Jerusalem Garden Cafe

Loved this place. My husband and I split the Muhamarah (red pepper spread, thick) with pita; we’d get it again, vegetarian platter, and an order of falafel. The falafel were beautifully crispy on the outside and had excellent flavor. The tahini salad was delicious. I’m typically not a fan of babaghanoush because of the smoke flavor but this had a very light smokiness.

Nice place to grab food. I’d recommend heading to the back of the restaurant if you want a quieter dinning experience. The front is nice too but you get more street noise. We had the lamb gyro with salad and the falafel gyro with potatoes. Everything was excellent and the portions are large so come hungry! Restrooms were clean and the server was good.

We visited recently on a Saturday, approximately 1:00pm, and this place was busy, but we got seated right away. This was our second choice for "brunch" location, but we're very glad we visited! We shared the lamb shawarma bowl and an order of falafel. My wife also had a pomegranate soda that was subtle but flavorful. The shawarma bowl included hummus, roasted cauliflower with a tahini/citrus sauce, flavorful rice, pita bread, and the shawarma itself. It was all immensely flavorful. Especially surprising was the roasted cauliflower, it was amazing! The falafel seemed a tad less flavorful than others we've had in the past, but was still well cooked, with a soft interior. The sauce given with it was thicker than other places, which I liked, and gave a nice contrast with the texture of the falafel itself. The staff we interacted with - especially our server - were friendly and offered to answer any questions. Service was fast and accurate, even though it was really busy in there. The only very slight downside was the arrangement of some of the seating. We were sat at a low table where the only seating was a bench along one side, so my wife and I had to sort of sit half on and half off the bench to look at each other and share food. That, and we were basically staring right at the two customers seated very closely right across from us, which was slightly awkward. But for sure we would go back and we're glad our first choice had so much of a wait this afternoon that we made our way here!

When you arrive: the tufted seats are at an awkward height and are soft, so if you've got any kind of back, knee, or mobility issues, ask for a table with chairs. You'll regret it otherwise. The hummus is awesome. If you like this kind of creamy dreamy hummus, look for Sitto's any of Asheville's (many) farmers markets. The bread tasted homemade, points for that. The Jordanian chicken was beautifully seasoned, a bit over done for my taste, but when smothered in the hummus and piled high with the caramelized onions, it's incredible. My friend got the lamb shawarma. To me, not worth the extra expense, but still tasty. The mint tea is NOT the classic knock your socks off mint normally associated with a proper Moroccan mint tea. Skip it. The cucumber tomato tahini "salad" is tasty, but they could have gone harder on the tahini or lemon. I wish they had garlic sauce. The chicken would have been absolute fire paired with toum or even a tangy lemony yogurt. I very much look forward to trying the other dishes on the menu, I'm forever interested in how others interpret my favorite middle eastern dishes, and these dishes are clearly made with heart.

Amazing time here! Our waiter was super attentive and very friendly!!! We dined at the very back since we were a party of 6. The service was extremely fast and the food was SO good! I got the salmon bowl. The portions were pretty good considering the price and the quality was really good! The salmon was cooked so nicely and the sauce on top of the cauliflower was divine! We really enjoyed our appetizers which came quickly and then we also were entertained by this wonderful dancer who was so kind and warm and talented!!! Overall, would recommend this restaurant to anyone!! Would go back. Vegan friendly options too :) however I would advise to go early since it tends to get crowded as the night progresses!