If you like traditional Jewish food of the kugel and kishke variety, then Goldy’s in Bnei Brak is the place for you. It’s a restaurant where you can enjoy heimishe food, just like Grandma used to make. It’s also a takeaway, where you can buy your gefilte fish and chopped liver safe in the knowledge that it tastes homemade and that if you serve it to your guests, no one will ever suspect you didn’t make it yourself.
We were recently invited to sample the food at Goldy’s. We were greeted by the charming manager, Levi Yitshak, who told us about the restaurant’s background.
“It was established 44 years ago in Jerusalem, and the owners decided to open another branch in Bnei Brak only two years ago,” he said.
The place is run by haredim (ultra-Orthodox), and most of the clientele seem to be of that persuasion, so much so that I felt I had to apologize for turning up in pants.
Yitshak was charming and put me at ease.
“Everyone is welcome here; in fact, our business lunch (NIS 58) attracts many office workers around here, as well as nearby army personnel.”
He pointed out that the restaurant is very bright with glass doors and plenty of open space, suggesting that this was a departure from traditional haredi eating places, which, in the past, tended to be closed in and less welcoming.
Enjoying the delightful food selection at Goldy's
Yitshak showed us around the buffet, which had an unbelievable choice of food – the salmon section alone had the king of fish prepared at least 10 different ways. He also proudly pointed out the pizza section, where the toppings contain meat of all kinds.
We inspected the huge variety of meat and chicken dishes available, the soups and stews, the side dishes, and the salads, until finally, with burgeoning appetites, we were allowed to sit down and choose our menu.
We began our meal with several different varieties of gefilte fish. Some were whole slices of carp, filled with chopped carp – very traditional – and others were just the chopped variety, made with varying degrees of sweetness, depending on which part of Europe the chef wanted to represent (NIS 22).
The chrein (horseradish and beetroot sauce) that accompanied the fish was freshly made and far better than the store-bought variety.
Next, Yitshak brought out a very strange dish purporting to be chopped liver but with the texture of mayonnaise and a faint liver taste that was not at all to our liking. We asked if he had normal chopped liver, and the real thing appeared – the classic Jewish starter that most people love (NIS 45).
We also got to taste the fried liver and onions, and then a very interesting dish, which was potato kugel stuffed with meat. This was extra good and seemed a great idea that one could easily reproduce.
Although it was Thursday, we got to taste the Shabbat lunch favorite – cholent, the meat and beans dish that sits on the hotplate from Friday before Shabbat until Shabbat lunch. It was simply out of this world (NIS 48 for 500 gr.).
My companion had some very tasty lamb (NIS 38 per 100 gr.). We also sampled Goldy’s take on Asian cuisine with some authentic tasting sweet and sour chicken.
We drank a great Malbec red blend (2003), which was the perfect accompaniment to this incredible meal. Yitshak wanted us to sample more food, but we were physically incapable of doing so!
The restaurant is self-service, which means no waiting around or trying to catch the waiter’s eye – always an advantage. We left Goldy’s, but not before Yitshak had thrust a huge bag of takeaway food into our hands, which meant I had a wonderful Friday not spent in the kitchen for a change.
- Goldy’s
- 9 Metsada Street, B.S.R. Tower 3
- Bnei Brak
- Tel: (03) 620-0100
- Sun.-Wed., 7 p.m.–midnight; Thurs., 7 p.m-1 a.m.; Friday, 7 p.m.-3 p.m.
- Kashrut: Badatz, Eda Haredit
- Wheelchair accessible.
The writer was a guest of the restaurant