Ranking the best Chanukah doughnuts in Jerusalem

Where to find the best doughnuts for Chanukah in Jerusalem?

We wrote this last year, in preparation to post in 2023. Little did we know that Israel would be engulfed in war by the time we could finally post this.

In light of the ongoing war, we still felt it was worth publishing as there will be many of you enjoying doughnuts in Jerusalem. Ultimately, they tried to kill us, they failed, we eat. Am Yisroel Chai!

If you ever needed an example of just how special it is to live in Jerusalem, look no further than the extraordinairy amount of choice there is when it comes to buying doughnuts.

There is just an incredible amount of choice. Not just at every bakery, you can find doughnuts on sale in Makolets and the options are overwhelming.

Before we get to the nitty gritty of how each doughnut fares, a couple of important clarifications.

We know in America that the spelling of "doughnuts" can also appear as "donuts". We will be going with the former here as it is slightly more popular in the USA and much more common internationally.

Likewise, our style is "Chanukah" - but there are of course lots of other options for the holiday that falls in the winter time and at the end of the year in the Christian calendar.

Doughnuts trump Latkes for most popular Jerusalem Chanukah food

It is a Jewish custom to eat fried food during the holiday of Chanukah, to commemorate the fact that a small jar of oil lasted eight days for the Maccabees, once they had reclaimed the Temple.

Two foods are traditional during the holiday of Chanukah, Doughnuts and Latkes. The latter are fried potato patties. Practically however, in modern times, whilst you can buy Latkes, it is doughnuts that dominate the streets of Israel.

Pretty much every bakery in the country pulls out all the stops when it comes to Chanukah, with different options for Doughnuts, that seem to become more elaborate every year.

In our review below, we located meat doughnuts, parev doughnuts, gluten free doughnuts and then virtually every flavour you could think of.

Navigating the doughnut wars is a tough proposition, but someone has to do it!

A year ago, we set our Team, along with their spouses and children, the task of hunting down the best sticky treats in Jerusalem.

Below is our list of the best doughnuts in Jerusalem...

 

Kadosh

Location: Queen Shlomzion Hamalka Street, 6

Amongst the most famous cafes in Jerusalem, Kadosh has a reputation that has risen alongside its owners Keren and Itzik Kadosh.

Kadosh provide a very wide selection of doughnut options, the most famous are with blueberry or pineapple cream. So good are the Kadosh doughnuts that there will often be queues to get them going half way down the street.

This year Kadosh produced an "Old City" doughnut that included pistachio, sesame and caramel.

Be aware though that you pay for the undoubted quality, Kadosh can set you back 18 shekels a doughnut, amongst the most expensive that we reviewed.

 

Roladin

Numerous locations in Jerusalem - including Mamilla Mall, Derekh Chevron & Jaffa Street.

Over the last decade, the Roladin brand, which is all over Israel, has become synonymous with Chanukah in Israel.

Roladin usually put together a large marketing campaign surrounding their doughnuts and in recent years have been the talk of the town at this time of year.

Every year there is some new innovation provided by Roladin, with their pipette, injecting more flavour into the doughnut, or straight into your mouth, a particular favourite amongst the younger generation.

Amongst the most popular Roladin flavours this year was Salted Chocolate Pretzel, Vanilla Fruits of the Forest, Pistachio Sherry and Truffle Praline.

 

Gagou de Paris

Location: King George Street 14

The recent influx of Jews from France has provided some incredible bakeries and Gagou de Paris is hugely popular all year round.

Be aware that if you are looking to buy doughnuts for Chanuka, you will almost certainly have to queue, in what is an orderly system.

Known for their pastries, the doughnuts here look absolutely incredible. Extremely rich, the kids who tried these were not disappointed.

 

Neeman bakery and Cafe

Location: Emek Refaim 37

One of the staples of Emek Refaim and for sure one of the most popular on the road and perhaps in Jerusalem.

The big advantage of shopping in Neeman on Emek, not to be confused with the much bigger chain of Maafe Neeman, is that if you have a membership you get money off and items for free.

Neeman bakery and cafe pull out some pretty special doughnut options for Chanukah and are considered amongst the best in the city.

 

Goldys

Location: Ezrat Tora Street 18

Goldys really take things to a whole new level and offer choices that other stores in Jerusalem cannot match.

As well as providing assorted Latkes, they also produced for 2022 a "Netanyahu" flavour as well as lemon meringue, cotton candy, praline, and caramel popcorn doughnuts.

To really take things up a level, Goldys also offered meat doughnuts, including asado, smoked meat, shnitzel and liver pate and blueberry jam options. 

 

English Cake

Locations: King George Street 21, Agripas Street 103 & Rivka Street 19.

English Cake are well represented in Jerusalem and are another bakery to put heavy focus on producing a wide array of fantastic looking doughnuts.

In fact, the picture at the top of this page is from English Cake on Agripas Street.

They offer no less than 14 options for Chanukah. The majority are milky, but they do have some parev options too.

Amongst the highlights at English Cake are pistachio, the chocolate milky and Ferrero Rocher. They also provide one free if you buy five, which is a nice touch. 

 

Le Moulin Dore 

Location: Emek Refaim Street 44

The French bakery on Emek Refaim, predictably had plenty of choice for Chanukah with a wide array of doughnuts.

Amongst the highlights at Le Moulin Dore was a Mango/passion fruit combination that went down very well with the youngsters.

Whilst their dough might not have been the fluffiest, perhaps due to the fact the doughnuts had been out all day, their creamy fillings more than made up for it.

A very solid showing. And, somewhat surprisingly, parev doughnuts meant you could have them after a meat meal...

 

Maafe Neeman

Locations all over, including the Old City, Jaffa Street 72 and on Pierre Koenig in no less than two locations on the same very long street.

One of the most famous bakeries in Israel, with over 60 stores throughout the country.

As you would expect, Maafe Neeman also pull out plenty of choice for Chanukah. You will not be disappointed with the choice here.

Much like their very popular pita bread, the doughnuts here are fluffy and were popular with the kids who taste tested.

 

Peer Bakery

Location: Etz Hayim Street 41

Located bang, smack in the middle of the Shuk, Peer bakery is a great and cheaper option for a simple doughnut.

Coming in at just six shekels, it is a throwback to a time when doughnuts didn't have to be colourful and stuffed full of cream.

Despite being the simplest doughnuts we tried, the children were just as happy with these as some of the other more elaborate options.

 

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If you have any thoughts about our Jerusalem doughnut review, or feel we missed something out here, please contact us.

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