Kosher Food and Drink

During a recent business trip to Las Vegas, I have to admit I got a little tired of eating fleishigs. I know – my friends are probably stunned to see those words coming from me. I absolutely love Burnt Offerings and Jerusalem Mediterranean Chef’s Table, and go to one of them (or both) almost every time I’m out in Las Vegas. But my appetite was for some dairy, and I was excited to try out a newer establishment: Vasker’s Bakery Cafe.

Vasker’s Bakery Cafe (4235 S Fort Apache Rd #250, Las Vegas, NV 89147; (725) 214-1434; https://vaskers.com/; under the Va’ad HaKashrus of Las Vegas supervision; dairy) is located near the Jewish community in Las Vegas, which is to say, not terribly close to the strip. That said, they will deliver to the strip, which not all restaurants will. In the interests of doing a proper review, I Uber’d out there.

Vasker’s is in a shopping center, and there’s plenty of parking in front. There’s a bit of outdoor seating. When I got inside, I was pleasantly surprised by the decor.

Vasker’s is surprisingly big inside, and it’s tastefully decorated. There’s a bakery counter as well as a view into the kitchen. Israeli music is piped in, and there are three TVs on different channels. But overall, it’s a pleasant enough place to be in, and it was a promising start.

The service was a bit more flawed, unfortunately. The front-end wasn’t really understaffed – there were very few people there – but it took them a while to get me seated, and it took them longer than I’d expect to take my order. The food also took a surprisingly long time to come out, albeit partially compensated by a free roll and butter. It wasn’t all bad – they were friendly enough – but this is an area the restaurant could improve on.

I elected to go with the mozzarella basket as my entree. Think of it as a few balls of lightly fried mozzarella with some sauteed onions, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes in a tortilla basket thingie, along with some greens.

Really stellar plating, and it tasted great, too. The sweet, salty, and savory combination of tastes made it a nice compliment to the very tasty roll I had a bit earlier.

It always comes down to the usual “does good food outweigh uncertain service?” question that a few too many kosher restaurants force on their potential patrons. I’d be willing to come back, but it wouldn’t be my first choice. That said, as a delivery option to the strip, they seem pretty strong, and the service issue wouldn’t be a problem for that.