Ultimate JEWISH FOOD TOUR of MANHATTAN!! Matzoh Ball Soup, Latkes, & Bagels | NYC

Oh, wow. Look at that coming out. You don't see that every day. Good morning, everyone. I hope you're all doing amazing. This is David Hoffman from David's Been Here, coming at you from the beautiful East Village, New York City. I'm here with my boy, John, from Here Be Bar. He's an NYC expert, food, travel. He does a lot of different things. And today he's going to take me to explore Jewish cuisine in this beautiful historical neighborhood. So what are we doing, John? Alright, we're going to go to two super famous spots, Russ and Daughters, followed by B&H Dairy. And both of them are absolute staples in Lower Manhattan. Many people don't realize it, but the Lower East Side of Manhattan is where so many Jews got their start in the New World. In fact, in 1910, there were over 1 million Jews living in this very area, which was 25% of the population of the entire city. So the history runs deep. And you can really see it in a lot of the food here. Awesome, so we're starting off at Russ and Daughters, which is right behind us. Huge line. Let's get in there. Russ and Daughters is an institution. You can see the line behind me. And the original owner, Joel Russ, immigrated from Poland. He was walking down the street of the Lower East Side, selling herring from a barrel. And then he opened up this shop right here in 1920. Cool fact. It's called Russ and Daughters. Because he had 3 daughters. And it was the first ever shop in the United States to have daughters attached to it. Not sons. It was a very controversial thing at the time. But this place is so popular in the Lower East Side. Everybody comes here. This is it right here guys. Classic. This is what I always order. You cannot go wrong with this. Classic on everything bagel with scallion cream cheese. Want to toast it? Not toast it. No. Never, ever toast it. My opinion. I had no idea what an appetizing shop was. But basically when you step inside, it's like going back in time. You walk over here to the left and you have all these different fish. So we're not getting bagel with lox. It's actually Nova Scotia salmon. 17.42. Cash or card? Card. Something like that, yeah. Huh? With tax. Oh, that's good. If I go to a diner in Miami, it's usually like that, you know? Yeah. Okay. Perfect. You can take a picture of all the salmon. I'm going to do more now. Oh, we did. Yeah, so what do we got here? We have Sisko's. Kipper's salmon. Sturgeon. Trout. Sable. And then we have all these different like cream cheeses, right? So we have horseradish still. We have scallions. We have, wow, that looks amazing. Look at all the caviar. So we have black caviar. Red caviar. Green caviar. And then we have all these dips. And if you look around, over here we have also chocolates, right? And this is macaroon. So this is macaroons. It's Jewish. Very Jewish. You have so many different Jewish pastries. Like arugula and macaroons especially. People will come here just for this. They won't even get that. I saw people walking in only ordering the sweets. So you can get a lot of cool stuff here. For you. Alright. Good. That place is pumping. Look at the line. About 20 people back there. There's so much salmon. The salmon. My god. There's some like spices too. Oh yeah, everything. And guys you should have seen the line pre covid. This is absolutely nothing. You're waiting 30 to 45 minutes. Guaranteed at this time of day. Alright here we go. So we have a bagel with smoked salmon. Yes. And scallion cream cheese. We kept it really simple. It's an everything bagel. Wow I love the way they wrap it too. Look at this. I've never had this. It's like a little gift. Whoa. Wow. What a beautiful bagel. Don't drop it please. Oh man no way. This is what I call bagel perfection. Everything they do at Rustin Daughters is very precise. From the amount of cream cheese that they put on. To the amount of smoked salmon. I went with the everything bagel. I feel like it's such a classic everything bagel with scallion cream cheese. But you put on that Nova Scotia salmon. And you're taking this bagel to a level that's pretty tough to find. In my opinion outside of New York City. My man cheers. Cheers. Chives. So creamy this one. You know a lot of people don't understand the difference between belly lox. And Nova Scotia salmon. There is a difference. I'm personally not a big fan of lox by itself. I think it's a little too salty. But this Nova Scotia salmon. It's so buttery. And the