Motsa’le: A mini-vacation without leaving J’lem - review

My husband Cliff has started a “minhag”, a custom of taking himself out to breakfast every Friday morning and often watching the football highlights (which I have no interest in watching with him). Occasionally, I go along for the ride and the food is almost always the same – a breakfast with eggs, spreads, breads, juice and coffee. It’s tasty but not very exciting. The price has also been rising, with most breakfasts costing between NIS 70 and NIS 90.

Motsa’le in Motsa turns all this on its head. Opened just before Passover last year, it was established by Chef Tamar Mayorkes, who has been working in food and catering for years. But she always dreamed of having a place of her own, and finally opened Motsa’le.

The bubbly Tamar greets every guest as if they’re an old friend, whether she’s seen them before or not. We visited on a Friday morning and although it was busy, she found time to come outside with a bottle of ice-cold arak and make a “lechaim” with her guests.

There is both inside and outside seating at the café. Outside there is fake grass, and shaded tables that are a welcome refuge from the city. There is a play kitchen for kids, as well as coloring books and games.

I saw a family with two toddlers eating brunch, with one of the toddlers stretched out resting on the fake grass. There was a couple where the husband was wearing a military uniform and carrying a gun, and another couple where the wife had taken off her shoes and had her feet propped in her husband’s lap.

You order inside the restaurant, but the food is served on a tray through a window.

“Almost the entire menu is vegan or can be made vegan,” Tamar told me.

A taste of Israel with a spin

There are also unique dishes that are unlike any others I’ve tried in cafés. Tamar suggested we try two of her flagship dishes: Shmensky’s Hummus and Rotem’s Smile.

Shmensky’s Hummus (NIS 42) is a bowl of creamy homemade hummus served with lahuh (a Yemenite bread) instead of pita. There are optional add-ons of a hard-boiled egg and fried eggplant. Beyond being delicious, Shmensky’s hummus is named after Daniel Ben Harush, a friend of Tamar’s who was killed in Gaza on reserve duty. Ben Harush’s wife told Tamar that her husband’s dream was to open a café selling hummus and even posted a recipe for his hummus, calling himself Shmenshky (a diminutive of shamen, or fat). Tamar said she promised to memorialize her friend this way.

The second dish we tried was called Rotem’s Smile (NIS 55) after a woman named Rotem from Kibbutz Be’eri who cooked special breakfasts for soldiers with PTSD. She was killed on October 7 and even though Tamar didn’t know her, she created a dish made of the lahuh fried in a pan with eggs and three types of cheese. It might not be for the calorie conscious but it was delicious.

The only dish I didn’t love was the Emek Ha’arazim Salad (NIS 55) which had a lot of coriander and sumac, which are not my favorites. But I did enjoy the feta cheese served with it.

Motsa’le is also a great meeting place if you have friends coming from outside Jerusalem. From south Jerusalem it took us just 20 minutes via Road 16 – less than it would have taken to get into the center of town.

Motsa’leShmuel Broza 1 (behind Yvel design center)Hours: Sunday – Thursday 8:30 to 4Fridays until 3 p.m.Kashrut: Badatz Mehadrin YerushalayimThe writer was a guest of the restaurant.