KOSHER GURU

SNACKS

Panama Travel Journals with Kosher Guru

By: Gabriel Boxer

Ilove to travel, but I also love good kosher food. Usually, I would happily go to Israel any day of the week for the best of both worlds, but since COVID it has been pretty hard to get into many countries. Panama only requires a negative PCR test, and since Panama has been on my bucket list for a few years, I was super excited to go.

Did you know that Panama City boasts almost 40 kosher establishments under the Synagogue Shevet Ahim certification? I had heard about the amazing kosher culinary adventures Panama has to offer but I never believed it until I went to see for myself. I went during the rainy season knowing it’s a tropical climate and the chance of rain was 100% every day, but we got lucky. Most of the days were sunny, hot, humid and perfect for the quick July 4th weekend we were able to squeeze in. We flew on Copa Airlines, which has four flights to Panama per day on clean planes with no frills. The flight was pretty quick and uneventful. With no inflight movies, I was able to catch some shut eye.

After getting through security pretty quickly, a 15-minute Uber ride brought us to the Hilton Panama. The service was very friendly and they graciously allowed an early check-in with a smile. It was super clean and within walking distance to a lot of the kosher places I wanted to check out.

For breakfast we went to Jeffrey’s, a bakery with a full breakfast/cafe menu. The menu was in Spanish, but with the help of Google we were able to translate words like queso, aguacate, and huevos. (That’s cheese, avocado, and eggs.) Breakfast was simple, good, fresh food, and the pastries and coffee were also delicious. Did I mention that this trip was mostly about the food, with a little touring on the side?

After breakfast we checked out the two large kosher supermarkets in Panama City. Super Kosher is across from Jeffrey’s, where challah sells for about $1.50 and a pack of six marrow bones is $1.08 — just to give you an idea how reasonable the prices are. Around the corner the other supermarket deli also makes Shabbos food to go.

Time for lunch! We took a $2 Uber to Kava, a funky, Instagrammable restaurant that is definitely not what you’d expect of a typical kosher restaurant. Besides the cool decor, this super creative dairy establishment has both delicious food and great service. Dinner was at Aria, a sister restaurant to Kava that serves meat and has a super cool, fun vibe. We sat outside and just enjoyed the night life around us with amazing company, food, and drinks.

The next day, after we picked up our Shabbos food, we took a 1 ½-hour drive through the country, enjoying the local scenery and culture along the way. We arrived at a stunning resort boasting black

sand beaches. For Shabbos, we rented a villa with a private pool, four bedrooms, and a full kitchen. We had an amazing Shabbos at the Buenaventura hotel, which was the highlight of our trip. Just relaxing at the beach and

enjoying the Panamanian lava sand was such a thrill.

We spent Sunday afternoon in Panama City where we explored Casco Viejo, the old city of Panama. We enjoyed walking around the quaint cobblestone streets, taking in the views and architecture of the city. We found a lot of cute souvenirs boasting Panama’s colorful culture.

The next morning, we went to see the canal which Panama is famous for. The canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, with a cost of well over $250,000 for each large cargo ship to pass through. However, it saves these ships a huge amount of time and fuel to cut through the canal rather than go all the way around the continent. The canal took several years to build with a lot of deaths, plagues, and disease but has been so transformative and awe-inspiring, it’s almost called one of the wonders of the world.

A second canal was recently completed to accommodate even larger ships. There is usually a long wait to pass through the locks of that canal. We were able to ride in Gatun Lake which connects the two sides of the locks.

We moved on to Monkey Island, where several species of monkeys scampered aboard our boats and ate bananas out of our hands. Next, we took a stroll through the rainforest, encountering more wildlife including some howler monkeys which were so loud, they scared the living daylights out of our group. We also saw the most exotic azure butterflies. I almost felt like I was reading a Fancy For dinner we went to Yossburger, which is not your average burger joint. The food was incredible, with some really creative appetizers and some of the best kosher burgers and sandwiches I have ever tasted. The service and drinks were top notch as well. When you do come to Panama, do not miss this place!

All good things must come to an end. Since this was a food trip, we had to get one last meal in, and we chose Aroma, another gem in the city. Aroma is a dairy restaurant with amazing fish dishes, as well as delicious pastas, salads, and incredible desserts. The server told us that although many of the local Jews do not necessarily keep kosher, with restaurants as incredible as these, they will choose kosher over any other restaurant time and time again.