Tel Aviv residents have, since the founding of the state, more or less viewed their countrymen 40 miles up the road in Jerusalem as unrefined hayseeds, Judean hillbillies straggling years behind the advanced hochkultur flourishing on the Mediterranean.

Whether there remains anything to this stereotype is certainly open to debate, but that doesn't stop Jerusalemites from often enthusiastically embracing a Tel Aviv culinary import – and if said import also happens to jibe with one of the epicurean trends that sometimes define Jerusalem dining, so much the better.

That's the story of Japanika, a popular Tel Aviv sushi chain that recently opened a new location on Shlomtzion Hamalka Street. Japanika's elegant décor and hip ambiance meld well with its Shlomtzi neighbors, and diners will be pleased with the extensive selection of kosher Japanese delicacies. If the sushi was a hit with those refined Tel Aviv palates, after all, it must be good.