flavor to me is just right. Especially when you pair it with cream cheese. And a really nice soft chewy bagel like this. Nothing like it. So it's not too salty. Yeah. Nice and smoky. The bagel is perfect. So we didn't get it toasted just regular right? No I refuse to toast a bagel. I know there's people that come to New York that say toast my bagel. I know some stores in Brooklyn that will refuse to toast a bagel. They just won't do it. It's against their religion. And i'm one of those people. You guys can fight me in the comments. I just do not believe in toasting bagels. I think they need to be just right when you order them. This is the best bagel of my life. Really? Dude. We got a convert. I'm so happy. It's too good. And for me. I don't eat bagel without salmon. I just don't do it. I'm also part Jewish right? 25% Ashkenazi. You're like my homeland right here man. Once you do Russ and Daughters. It's tough to get smoked salmon locks anywhere else. That's my opinion. It's just so hard to find something like this. It's really a dying art. The appetizing shop. I mean this area used to be full of stores like that. Now Russ and Daughters is one of the few remaining places. And there's a reason. There's always a long line. New Yorkers will not lie about good food. That was on the menu. Yes. And you can get it with all the other stuff. Like stirring. Oh yeah. You can customize it any way you want. They're there for you. Next time I come back i'm going to just get some wild stuff. Just get crazy stuff. Crazy stuff. This is what I would say to order for the first time. This is the classic choice. I mean it's right there on the menu. Some people argue that it's too expensive. But I say.. Look their cost of commercial real estate here is insane. The rent must be nuts. The rent is nuts. And i've read that on a good day they could sell like 150 to 200 of these classic orders alone. Oh wow. A lot yeah. That's like a 10 or 20k right there. Right there. Crazy. But you know you go there.. Cheers. You go there for the experience. You go there for the whole experience. Plus you have to eat it on the go right? Outside. There's no where to sit down inside. There is a Russian daughters cafe which they recently opened a couple years ago. It's a few blocks away so you can order the same stuff. More like a brunch setting. But for me going to the original shop is nothing like it. Cheers bro. Cheers. I'm going to destroy this. The butteriest salmon I've ever had in my life. It is truly a special bagel. I want to get an Instagram story of you. I'll tag you. What a bagel. Next level. Alright I know i'm a hardcore New Yorker. But i'm going to go on record and say that New York has the best bagels in the world. I'm sorry Montreal. I've tried Montreal bagels. They're a great snack. But to me. Always going to be about a New York bagel. Okay so we're going to kill this. And we're going to go to one more spot. B&H Dairy. East Village. Another staple Jewish place. Like these two. It's like the murderers row of Jewish food. Murderers row. It's not the right expression. It's awesome. I'm using a Yankees. A little New York thing. You know for me. I don't really know too much about Jewish food. Except matzvah soup. Because obviously my grandmother raised us with that. I think like Rosh Hashanah. And certain you know. Matzvah soup is for Hanukkah. Hanukkah. And keep that in mind. I think you're going to get some coming real soon. And if you eat one. Like a cool one. It gets super cool. Guys this is a good split. I mean yeah. It's $17. But this is a great way to start your morning. For two people. So buttery. Buttery. Creamy. How far is the walk? About 10 minutes. And we're walking between the lower east side. And the east village. These are really popular neighborhoods. For young people. I mean I said that it was a Jewish enclave. But not anymore. Now it's a hipsterville. Both of them. Tons of bars. If you're young and moving to New York. You're probably looking in this vicinity. Problem is you're likely to live in a shoebox apartment. I've been there. I've done that. It's worth it. But not when you're in your 30's. All i'm going to say. So what's funny is that every time I've come to New York. I've been here. I don't know. 5, 6 times in my life. Every time I stay here. Yeah. But obviously back then. I was in college and all my friends were in university. Right here. Alright we're about to walk towards 2nd Avenue. Interesting story about 2nd Avenue. They used to call it Yiddish