Yeah That’s Kosher! >> a Kosher Travel blog

KosherFest 2008, Secaucus, NJ

Kosherfest is similar to other conventions held at any other convention center. The only difference, kosher food. Wait, wait, FREE Kosher food. The sound of that makes any observant Jew grin with glee. I held the same feeling walking in to the exhibition hall, waiting to try all these new kosher goodies.

Walking into Kosherfest after stepping off the NJ Transit bus was fairly easy. Annoying, but easy. What was more annoying was the security not letting me into the convention hall because of my backpack. They were OK with messenger bags but not backpacks. They were afraid that people with backpacks will try and take as many samples as possible with them. If they only knew what was going to happen later that day. In the end, I got in.

Row after row of exhibitors, showing off their products services, and some new inventions. The thought of free kosher food didn’t really hit me until I already tried a few mini potato knishes, cheese blintzes, a chocolate slushee, mint Mentos, organic pomegranate juice, strawberry banana Prigat, and some relatively strong Muscat wine from Efrat. I was finally in a place where I didn’t need to hold back. Or so I thought.

I proceeded to try many different items, only dairy and pareve though as to not make myself fleishigs. “Hot Nosh” is a new vending option offering heated kosher food for decent prices. I found this product to be very important for those of us who travel, or who find ourselves in a location that typically lacks kosher options (campus, airports, stadiums, etc.). I got to try the mozzarella sticks.. they were hot and good. For $3+ it definitely hit the spot. It is also appealing for its convenience, always on even when the stores are closed. Definitely useful on college campuses, which typically lack kosher options anyway. I hope to connect with the businessmen behind “Hot Nosh” and help them expand this great idea.

I also learned that Manichevitz created the brand “Guiltless Gourmet”, a favorite snack brand of both myself and my wife. Their chips, dips, and salsas are great. For the traveler, they offer frozen burritos, which are also really good. I definitely suggest taking a few of those frozen bad boys on your next road trip in a cooler. Just make sure you’ll have access to a microwave. (On a side note, my wife just noticed on the Spicy Black Bean Dip label it says: “Perfect as an addition to roasted chicken, pork, and burgers…”. What a great way to de-Jewify your brand. Kudos.)

The ultimate travel companion is “La Briute” an all in one meal in a box (not a particularly large meal though), which can heat itself up without an oven or microwave. Arielle and I tried a couple of these meals on our trip to Iceland, and they came in handy as Iceland is totally void of kosher anything. These meals do not need refrigeration or any cooling of the sort. They are a bit pricey at about $10 a meal, but come very handy on the road or overseas. Just don’t try and heat it up on the plane!

A similar product to “La Briute” is China Mehadrin’s frozen meals. Obviously you’ll need access to a microwave and a way to keep these meals frozen while traveling, but they are still a great product for traveling.

One of the most important connections I made was with Weberman’s catering from South Florida. I know the company from my years spending Pesach in Miami… my mom would order catered food from Weberman’s, and the food was quite good. They create pre-made meals (much better than “airplane food”) for almost all cruise lines as well as Disney hotels and restaurants in both Orlando and Los Angeles. He gave me a few tips to share with everyone seeking kosher meals on cruises or at Disney locations.

Disney:
• All U.S. Disney hotels should carry their pre-made meals in both states.
• Disney restaurants that have table (waiter) service need an order placed 24 hours in advance for specific orders. Random Weberman’s meals should be available without advanced order, but I wouldn’t risk it.
• Counter service (or fast food style) restaurants on Disney locations should always have some of their meals in stock without an order.

Cruises Weberman’s serves:

• Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines
• Carnival Cruise Lines
• Norwegian Cruise Lines
• Holland America Cruise Lines
• Celebrity Cruise Lines
• Princess Cruise Lines
• Oceania Cruises
• Costa Cruise Lines

Advice on booking kosher meals on cruises:

• Call “Guest Services” of the cruise line around 6 weeks in advance.
• It is better to call Guest Services to place your order even if it is not 6 weeks in advance, than to not call at all.
• Use your Booking # when speaking to Guest Services
• Request a menu
• Many of the above cruises will have the Weberman’s meals, but don’t rely on that. Take the initiative and contact your cruise line after you book your trip.

