The Hebrew Words You Need to Read a Menu in Israel

The first time I handed a friend a Hebrew menu at a Tel Aviv café, she looked at it for thirty seconds and handed it back. "I have no idea what any of this means." That's normal. Menu Hebrew isn't the same as conversation Hebrew. It uses its own small vocabulary, and once you know those words, you can read almost any café or restaurant menu in Israel with confidence.

The basic categories on any menu

Menus are usually organized into sections. Knowing the category headers gets you halfway.

• Reshimat mana'ot or tafrit, menu.
• Manot rishonot, first courses / starters.
• Manot ikariyot, main courses.
• Salatim, salads.
• Kinuchim, desserts.
• Mashka'ot, drinks.
• Tosafot, sides / additions.

Meat and fish words

• Basar, meat.
• Of, chicken.
• Dag, fish.
• Steak, steak (same as English).
• Schnitzel, schnitzel (extremely popular in Israel).
• Kabab, kebab.
• Hamburger, hamburger.

Vegetarian and vegan words

Israel has one of the best vegetarian and vegan food scenes in the world, so these words matter.

• Tzimchoni, vegetarian.
• Tivoni, vegan.
• Bli basar, without meat.
• Bli gluten, without gluten.
• Tofu, tofu.

Vegetables and sides

• Yerakot, vegetables.
• Agvaniyot, tomatoes.
• Melafefonim, cucumbers.
• Tapuach adama, potato (literally "earth apple").
• Chatzilim, eggplants.
• Orez, rice.
• Pasta, pasta (same as English).
• Batata, sweet potato.

Israeli classics you'll see everywhere

• Hummus, the national dish. Made from chickpeas.
• Falafel, deep-fried chickpea balls in a pita.
• Shakshuka, eggs in a spicy tomato sauce, usually served in a small pan.
• Sabich, an iconic Tel Aviv sandwich with eggplant and egg.
• Burekas, flaky pastries with cheese or potato filling.
• Malabi, a milky dessert with rose water.
• Kanafeh, a sweet cheese pastry.

If you see any of these on a menu, they're worth trying. They're the foods Israelis eat every week.

Drinks

• Mayim, water. Mayim gaz, sparkling water.
• Kafe, coffee. Kafe hafuch, cappuccino. Espresso, espresso.
• Te, tea. Shokolad cham, hot chocolate.
• Mitz, juice. Mitz tapuzim, orange juice.
• Bira, beer. Yayin, wine.
• Araq, a Middle Eastern spirit. Strong, anise-flavored.

Cooking styles

Knowing how something is cooked helps you pick what you want.

• Tzlui, grilled.
• Metugan, fried.
• Afuy, baked.
• Mevushal, boiled.
• Chai, raw.
• Charif, spicy.
• Matok, sweet.

A sample line you'll see

A typical menu line might read: schnitzel of tzlui im batata. That's grilled chicken schnitzel with sweet potato. Once you decode the three words, the whole line opens up.

Another: salat tzimchoni im gvina feta. Vegetarian salad with feta cheese. Three words, clear meaning.

The single most useful trick

If you're at a Tel Aviv café and the menu isn't in English, scan for these five words first: basar (meat), of (chicken), dag (fish), tzimchoni (vegetarian), and charif (spicy). Those five words alone let you filter out what you can or can't eat.

For the full food and drink vocabulary with audio, our food and beverages topic is the most complete resource on the site. And our phrases section has more restaurant-ready sentences.

Menu Hebrew is a tiny vocabulary with huge daily payoff. Memorize the 20 words above and you'll order confidently at any Israeli café.