Kosher for Passover Lunch in Mamilla, No Kitniyot

Today my husband and I "double-dated" with a couple we've been "double-dating" with for half a century. We spent the day in Jerusalem, and besides seeing the "Plugat Hakotel" museum in Jerusalem's Old City, we had lunch out.

Passover is a complicated time to eat out, or even food shop, for those of us who are Torah observant. And it's even more complicated for Ashkenazi Jews, those whose families are ethnically European. Not only do we need regular Kosher for Passover food, we refrain from eating kitniyot, legumes. I can't complain. It's not as difficult as it used to be to find food and restaurants. That's because there are so many religious Ashkenazi Jews who come to Israel, especially Jerusalem, for Passover, and restaurant owners have realized that it pays to go to the efforts to cater to our needs.

But still, from year to year, businesses change, and I like to know in advance what options we have. So, this year I asked on all sorts of facebook pages and got nowhere. But once we were in Jerusalem, I discovered that there are more and more restaurants, not only strictly and certified Kosher for Passover, but they are also "without a doubt free of kitniyot."

We ended up having an early lunch in Fresh Kitchen in the Mamilla Mall.

Fresh Coffee & Kitchen had an extensive Passover Menu, and even though the place was packed, the wait staff seemed on top of things. There are other branches around the country.

There was such a large selection of food in Fresh Kitchen's Passover Menu that I had trouble choosing what to eat. In the end I chose the Nicoise aka Tuna Salad, and the bowl was full. It was very tasty, too.

One of our group had a sandwich, which came with a nice salad. And the other two had the Halumi Salad. There were no complaints. We finished it all. Prices were reasonable, too.

I couldn't find a phone number for them, but click here for their facebook page, which does have a message option.

Kosher for Passover Bargain Salad & Sandwich in Jerusalem

Today my friend and I went to Jerusalem. We saw a fascinating exhibit of Pre-State Haggadot in the National Library, Givat Ram, Hebrew University, then we needed to eat lunch. Finding certified/supervised Kosher for Passover No Kitniyot, legumes which most Ashkenaz Jews don't eat on Passover, food isn't all that easy. I figured we'd find something in Center 1, but it's a good thing my friend suggested the Central Bus Station.

One of the sandwich and salad places had both kitniyot and non-kitniyot salads and sandwiches. They were clearly labeled and on separate counters.

Non-Kitniyot were NS30 for either a sandwich or a salad, while the kitniyot were NS25, at least the sandwiches were. We took salads, which were a nice size. I had Tuna, while my friend took the Greek Salad. There was no dressing. We should have asked for olive oil. We received a fork and napkins. There are tables and chairs in the nearby food court, so we had a nice leisurely lunch together. The tables seemed clean and cared for.

Afterwards we walked through Center 1 on our way to the bus home. It's a good thing we didn't take my advice. It was like a ghost town. Most of the stores were closed, especially the restaurants and fast food places.

Kosher for Passover Lunch in Jerusalem

The other day when we were in the Old City of Jerusalem, part of the plan was to have lunch out. We needed a kosher for Passover no kitniyot certified restaurant. At first we thought that we'd have to walk back out and either go to one of the restaurants in Mamilla Mall or Nachalat Shiva. I dreaded the usual lines and jacked up special Kosher for Passover prices. But then we noticed a small, modest looking restaurant with all of the required kosher certificates in full view.

It was the Holy Cafe, on Tiferet Israel Street in the Jewish Quarter. They had tables under shade umbrellas outside, but we requested to sit indoors. And within a minute a table for four was set up for us. By the time we finished our lunch, lots of other diners were also seated around tables indoors.

The menu was simple, but we all found something to eat.

My husband and I had the Tuna Salad. It wasn't bad, but I should have asked for olive oil. They also served us those "potato starch rolls," which could almost pass for regular white bread. The menu had promised that they would come with butter, but there wasn't any. I decided not to ask for the butter, since we're all trying to keep our weight down. Don't worry. The next day I made up for it and had much too much butter with matzah when picnicking with friends. 

The plastic cutlery looked "real," until you touched it.

Our companions had the quiche, broccoli, and the "Geek," sic Salad, which was the typo for Greek. You'd think that somebody would have the common sense to proofread the menu before printing it.

Since we don't know what their regular prices are, we don't have any idea if the Passover ones were higher. Portion size was nothing special, which meant that we didn't stuff ourselves. We're all big eaters, so not a drop of food was leftover. We didn't order dessert, even to share.

I don't know what other restaurant options there were nearby. We didn't notice any. Yes, I'll recommend it if you want a nice simple meal. Even when the main indoor area filled up, it wasn't noisy. We could hear each other easily, which is important for me. And I'm glad we didn't have to fight the crowds. If you know more about this little spot, please let me know in the comments, thanks.