I was also able to meet with and chat up the various representatives from the Kosher agencies such as the OK, COR & MK (Canada), CRC (Chicago), KLBD (UK), Kashrut Authority (Australia), etc. (the OU wasn’t too friendly). Many of them were excited to hear about this website and hopefully they’ll be helping with the project.

Toward the end of the day I started feeling really dizzy. Why? I don’t know. Eating too much crap? Maybe. But I’m better now. The last 30 minutes of KosherFest was utter mayhem, and wildly entertaining. Imagine a few hundred Jews and the barriers to free kosher products being removed. This was the scene near many of the stands giving away packaged food, especially Sabra Hummus and the other Israeli products nearby. I managed to pick up 3 new flavors of Sabra Hummus: Chipotle - Spicy, Caramelized Onion - YUM, and Pepadew??, as well as 2 tubs of the best hummus ever, Achla. I also walked away with a 9 pack of Gabila’s knishes, and a jar of Etrog Marmalade - weird!

Overall, this was a great experience and I look forward to KosherFest 2009!

Tags: Cruises, disney, hummus, kosher agencies, kosher frozen meals, kosher products, kosher travel, kosherfest, meadowlands, webermans

Glatt Kosher SUBWAY® Restaurants in the U.S.

While there are nearly 22,000 Subway restaurants in the United States, only a tiny fraction of them are actually Glatt Kosher… the overwhelming majority doesn’t claim to be kosher at all, so be careful.

I have eaten at a few of the kosher Subway places and I do admit, it is not my favorite fast food place. I dont really have anything bad to say about it, just nothing great either. It’s a deli place. If you like deli and soft bread, its great. If not, its just a deli place. I definitely wouldn’t plan a vacation around going to a Kosher Subway, that’s for sure.

Having said that, these Glatt Kosher Subways are popping up all over the place, and people love them. I guess us Jews just desire what we can’t have. Don’t you remember when Oreos became kosher?? I must’ve bought 3 packages at least and binged on those bad boys until my teeth were black with chocolate cookie.

But I digress. After doing some research on the web, I’ve compiled a list of the Glatt Kosher Subway chains across the U.S. Are there any outside of the U.S.? Someone comment and let us know.
I haven’t seen much advertising from this chain so far, so I guess this list should give them a little boost.

• • Los Angeles
    8948 W. Pico Boulevard
    Los Angeles, CA
    website
  • Kansas City
    6312 College Boulevard
    Overland Park, KS
    913-451-9993
  • Baltimore
    706 Reisterstown Rd.
    Pikesville, MD
    website
  • Livingston
    523 South Livingston Ave.
    Livingston, NJ
  • Brooklyn
    1219 Avenue J
    718-252-1716
    website
  • Brooklyn
    937 Kings Highway
    718-339-3338
    website
  • Cedarhurst, Nassau County
    529 Central Avenue
    Cedarhurst, NY
  • Queens
    14124 Jewel Ave
    Flushing, NY
    718-544-7827
  • Cleveland
    26001 South Woodland Road
    Beachwood, OH
    216–765–1925
    order online

CALIFORNIA

KANSAS

MARYLAND

NEW JERSEY

NEW YORK

OHIO

Special Notes:

• The Kosher Subway in Lower Manhattan on Water St. has closed.
• The Kosher Subway in New Rochelle has closed.
• A Kosher Subway is planned for the Upper West Side section of Manhattan, NY.
• A Kosher Subway is planned for Teaneck, NJ.
• A Kosher Subway is planned to open within the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington in Rockville, MD (Greater Washington D.C. area)
• A Kosher Subway is planned for the Glendale suburb of Milwaukee, WI.
• Other Kosher Subways may be popping up here:
• Great Neck, NY
• Miami Beach, FL
• Brookline, MA
• Toronto, ON
• Chicago, IL

Pack your cars and head over to your closest Kosher Subway. Chances are you won’t be the only ones.

Tags: franchises, kosher subway, New York

Finding Kosher Sushi in NYC

What was once impossible to find, Sushi has become so popular in the Jewish community over the past 15 years, every restaurant wants to get in on the action.

Delis, pizzerias, non-Japanese Asian eateries such as Chinese and Thai restaurants, have all jumped on the Sushi bandwagon. When I first tried Sushi over ten years ago, I absolutely hated it, but now I can’t get enough of this delicious finger food. (That’s right! The traditional way to eat Sushi is with your hands, not with chopsticks!)