Broadway. Because there were so many different theaters there. Catering to the Jewish immigrants. And that really is no more. But B&H Dairy is a last bastion of that neighborhood. After a 5 minute walk we're here at B&H Restaurant. Yeah this is B&H Dairy. This is one of those institutions in the East Village. Now they call it B&H Dairy. We got to look at the history here. Opened in 1937. The local immigrant Jewish population needed a spot to eat at. That followed kosher laws. And they call it B&H Dairy. Because you can't mix meat with dairy. Under kosher laws. This place doesn't have any meat on their menu. It's a little play on the word. And by that name you could tell. That it was the perfect spot for the immigrant population to eat. Because it wasn't expensive. And even today it's a pretty cheap option. Considering the other restaurants in the neighborhood. Hello, hello. Welcome. What's up, what's up, what's up B&H. Thank you. How are you, how's everything? So far so good. I like you, I like you a lot. So Ebi is the original owner. Since 1938. This is husband of Florence Bergenson. So we like name his dish. Like to give him like a honor from B&H. You know, we appreciate. We ask his wife. She give us permission. That guy is from Boston. So every time he come by. We're going to need the pictures here also for him. This is what I love about New York. Finding places like this. Look how small the interior is. Like you just get right to business. You don't need space to eat at the counter. I love spots like this so much. For me this is like traditional Jewish diner in America. We have a few spots like this in Miami. That you would love. Lots of salmon. Lots of matzo ball soup. Oh this is matzo ball soup right here. Buonissimo. So this is matzo ball soup. I was raised with this. You know my grandmother is Jewish. During Passover this is what you eat. Usually like three or four of them. This was just one big one right. Huge. You have some carrots. Some noodles. And nice broth. Yeah I mean I guess you could call this the Ashkenazi Jewish soup dumpling. If we had to make you think of something. But it's basically matzo meal. As well as battered eggs. Fat. Water. It's Jewish comfort food. This is what you eat at the Passover Seder. I love it because it's like spongy. Yeah. You know. Mmm. So does it go down? Oh yeah. Matzo meal. Beaten eggs. Water. Fat. Some oil. Add a little bit of veggies. Like carrots and noodles. And you have something that grandma could have made herself. Mmm. Wow. Taking me straight back to my childhood. Talk to Ola. When I start here in 2006. Oh man so what is this? It's original. It's like just the dough. And farmer cheese. And a little bit like a yellow egg. Inside. Mix it. And fry it in a small like a dough. And back to home. My grandma she used to make it only dough and farmer cheese inside. But this one is more crispy. So it's more like you know. Crunchy. Yeah I guess you could say blintzes are sort of like the cousin of the French crepe. Okay. But inside there's cheese. And this originated in Poland. But it's also popular in Russia. Ukraine. This is a Jewish food staple. Just served like anytime. It's perfect for blintzes. What we got to do is cut one in half right. This time I'm going to eat it. This is a Jewish empanada. Look at that. Cheers. This is a little sweet too. A little sweet. Savory. Oh my gosh. This is amazing. It feels like we're having dessert as an appetizer. I mean how can you go wrong like that. No way. The cheese man. It's like a little crumbly. It pops out. I love the bread. And if you like this. I mean if you like blintzes like this. You could also add fruit to it as well. This is the most basic style of a blintz. Okay. And here we have some like marmalade. Over the pancake. It's fantastic. I love it. Empanada cafe. I remember that. Oh my god. Mmm. Muchas gracias. I think this is my favorite dish of all these. Where are you from? What country? Como mi esposa. Amazing. The one thing I'll tell you about this Jewish food. Is that it is filling. You know. Yes. Take it slow. It's grandma's home cooking. She didn't have you come to the table and not get full. Come on. I love it. And then these are potato fritters. Potato pancakes. Okay. But in Yiddish. I believe Yiddish. We call them latkes. Latkes. And this is very popular for the holiday of Hanukkah. Because of the oil that they're cooked in. Which commemorates the oil used for the candles of the menorah. Okay. It actually looks like a huge hash brown. I guess we