Where's the Beef? Places to Buy Fresh Meat and Poultry in Jerusalem

Last week I asked a Facebook foodies group for help after Shufersal ripped me off for the second time in the meat department.

About once a month I do a large Shufersal delivery order. The first time I ordered meat, I got ground beef that was at least 70% fat. I had to spend an hour picking out the larger chunks to get it down to a much more reasonable 80% lean more-or-less ratio.

Last week I ordered "ribs with bone." They delivered a large joint bone--definitely not rib--with a little bit of meat on it.

That was the last straw. I plan to never, ever, ever, order anything from their fresh meat department again!

So I asked the Israeli foodies group where I can get good fresh meat in Jerusalem and got five great answers.

And then Facebook blocked my account and all my posts, because I can't enter the security code they sent to the phone I had in the States before I moved to Jerusalem. I've since rejoined that foodies group, but the post and the answers simply aren't there.

So here's my attempt to recreate those answers:

Two recommended butchers were the Machane Yehudah shuk.

1. Go into the shuk from Jaffa road and take the first LEFT. There are two twins who do a great job, and are highly recommended.

2. There's a great butcher shop next to Pasta Basta. This one also came highly recommended.

There are also three online places that will deliver great meat and poultry to your door.

3. There's Artzenu, which is located in Zafed (Tsfat). They do organic beef.

4. The Fresh Meat Co-Op Israel, which also came highly recommended.

And...I can't remember number five, and searches on Facebook have come up empty.

My Calendar of Fun Things to Do this Summer in Jerusalem

This is my calendar of things I'm interested in doing in Jerusalem. I'm still adding to it. This week, I'm especially looking forward to the Jerusalem Lights Festival. I understand it's the highlight of the summer and not to be missed!

The Malcha Mall has a pretty good website. Unfortunately, it's all in Hebrew. That's something they need to work on fixing.

i Travel Jerusalem

If you're looking more for things to do year-round in Jerusalem, iTravelJerusalem is a pretty good site: https://www.itraveljerusalem.com/

It's less informative when it comes to festivals and special events. As I write this, the events on the homepage are listed in English in backward order--starting with the Maccabiah (July 4-18) on the left, followed by the Festival of Lights (June 28-July 6) in the middle, and ending with Design Week on the right (June 8-15). Weirdly, you have to click "see more Jerusalem events" to find the Book Fair, which most Israelis would consider more significant than Design Week.

But the site does contain several useful articles, including general overviews of the First Station, Mamilla Mall, Mahane Yehudah, and so on. To learn more about what's going on at each place on a particular day, you'll have to visit their own websites.

Go Jerusalem lets you look up things you can do in Jerusalem day-by-day at this link: http://www.gojerusalem.com/attractions-calendar

The focus is mostly on touristy activities, like the Time Elevator and tours of the tunnels under the Kotel, while ignoring things that should be more interesting to locals, like the Night Market and Book Week.