Contributed by Rachael Abrams | Last Date of Travel: January 2010

As a native-Texan I’m used to average Kosher restaurants, a small close-knit Jewish community and the passion to travel outside of Dallas to see other cities. New York is probably my favorite city to visit, not just for it’s liveliness nor it’s real winter weather—because of the incredibly diverse array of Kosher food.

I just returned from a very quick visit. Three nights in the Big Apple felt like a week simply because of all the food I ate. I feel like the city consumed me… literally.

My tasty travels began with delicious Chinese food, something my native Dallas lacks. EstiHana is an Asian restaurant situated in a lovely area close to the renown Natural History Museum on the Upper West Side. The atmosphere was very nice with couples on (what looked like) first dates—I was glad I dressed up that evening. I ordered a steamed chicken dish and shared a bowl of udon noodle soup (with beef). There’s sushi on the menu and other delectable entrees to satisfy ones Asian food craving. Although I walked out with a dent in my pocket, the food was well worth the damage. I was able to take a subway close to where the restaurant was located, which is an easy and inexpensive option for travelers.

The next day, after a lot of walking allover the Upper East Side, I landed in Times Square where tourists and gigantic advertisements can be found. Right off of Broadway, I dined at Schnitzel Express for lunch, where I ate a delicious Oriental Schnitzel sandwich. It was so good that right before I left for Dallas, I grabbed one to-go for the plane ride. For fast-food atmosphere, the food is perfect for a quick lunch.

New York impresses me with each visit for it’s incredible kosher food everywhere. If you are Jewish, New York is the place to be. It’s even written on the buildings with names like “Schwartz” and “Greenberg” stamped on the outside of both small and large businesses. After Shabbat, I dined with some friends at Clubhouse Cafe (right off of Times Square), which is a trendy American restaurant where you’ll find soft lighting, sliders, wings and delicious hamburgers. This is the perfect New York restaurant if you are willing to spend a few bucks.

My experience in New York was quite flavorful with incredible restaurants for my picky palette. Just in case you visit in the winter—bring walking shoes, gloves, and a hat. If you forget, you can purchase some warm weather gear at a stand…just about anywhere.

You can read about my posts on YeahThatsKosher here: http://yeahthatskosher.com/author/Rabrams

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Editor’s Note (from Dani Klein): for more info on New York, check out our post on NYC by clicking here.

Recommendation: for New Yorkers and tourists visiting NYC, we highly recommend using the Not For Tourists guidebooks and web resources: www.notfortourists.com/NewYork.aspx

It’s been quite a busy summer in the kosher world. Restaurants opening and closing all around.
If you know about any recent closures or openings that we missed in this post, please comment below.

New York

• Mr. Broadway reopens. After being shut down by the NY Dept. of Health (DOH) a week ago, the famous deli reopens its doors to us NYers.
  
  Mr. Broadway is located at 1372 Broadway off of W38th st. You can order from their website: http://www.mrbroadwaykosher.com
• NY Lunchbox opened this past Monday on W36th st. between 7th & 8th Avenues. The restaurant has a classy modern decor and a great menu, offering great focaccia and panini sandwiches, delicious soups (try the French Onion!), and fresh sushi (they make basically every roll right in front of you). The prices are also quite reasonable: A panini sandwich, soup, and soda for $7.99 – great deal. I had the opportunity to meet some of the owners, the mashgiach, and the chef on the day it opened. I definitely think it will steal some regular clients away from J2, Circa, and Vegetable Garden (especially since it is the closest kosher place to B&H on 9th Ave). I definitely recommend trying it out.

I’ve been following, tracking and reporting the following locations on Twitter for the past few weeks:

• Schnitzel Express opened last week on W39th right off Broadway & 6th Avenue. They are a knockoff of the better known Schnitzi in Brooklyn and originally from Israel. They offer 8 flavored Schnitzels – sandwich style.
• Today, Colbeh in Midtown is opening a 2nd location down the block from its existing location on W39th st. between 5th & 6th Avenues. The new Colbeh will offer a somewhat different menu, and be available for catered events.
• Maoz Vegetarian, an Israeli falafel joint, with 3 existing NY locations, is in process of opening a 4th, near Times Square, on the corner of W40th & 7th Avenue. They make a mighty fine falafel ball.

Brooklyn, NY

• Mendy’s on Coney has replaced the old Essex on Coney, on Coney Island Ave. off of Ave. J. We lost one deli, and got an equally good one in its place.
• Essex on Coney moved to Avenue M, and is now known as Essex on Coney / Caraville Glatt (it took over a non kosher restaurant named Caraville). The space is large and spacious for catered events. 1910 Avenue M.
• Benny’s Pizzeria Ristorante opened over the past few months and has been doing well. It serves real mozzarella pizza, paninis, pasta, and other Italian dishes. The food was really good, and the place was packed mid-Summer when we came on a Motzei Shabbat – even when other places in Brooklyn refuse to open over the summer. 1418 Avenue J.

Bronx, NY

• Kosher Mexican cuisine, Carlos & Gabby’s will be opening in Riverdale, NY. It will be replacing the kosher Chinese takeout place Dumplings. 5685 Riverdale Ave.

Washington, DC

• The JCC Cafe in DC was forced to close this week after non-kosher meat was found on premises, and their hasgacha pulled out. It is unclear whether they will reopen or not. For now, it seems that Eli’s is one of the only options left for a quality kosher meal in DC. See: http://yeahthatskosher.com/2008/07/washington-dc/