could say it looks like a hash brown. It's like a Jewish hash brown. And before you eat it. You've got to put some applesauce on top. Applesauce. It would be a sin not to have some applesauce on top of it. Okay. I've never tried this. This is so cool. Because actually we can talk about how your Jewish background. You're getting a little bit of an education here. Yeah you know the thing is that my grandmother. You know God rest her soul. She passed away like I think 5 years ago. She was 97. So I really got to only see her in her later years. You know 70s, 80s. And she lived about an hour away from us. So we'd see her like you know once a month. It wasn't like we were always with her. So unfortunately I didn't get to see all this. But I always had the matzah soup. Okay. We had some martinis and vodka. Because they love that. That's good too. But you're expanding your Jewish palate today. And this is something that you can do in New York City. And it's so hard to do this in other cities. Places like this are very rare in the U.S. Yeah even in Miami. You know we have a big Jewish population. But we don't have places like this that are 100 years old. No. Doesn't exist anymore. I'm going to try it. Mmm. Sweet and savory. Yes. Mmm. Definitely not a hash brown. Definitely thicker. A little crispy outside. I think it's better than a hash brown. This is more for a special occasion. A hash brown is for breakfast everyday. Yeah a hash brown is like a little more salty. Yeah. Mmm. Good. Easy to eat. Whoa. A challah french toast. We're not ordering it because we're not crazy. We're already too full anyway. But that's when you combine those Jewish roots with a challah bread. And you put cinnamon on top. And turn it into a trendy New York City kind of brunch food. So you can come here for the traditional. Or you can come here for a little twist on the traditional as well. Look at that. Alright Hanukkah is about to come a little early this year. Hanukkah is coming in September. They nailed the latkes. Ola the owner was telling me that they sell out of latkes every single year on Hanukkah. And I can see why now. So so good. The applesauce. It's just like the icing on the cake. It's the cherry on top. So this is the best Jewish food? This is some of the best Jewish food. I've ever had in my entire life. And i've had a lot of it. This is some of the best. The people will come here from the entire tri-state area. Even if they haven't lived in New York City for 30-40 years. They'll come back to a spot like this. Because it doesn't change. Oh try the challah bread. You've definitely had challah at some point. So this is challah traditional bread. Jewish traditional bread. The dough everything is from the bread. Yeah I've tried it before. Amazing. Before they do it with the raisin inside. It's hot. So we bake like in the season. Because like now especially the holidays. So we bake like over 50. And also we sell. Because our bakery the Jonash. It's no more here. He moved in Houston street. But they discontinued this challah. So B&H I think this is the last one. Oh wow. Look at that coming out. You don't see that every day. Huge loaf of challah bread. And it's only 6 bucks. Only 6 bucks. You know how tough that is to find. Anywhere in the U.S. A place that makes their own challah in the back. So good. You eat this at just about any Jewish event. Outside of of course Passover. But this is a staple. And the fact that we just have it. On the side right now. So cool. I'm going to have some more you guys. It's so fluffy. They put a nice layer of butter on top. Hola. What are we doing? B&H is like any amazing New York institution. Because while it was started. By Jewish people. And served primarily just the Jews. The immigrants living in the lower east side. East village at the time. Today you look around, look outside. And you see people all different skin colors. Different ethnicities. All different walks of life. All coming here to celebrate New York's Jewish past time. And the food. This type of food has gone past. Just the Jewish audience. A lot of New Yorkers just love eating this as well. From bagels. To blintzes. To matzo ball soup. You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy this. And looking around the diner. You can tell that it's become widely accepted. If you're a New Yorker. You like to eat Jewish stuff usually. Everything is super delicious. I am popping. There's one more coming. One more surprise for David. I love this atmosphere. Super old school