I Finally Ate at Jerusalem's Iconic Rachmo's

For years I'd heard of this excellent, simple low-price meat restaurant Rachmo. It's just off the the main part of the Mahane Yehuda Open Air Market, which has gone rather yuppy or upscale in recent years.

You can get anything from low price carrots to boutique fashions to fancy jewelry, or bargain clothes or yummy fruit or even pet accessories. There are lots of bars, and even more open at night when the vegetable stands close. This is your shopping center of multiple personalities.

Rachmo is located at 5 Eshcol St, Jerusalem, phone 02-623-4595. It's less than a block from the original Rami Levy grocery store which has blossomed into a large Israeli chain of discount supermarkets. My friend and I could see it from the window by our table.

Before finding ourselves at Rachmo, my friend and I had wandered around the shuq looking for a place to eat. We like simple, healthy and inexpensive meals, preferably something we don't make at home. Although Machne Yehuda is known for bargains, we found many of the restaurants too expensive. And even though we were there on Monday, a relatively quiet day for shopping in Machane Yehuda, it was too noisy. Some of the noise came from renovations and other noise was the "music" playing in the restaurants which chased us away. That's why we ended up on the side street. When we saw the Rachmo sign, we decided to check it out, mostly out of curiosity but with a large dose of hunger, too.

For us Rachmo was an oasis of calm and quiet. The prices looked good, too. And, yes, of course it's Kosher. We had to line up with a tray by the opening to the kitchen, where we asked for food from the pans, pots and trays. They didn't have everything on the menu; I had wanted to try their musakka. But instead we both had Kubbe Soup. It was delicious, homemade style, just perfect. And it only cost NS33-

Yes, the soup is a meal. For us it was a perfect lunch! And next time I'm there, I hope they have Moussaka, and if they don't I'll be happy to try something else.