2 Best Restaurants in Latrun, Around Jerusalem and the Dead Sea

Chef Rama Ben Zvi combines local produce, meat, and dairy with attentive service for a meal that could easily last hours amid the gorgeous Judean Hills. Brunch, lunch, and dinner are fixed price and begin with bread baked on-site. The menu changes at this spot open only a few days a week, but the beet hummus is outstanding, and grilled lamb ribs served on bulgur wheat with tomato chutney are delightful. Desserts like pistachio ice cream are beautifully executed. Prices are upscale, as are the modern wooden furnishings and wood floor. Drinks include a spicy gin coriander cocktail, and the wine list includes many Israeli bottles.

This restaurant—part of a moshav, a kind of cooperative farm, built by Finnish Christians—was originally called Yad Hashmona, or "memorial to the eight," to atone for the Finnish government's turning over of eight Jewish countrymen to the Nazis. Call ahead to reserve a spot at the famously generous Friday brunch of salads, cheeses, quiche, and fish (NIS 110 per person) that's served in a dining room featuring wood imported from Scandinavia. From Jerusalem, take Route 1 toward Tel Aviv, exit at Neve Ilan, and follow signs to Yad Hashmona.