As Beijing’s first restaurant to offer kosher food, it’s to no surprise that Dini’s has been an instant hit with the city’s Jewish community since it opened last month. However, it’s also attracting a growing band of curious Chinese diners.
Kosher is not a style of cooking, but is more about preparing food according to the Jewish Dietary Law known as kashrut. Bronx owner Lewis Sperber, one of the owners of Dini’s, says there are two key factors behind kosher dining: one is health and the other is the slaughter of animals in the most painless and humane way according to traditional Jewish doctrine.
The menu offers a wide selection of foods, including Japanese sushi, classic Chinese cooking and Western dishes such as steaks, hotdogs and roast chicken. The Japanese and Chinese dishes have been added to the menu to cater to the overseas visitors who eat kosher food.
Dini’s also tell us that they have a mashgiah – someone who inspects slaughterhouses, markets, and restaurants where kosher food is prepared to make sure strict Jewish dietary laws aren’t violated. Therefore, even each individual vegetable is inspected to ensure that there aren’t any insects hidden under a leaf; rice is also laid out on a tray to ensure it is free from any insects and blood stained eggs cannot be eaten, so each egg must be looked by mashgiah-trained eyes. Likewise, blood in meat (beef or chicken) must be drained.
The chef's salad (45RMB) is thus an appropriate and excellent choice. Served with tangy balsamic dressing with some crushed garlic, the well-sized salad is loaded with fresh leafy lettuce, tomatoes, alfafa, and sliced boiled potatoes and eggs, and accented with shallots and bits of dried cranberries. Challah, a traditional Jewish bread, which is complimentary, is soft and slightly sweet, and freshly baked everyday.
The superb mixed-grill includes rib steak on a skewer, a slab of regular steak grilled perfectly so that each piece is juicy and tender, with a hint of rosemary, is and a great value at 140RMB. In addition, you get a hotdog, a quarter of a whole chicken, mixed vegetables and roasted small potatoes. The vegetables are lightly seasoned so that you can enjoy the original taste of the zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower and the potatoes.
The matzoh served with chicken soup (35RMB) is a little bland (maybe our expectations were too high for this classic soup) although it can be somewhat remedied by adding a little salt.
The chocolate mousse with raspberries (20RMB) is marvelous, as is the chocolate cake with a scoop of non-dairy ice cream (25RMB). According to kashrut regulations, meat and dairy products must be stored separately or should not be eaten together. Therefore, Dini’s does not serve any dairy product. Therefore, ice cream served here is made with soymilk, which explains the unusual flavour.
Dini’s, the fourth venture by the same people who own The Mexican Kitchen and Little Italy in the Shunyi burbs, and The American Café located at the Blue Castle Apartments. The interior is neat and clean, with twenty or so tables covered with crisp white table cloths and walls painted a light and soothing yellow and hung with black and white photos of Jerusalem, a subtle reminder of the establishment’s roots. A bar counter is set up by the entrance and although most beers are kosher, authentic Israeli brews Maccabi and Gold Star will soon be available alongside locally produced beers. With the Israeli embassy and under construction new US embassy just a stone’s throw away, this restaurant is sure to be busy both lunchtimes and evenings.
32 Tianze Lu, Jiangtai Xiang, Ladies Market Street, Chaoyang district (tel 6461 6220) Open 11am-10pm (Sun-Thurs), Friday 11am till 2 hrs before Shabbat begins, Saturday night opens 30 minutes after Shabbat ends. Meal for two 150RMB
蒂妮犹太餐厅 朝阳区将台乡天泽路32号