So here are a few places I recommend in NYC. If you have some favorites of your own, please add them by commenting to this post.

• Mr. Broadway - Broadway, Midtown Manhattan - A great deli with Sushi bar up front. Some of the best tasting Sushi I have had.  Try the “Atlantic Roll” with Tuna, Avocado, and fresh Mango. Awesome!
• Jerusalem 2 Pizza (J2) - Broadway, Midtown Manhattan -Famous for its pizza (although it’s not too great anymore), J2 has expanded it’s menu and has a Sushi bar behind the sandwich area. You can pick up a pre-made roll or request a chef’s special roll. The rolls are surprisingly large, tasty, and inexpensive.
• Estihana - W 79th st., Upper West Side - Expensive but good Sushi. Popular date place. Also has a restaurant on Ave. J in Brooklyn.
• Fujihana - Ave. U, Brooklyn - Fujihana introduced me to Sushi. They are well known for their wide Japanese and Asian menu.
• Sushi Metsuyan - Central Ave., Cedarhurst - The Sushi is good, the atmosphere is amazing. The wall has a built in fish tank with exotic fish and other sea creatures. Great date place! They have 3 additional Sushi restaurants around the NY metro area including Teaneck, Queens, and Monsey.

Tags: 5 towns, asian, Brooklyn, Kosher, kosher sushi, Manhattan, nyc, sushi

Central NJ

Contributed by: Daniel Wenger | Last Date of Travel: Fall 2007

Major Towns: Deal, East Brunswick, Edison, Elizabeth, Highland Park
Up and Coming: New Brunswick, Linden, Long Branch

Kosher Info: Supermarkets throughout the area feature large Kosher sections, and many store-brand items are certified. Central Jersey is a bit more spread out than its northern counterpart, so there are often itervening areas with little Jewish/Kosher interaction. But fear not - the next Kosher restaurant can’t be more than 15 minutes away.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth (and its surrounding towns like Hillside and Union) rally around Elmora Avenue, including a pizza store, Chinese resrtaurant, and of course, Dunkin Donuts.

Edison / Highland Park

Edison and Highland Park are run through by Raritan Avenue, where you can find pizza, Mei Garden Chinese, the Glatt 27 mini-mart, and some other ever-changing selections of milk and meat. Rutgers University students come over the bridge from New Brunswick to take part in all this, especially the Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins combo store, though they have been know to take a drive westward to Manville and Lin’s Kosher Chinese instead. The alternative for them is the Kosher meal plan at the Chabad house on campus.

Deal

The Deal community is a bit farther southeast by the coast, but has a large community and a few neighboring towns to bolster it. Offerings include the standards: pizza, Chinese, and a more upscale Mediterranean place, with some smaller Milchig (dairy) shops as well. Some will travel farther south towards Lakewood, but that’s another community altogether.

Tourist Info: The Jewish communities are generally more inland residential, but nearby minor attractions (bowling, ice skating, etc.) are close at hand. If you’re in Deal or Long Branch, or can get farther east, you’re already by the Atlantic coast. North is New York City, south is Atlantic City, and southwest is Philadelphia, each with a myriad of visitable locations of its own.

Jewish Info: Central NJ is more open and spread-out area, so the communities are not always inter-navigable. The Elizabeth and Highland Park areas have several Shul options and have their own schools, though some have been known to utilize northern NJ schools and vice versa. Deal is a largely Syrian community, upscale and very active.

New Brunswick, which used to be the cornerstone of central Jersey Jewry, is now limited to one synagogue (the rest moved to Highland Park), but has the benefit on being home to Rutgers students. The Chabad and Hillel houses on campus run daily Minyanim and Shabbat activities while school is in session.

Tags: Jewish, jewish travel, Kosher, kosher travel, New Jersey

Northern NJ

Contributed by: Daniel Wenger | Last Dates of Travel: [Author grew up in N. NJ]

Major Towns: Englewood, Fair Lawn, Teaneck, West Orange
Up and Coming: Bergenfield, Fort Lee, Paramus, Passaic

Kosher Info: Supermarkets throughout the area feature large Kosher sections, and many store-brand items are certified. The Rabbinical Council of Bergen County (RCBC) is the local certifying agency that handles the supermarkets, restaurants, etc.

