Nura

Nura, Kiryat Anavim: one of the best kosher meals in the Jerusalem hills

We were driving up to Jerusalem and decided to stop at Nura on the way, and I am so glad we did. It sits out in the Jerusalem hills, in Kiryat Anavim, inside an old barn that has been turned into one of the prettiest kosher dining rooms I have sat in. We took a table on the terrace, under the greenery, with the light coming through and the hills all around us, and from the first minute it felt less like a roadside stop and more like a small escape. Nura means fire in Aramaic, and fire really is the heart of this kitchen. There is a tabun and an open grill, and you taste it in almost everything that comes to the table. Let me start with the bread, because it set the tone for the whole meal. It is made by hand and baked to order right there in front of you, and it arrives hot, puffed up like a balloon, blistered and charred in spots from the oven. You tear it open and the steam comes out. Honestly, I could have made a meal out of that bread alone. When a place gets something this simple exactly right, you already know the rest is going to be good. And it was. Nura is a meat restaurant, but the thing that surprised me most is how much the fish is the star here. We had a fish carpaccio, thin cool slices under good olive oil, chili, and scallion, fresh and bright and seasoned exactly the way it should be. There was a fish tartare piled onto a piece of grilled bread that I did not want to share. The linguine came tossed with fish, herbs, and a green pesto with crunchy breadcrumbs scattered over the top, the kind of plate that looks simple and then keeps pulling you back for another bite. We also had grilled herbed fish kubbeh with charred eggplant, soft and smoky and full of flavor. Everything was fresh, everything was properly cooked, and nothing was over-thought. This is a kitchen that trusts good ingredients and fire, and it pays off on every plate. Here is the part that genuinely surprised me. At lunch they run a business lunch at 98 shekels a person. For the quality of what we ate, in a setting this beautiful, that is one of the best value meals I have come across anywhere in Israel. If you time your trip right, you can eat like this for barely more than a quick bite in the city. The service matched the food. Warm, attentive, quick without ever rushing us, the kind of team that clearly wants you to have a good time and not just turn the table. I would put it at a 9 out of 10, right alongside the food. On the kosher side, Nura is certified by the Rabbanut Mateh Yehuda, and it is a meat kitchen, so the fish is served pareve within a fleishig restaurant. One practical note, it is out in the hills just off the highway, so you want a car to get there, and the full dinner menu naturally costs more than that unbeatable lunch deal. Neither of those is really a complaint. It is more than worth the short detour. Bottom line, Nura is one of the best kosher meals I have had in a long time, and it goes straight onto my must-visit list in Israel. Stop on your way up to Jerusalem, sit out on the terrace, order the bread and the fish, and take your time over it. You will not want to leave.