diner. In front of us he's cooking eggs. He has some potatoes. We have some more customers coming in right now. And they also have all the different dishes they have right here. So that's the menus. And then behind us a few tables. This is a lost art. Just sitting at the counter of a diner. Does it get more American than that? This is what I love about America. Barbers like this finding them. This is the knish. And this is one of those famous Jewish foods. That for whatever reason never really made it out of New York. You don't see knishes too often. Outside of New York City. They used to sell these a lot on street carts. Now it's almost impossible to find this outside. It's a soft pillowy piece of dough. Filled with mashed potatoes. In this case we got the sweet potato knish. And they put some gravy on the side. I don't think you need gravy. I want to take a bite without the gravy. Maybe David wants to try it with gravy. We can compare. How do you eat so much. And stay in shape. That's my problem as a youtuber as well. It's called fasting. You're going to teach me. Tell me off camera. I'll teach you. The knish. Sweet potato. Mashed sweet potato. Look how beautiful this looks. It's piping hot too in our hands. You can even dip it in the gravy if you want. I'm going to try it regular. Obviously a little sweet. Not too sweet. That's what I like about it. Nice crisp on the outside. It's like a nice layer. And the inside is very mushy. So I'm guessing you should get a little bit of this. Or just dip it. Let's try. I've actually never had it with gravy before. Look how thick that is. It does go well with gravy. Nice combo. Like slimy. I think she's smiling right now. Both our grandmas from above. My grandma on my mom's side also passed away. They're both watching us smiling. I'm done. We're doing our ancestors right here. I'm in a little bit of a food coma right now. It hits you hard right. This is heavy man. This is heavy food. It sinks. If you're hungry you can be an H. If you're thirsty. If you want to have fun. Come be an H. Very friendly friend. Welcome everybody. We have one more dish to try. Just when we thought we were full. She brought us more. Oh my gosh. This is a fried dumpling. That has cheese, sauerkraut. Potatoes. Spinach and a little bit of feta cheese. And mushrooms too. This is a Polish dish right? It's Polish yeah. I mean a lot of Jewish people eat it as well. But you can eat this in Ukraine. You can eat this in Poland. Let's dip it. Sour cream right? Cheers. So many things in here. You got that big piece of spinach. You see that hanging out there. I love the layer of the potatoes. So it's like crispy. And it's stuffed with all these vegetables right. And I like how cold the sour cream is. Because it has a nice balance right. It's very hearty, very warm. The kind of thing that's going to fill you up. This would be perfect on a really cold winter's day I would say. Exactly. The potato. So much potato guys. In New York when you pay for something. You always get your money's worth. You think that it's too expensive. Because it's the city. But they don't skimp on ingredients in New York. Not at all. This is my favorite pierogi ever. It's not like the 5 things of my life. But I remember this. Wow. And I shouldn't be eating more. I have to go eat Indian filet. Dude i'm like tapped out till 5pm. You're a machine of eating proportions. I don't know how you do it. You're going to go for like a run now maybe. I don't know. I'm just kidding. Let's go get a beer. And guys that's basically it. We did a mini Jewish food tour. Went to two spots. Started off at Russ and Daughters. Incredible big bagel with delicious salmon. Super creamy. I mean fantastic. My favorite bagel of all time. And I've had a lot of bagels here in the United States. And then we came here. And we tried matzo ball soup. We tried the kanish. We tried the bellini. Bellini no. That's a drink. We need a bellini. The challah bread. The latkes. Aka the potato pancakes. And matzo ball soup. Well guys next time you visit New York City definitely come out to the East Village. And do these two places. They are staples. If you enjoyed my work here with David. I do similar content. But I really concentrate hard on New York City. So if you want to learn more about New York. Where to eat. Where to go. How to move here. Check out my channel. Subscribe to me. Him. And we'll see you in the next childhood adventure in New York City. Peace. Gracias. Take care guys. Take care. Thank you for watching.