Teaneck

Teaneck is widely considered to be the epicenter of Jewish - and Kosher - life in northern New Jersey. Most of the activity is centered around Cedar Lane to the south and West Englewood Avenue to the north. Food is available at everything from bakeries to cafés to mini-marts.

Some of the selection on Cedar Lane (always subject to change):

• Butterflake Bakery offers Milchig (dairy) and Pareve selections of breads, cakes, cookies, and other fine pastries.
• Pizza Crave is the one remaining pizza store on Cedar Lane after Jerusalem Pizza closed down.
• Ma’adan is Cedar Lane’s Kosher mini-mart, but also provides significant catering services, from their takeout Shabbat deli and hot food counters to fully-staffed Bar Mitzvas.
• Noah’s Ark deli (and now really also a grill) is a classic by all standards. I still crave their sliced steak sandwich, and even the salami on rye just tastes better there. Bonus points for supplying half-sour pickles. Its sister…er, wife Shelly’s dairy restaurant, now in Noah’s Ark’s original location, offers a decent selection, but has always lacked something when you compare it to the main event.
• A trip to Cedar Lane is always well topped off with a trip to Fancy Delights, where I have been known to buy enough sugar to last me a month but eat within a week.

West Englewood Avenue continues to grow as the Jewish high schools and young married apartments continue to be filled. Local offerings include:

• Glatt Express has been the Kosher supermarket of the area for many many years, providing regular groceries (milk, eggs, fruits, vegetables, cereal, etc.) as well as large bakery, meat, cheese, and specialty Kosher sections.
• EJ’s Pizza is all that’s left for pizza after Plaxza Pizza closed (that’s right, there used to be 4 pizza stores n Teaneck!)
• The Pasta Factory is upscale Milchig, and the nearby Rabica Café is a similar but smaller version for your fish and grain needs.
• Chopstix chinese takeout has been a staple of Shabbat meals in Teaneck and now also West Orange.
• Dougie’s BBQ and grill. Need I say more?

Englewood

Englewood is a fancier, more spread out town, so once you’re driving anyway, you might as well go to Teaneck. Nonetheless, there are several Kosher food suppliers there, and some Milchig (dairy) hangouts to boot.

Fair Lawn

Fair Lawn is significantly westward down Route 4, so coming to the Teaneck/Englewood/Bergenfield area isn’t always easy. As such, in addition to the local supermarkets, they offer a self-standing bakery, Chinese takeout, and a Pita place.

West Orange

West Orange is an outpost a bit farther south and west, but holds down its own with a couple of restaurants while also being nearby Elizabeth in addition to the Bergen County towns.

If you’re really close to the northern border of NY state, you’ll be nearby Monsey and Spring Valley, NY, which is yet another Jewish headquarters of sorts.

Tourist Info: The most major attraction near northern NJ is, of course, New York City. New Jersey Transit busses (and sometimes trains) run throughout the area and will take you to Port Authority (42nd Street) or Penn Station. Some will also take you across the George Washington Bridge and points north, which, offer some great senic views along the Palisades.

Shopping can be found everywhere, from the main streets of the towns where you find the restaurants to the sides of the highways which are like really long strip malls. The Garden State Plaza is the major mall in the area. Other family attractions (like batting cages, driving ranges, bowling, etc.) can be found here and there, mostly in the intervening towns (like Hackensack) which have a more commercial/industrial feel to them.

Of the towns listed, you’ll notice how there is no real representation in the western end of the state. Indeed, the major communities are all much closer to New York City, and as you travel west, you see less dense and more wooded areas until you reach Pennsylvania. The farther north and west you go, the more outdoorsy locations will be available to you. See the post on Manhattan, NY.

Jewish Info: So many choices! Given the proximity of these towns to each other, to central NJ, and to New York, the options for Shuls, schools, food, and every other aspect of life are in large supply. Thus the intermingling of communities and their residents is at a much higher rate than other regions, which provides many options for how to raise your family or meet the right person to start your own.

Minyanim meet at all times of the day, and local parks fill up on summer Shabbat afternoons. While one should take care to ensure that the community they are in matches their ideologies, finding such a community is guaranteed, given the extreme variety to be found in the area.

Tags: bergen county, Jewish, jewish travel, Kosher, kosher travel, New Jersey, New York, nj, teaneck