On Saturday morning I was directed to a Sephardi synagogue in Kowloon on the first floor of a shopping plaza. Sephardi Jews are those of Mediterranean or Oriental extraction and usually sing jolly little songs compared with gloomy dirges sung by Ashkenasim or those of Eastern European or Russian origin. However this synagogue had a number of dour unfriendly Israelis living in Hong Kong. After the service I was about to leave when I noticed a number of Chinese ladies preparing lunch in a side kitchen. Someone then told me to stay for lunch so I returned to our hotel along the way to fetch my wife and daughter for lunch as well.
Well – the lunch was brilliant. We had dafina, a Moroccan meat stew with sweet potatoes and chickpeas simmered overnight. I have eaten dafina in Spain and in Montreal but this one, as cooked by Chinese cooks, was excellent. Large chunks of chuck steak you could cut with a fork, sweet potato in a separate dish and the trigo or small chickpeas in another separate dish, all washed down with beer or wine. My 10 year old daughter had two helpings and cleared her plate both times. Not only was it a good lunch but it was absolutely free. Can’t do better than that. Go there, even if you are not Jewish. I will lend you a skull cap.
I discovered that the synagogue doubles up as a glatt kosher restaurant during the week. It is on the 1st floor of the Wing On Shopping Plaza at 62 Mody Road, opposite the entrance to Tsim Sha Tsui subway station. Website at http://www.kehilat-zion.org and click on restaurant tab
To get more from opinion, click here to sign up for our free Editor's Picks newsletter.