Yudi’s Deli – Falafel Platter, $9.99 (Click to view full size image)
There aren’t many restaurants on Oahu that feature Jewish cuisine. One hidden gem that does is Yudi’s Deli in Manoa Valley. I learned about Yudi’s – and the cuisine in general – through a coworker of mine who is Jewish.
After trying her home-made Latkes, I already knew this was food I could dig.
Shown above is a Falafel Platter from Yudi’s. It includes 5 Falafel, which are those meatball (but no meat; I think he uses fava beans and chickpeas) looking things, Babaganoush (how Yudi spells it), Hummus, 2 types of Cole Slaw, an Israeli salad (bottom left) and pita bread….
It shows only one pita here (pretty big and thick), but IIRC, it included two.
Like an appetizer, you put all that stuff on or inside the pita bread, in a cumbersome sort of way, but the overall combination of textures and flavors are fantastic. This is a vegetarian dish, making it a refreshing experience; not heavy.
Hopefully I’ll get around to doing a full review of Yudi’s soon.
Mahalo Diner “AC”!
Related Links:
• www.OahuKosher.com
5 comments
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April 6, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Jenny
It looks delish! I love hummus so I was really salivating over this photo. Pardon my ignorance, though, but I have a question: Is this really Jewish food? I always thought babaganoush, hummus and filafel were more middle-Eastern foods and more Arab in origin. Not that it matters when you’re enjoying it, but I just wanted to double-check. Thanks!
April 6, 2008 at 10:30 pm
pomai
Jenny, good question. Actually, if you read Wikipedia’s explanation, it says,
“Jewish cuisine is a collection of international cookery traditions linked by Jewish dietary laws (kashrut) and Jewish holiday traditions.”
There’s obviously heavy influence from the middle east, as well as the mediterranean regions.
Of course the key to Jewish cuisine is that it’s Kosher, meaning it adheres to Jewish law.
April 6, 2008 at 11:19 pm
kat
mmm, will put this on my list for the next trip home!
April 11, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Jenny
Pomai, mahalo for researching the definition of Jewish food! As always, it’s good to check with the food master (that would be you, BTW).
April 13, 2008 at 4:41 am
Tom
Actually you are correct Jenny, falafel and hummus is native to northern Africa and the Middle East and everyone that lives there; Arabs, Persians, Jews, and others. It is definitely not specific to one group. However I think the tag here is for the fact it’s a Jewish deli. They do offer much more traditional Jewish fare such as knishes.