch, dinner and takeaway menus, and the takeaway menu makes it easy to grab a pita or a mezze platter to go. Whether it is a quick lunch in the mall or a long dinner with friends, the flavours of Jerusalem are waiting in Kerikeri.