lunchtime with my jewish cousin

[colordiva02]

Hi everyone,

My cousin and her husband are coming up Labor Day weekend for a wedding, and I'm taking them out to lunch on Sunday. Every time I go to Washington D.C. and see them, they take me out to dinner, so i'm looking for a nice place. Also, they keep kosher. Anyone have any ideas? I'm looking for the Boston to Natick area. Thanks!

Steph

[Parsnipity]

Zaftigs on Harvard Ave in Coolidge Corner. They have a giant painting of a woman who could have been my Bubbie. Their sandwiches are very generous servings of meat and all delicious. You can get the breakfast and brunch items all day too, I believe. My favorites are the eggs benedict with lox served over a latke instead of the traditional english muffin, and the bourbon vanilla stuffed challah french toast. Don't forget to wash it down with a Cel-ray soda.

[peregrine]

I believe Zaftigs is "kosher style," not certified. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. They don't appear in the restaurant link above.

[bachslunch]

You're correct, peregrine. Zaftig's is a decent deli, but not a kosher spot. Rubin's is indeed kosher.

[StriperGuy]

You don't say whether your cousin keeps kosher, but will eat in a non-kosher restaurant (this is the case for many folks,) or they eat ONLY in kosher establishments, big difference and narrows your options considerably.

[lergnom]

Or how rigorous they are if they keep outside the home, because not all kosher places are accepted by the most Orthodox as being kosher.

[Chrispy75]

There's always Avenue Deli/549 Commonwealth Ave.,Newton. I would vote them to be better than Rubin's. Also, might be worth checking out places on this list.

http://www.jewishguidetoboston.com/br...

[bachslunch]

Took a look at the list at the link above. I'm not sure how strict the OP is on being kosher, but I saw (for example) Aquitaine Bis on the list. It's possible to eat so as not to have shellfish or pork or meat-and-milk in a dish at Aquitaine Bis, but it's not at all a kosher place, as for starters they do have pork and scallops on the menu.

[bachslunch]

Boston unfortunately is not overloaded with good strictly certified kosher options.

There's Rubin's Deli in Brookline, a sitdown spot which is reasonably good but doesn't measure up to the quality of NYC kosher delis. Rami's in Coolidge Corner Brookline is a falafel sandwich joint which I've liked in past but gets mixed reviews around here, and if you're looking for a "nice" sitdown spot, this is definitely not the place.

A brief web search found a place called Cafe Eilat, also in Brookline, that is apparently kosher, has an Italian/Middle Eastern menu, and also serves Sunday brunch. Have never been though and can't vouch for it one way or the other.

If it were me, I'd either hit Rubin's or take my chances with Cafe Eilat.

[Pumpkinseed]

By way of interpretation, please note that Cafe Eilat's "Italian/Middle Eastern" means pizza and bourekas and a limited menu of other stuff - served in an ambience I can only describe as squalid. If you like your cousins, do not take them to Cafe Eilat. It is unquestionably kosher, but disgusting.

[Prav]

There's always the Kosher Chinese restaurant, Taam China (?); I believe there's one in Brookline on Harvard St in Coolidge Corner, and there's one in Newton Upper Falls on Oak St.