Guide to the Upscale Kosher Experience at Zadún Ritz Carlton Reserve, Cabo, Mexico

Quietly open for more than a year, the resort opened a kosher kitchen on-site, only available to resort guests. The kosher kitchen is a partnership with and under the supervision of the Chabad in Cabo, located about 45mins south of the resort. The kosher kitchen is kept under lock and key, and is only accessed when kosher guests arrive and request kosher meals prior to and during their visit by one of the Chabad’s mashgiachs, who must be on site for daily inspections of freshly made kosher meals.

During the week of our arrival, we provided the resort with our first day’s meal requests via WhatsApp. Knowing that we would arrive during lunchtime, our beautifully and freshly prepared kosher lunch was waiting for us in our room as we checked into the resort.

The resort has a kosher breakfast menu that sees relatively the same day to day, but has different lunch and dinner menus depending on which ingredients the hotel has on hand, ensuring that you have the freshest possible meal every day. Likewise there is a separate Shabbat menu for your Friday night and Saturday meals.

One of the things I loved about this kosher meal service was the fact that you could decide where you wanted to enjoy your meals and it could differ for each meal of the day. For the majority of our meals, we decided to dine in the vast outdoor space by our room, in privacy, at our own pace, and without anyone bothering us. For other meals, we opted to dine in any of the resort’s restaurants, and all of the kosher china, utensils, and food were brought directly to us, including at the bar by the beach. This is the kind of service that rarely exists at any resort offering kosher dining options.

Three Very important notes about kosher dining service at Zadún:

1. The cost of kosher food is twofold: 1) The list price on the menu, which is priced similarly to the regular non-kosher restaurants. 2) There is a $200/day fee for the mashgiach. Because the mashgiach only shows up when there are kosher guests and he does not live on-site, the fee defrays the cost of his salary and commute. He also ensures food is delivered… (see #2)
   • Several people have been asking about this fee, and if it is negotiable based on how many kosher guests are at the resort. In my discussions with the Chabad, the $200 fee is per room. When the hotel is full, it’s income for the Chabad, but during off-peak seasons, the Chabad loses thousands of dollars so that they can keep the mashgiach on hand. The flat fee for each guest helps balance out the costs so that this service can exist. As it stands, during a busy weekend the sole mashgiach is working long hours, and a second mashgiach may be needed, thus requiring the
2. All kosher food is delivered fully sealed with a “Kabo Kosher” tape and/or stickers from the mashgiach. The food is still delivered beautifully with a nice presentation, but it is sealed by the mashgiach so we know our food was not tampered with. (See the pics here) Hot food is served in a metal hot box that is sealed with the same “Kabo Kosher” tape, and is only opened in your presence.
3. Kosher Certification for the kosher kitchen at the resort is provided by Kabo Kosher – the certification of the Chabad of Cabo San Lucas, located 45min south of the resort.

Overall, the kosher dining experience was like nothing we had experienced at any resort. It’s quite different from, for example, Baha Mar’s kosher offering in the Bahamas, which relies on restaurants and a food truck (although the food there is also excellent). We very much enjoyed all of the various fish dishes we tasted, as well as the breakfast meals. The meat options were quite hit or miss. Some were very tasty and others less so, but there was not a single meal that we were left wanting for more. We did not go hungry, nor did we ever feel like we were being overfed. We had just the right amount of delicious kosher food for our stay.

The room is stocked with snacks that are kosher-certified by a mix of American and Mexican hashgachas, as well as water, soda, and various bottles of alcohol. These snacks were refilled as much as we needed.

Before we left for the airport, we were able to order sandwiches to go off of their lunch menu. They were packed perfectly and stayed perfect until we enjoyed them at the airport a few hours later. This is important as the trip back to NYC is at least 5 hours once in the air.

Special Dinner Experience by the Beach

For those seeking a truly special experience, Zadún offers a special dinner meal served either on the beach, steps from the ocean, or on a sand dune, overlooking the ocean. Both experiences involve a fire pit, intimate lighting, and waiter service just for you. While this is a default offering for all guests, any kosher dinner can be set up like this if arranged in advance and purchased through the resort. My wife and I felt like this was a very romantic experience.

This article will focus on 3 parts of the overall experience at the property: The Rooms, The Kosher Experience, and The Zadún Resort. Click the links here to navigate this article, or go back to the introduction.