There are not a lot of kosher restaurants in the Greater Vancouver Jewish Community. We are such a small community that there aren’t even enough kosher restaurants, especially for ultra orthodox in the community. It’s basically a really big famine for the Ultra Orthodox people, also known as the Haredi Jews because most of them keep an ultra strict Kashrut diet. These people need the food to have a special hechsher, a special symbol that symbolizes that the product is kosher. They keep a certain type of diet which is called Chalov Yisroel and Pas Yisroel. This restricts them and they can only eat certain dairy, pastries, and bread products. Since Chabad kicked Cafe 41 out, the Haredi Jews don’t have any dairy places to eat at. However, the Jews who don’t do Chalov Yisroel and Pas Yisroel still have an issue. Although they can eat at any of the kosher restaurants, there still aren’t enough places for us to eat at. It would be a great miracle if more kosher restaurants opened up.
Now let’s talk about the restaurants we do have. Sabra’s is a really good restaurant that serves meat products as well as some dairy products which are Chalov Yisroel which is a big win for ultra orthodox people. It is really cool that a tiny store can fit that much amazing food truly amazing! They are known for their delicious falafel and their middle eastern food which reminds Israelis in Vancouver of their home, Eretz Yisrael.
Now let’s talk about Nava, the only dairy restaurant. Nava is really famous for their pizza and mac & cheese. Their food is amazing. The workers there are so kind and caring. Nava not only caters dairy food, but also caters meat. Their potatoes, rice, chicken, mac & cheese, pizza, salads, pastries, and fish are really good and almost everyone loves Nava’s food, both meat and dairy.
Last but not least, we have Omnitskys. Omnitsky is really famous for their hotdogs, french fries, and matzo ball soup. They give a 25% discount to the elderly and a 10% discount to the poor which I think is a great idea and very caring. Not only is their food good but they are very kind and care for everyone that orders a meal from them.
In conclusion, I believe that Vancouver has really good kosher restaurants. The food served at these restaurants are really good. However, our community really lacks kosher restaurants. We have one dairy restaurant which is surprising because there are three kosher meat restaurants. In the future, I hope there will be more kosher restaurants in Vancouver and that the restaurants we do have will continue to thrive.
