Joya in Reut
Dairy and fish restaurant

November 2025
The pastoral hamlet Reut is a sharp contrast to its parent city, Modiin. This ever-expanding city has encompassed the village to become the combined city of Modiin-Maccabim-Reut. In this hotbed of urban development, Reut struggles to maintain its rural flavor and Israel-of-yore atmosphere.

The people in the Joya restaurant chain have snared the perfect location in Reut's Lev Center. Joya is casual dining at its best. The restaurant’s rustic décor and relaxed atmosphere is a perfect fit for the rural Reut community. This is a light and bright restaurant with an upbeat feel. There is a large open dining area and tall windows open to the outdoor courtyard. There is indoor seating, additional tables outdoors and no shortage of parking.

Joya is a chain of dairy restaurants (not all with a teudat kashrut). The Reut restaurant is not a sequel in the Joya chain. The restaurant has its own character but, more than that, Benny Ashkenazi, the executive chef of the Joya chain, has tweaked the Joya menu to comply with the Mehadrin kashrut. There are no compromises in quality or creativity.

Joya in Reut is building a reputation in Modiin. When we stopped in for a mid-week lunch the restaurant was quite busy, an indication of its popularity. When our grandson heard that we were going to this restaurant we could hardly hold him back from joining us for lunch, a fine treat before the start of university.

The dishes are out of the classic Italian playbook. Most are dairy, with vegan dishes marked in the menu. You'll want to spiff up your Italian language skills to negotiate the menu. It starts with Antipasti (the dish that precedes all others), Insalata (salads) Secondi Piatti (main course), and the familiar pizza, pasta and extras. Don't forget the excellent dairy desserts.

And what would you like to eat? I suggested that we order one starter to share between the three of us, one main dish each, and of course dessert. This was an opportunity to introduce the young man to Burrata, one of my favorite starters. For the non-initiated, this is a large bowl of mostly cherry tomatoes, with a cheese-filled ball of mozzarella in the center. For a twist, the salad in this burrata also had artichoke hearts and a fair amount of znober (pine nuts) in a pleasant salad dressing. To eat this dish, one punctures the cheese ball, and the liquidy cheese inside becomes a delicious dressing for the vegetables.

Our daughter-in-law says that Joya Reut has the best pasta she has ever tasted. So, pasta it will be. For his main course the young man chose the beetroot tortellini. This is a unique dish that was recommended to him by friends in the know. Tortellini are pasta rosettes served in a sauce, with a sprinkle of crumbled parmesan cheese and crunchy nuts. These are hand-made specially for this restaurant, to comply with the kashrut requirements. Beets themselves have a strong flavor that is usually tempered with lemon. The beet tortellini was full-on beets. The pasta florets themselves were beet red, and was served in a red beet sauce. This is a lot of beets.

Also attracted by the Tortellini, for his main dish, Saba chose the Ricotta and Parmesan Tortellini. This had a mild flavor and we all agreed that of the two Tortellini dishes, this was the winner.

I am a sucker for salads. The Marketo Salad (market salad) was a huge bowl containing all the vegetables that you would expect and some surprises, including string beans and nuts. The salad was flavored with a honey-garlic-aioli dressing, and topped with crumbled feta cheese and crispy sweet potato chips. This salad was attractive, light, healthful and pleasant. The bowl was easily shared between the three of us and was a good balance for the two heavy pasta dishes.

With a dairy meal, dessert is non-negotiable, especially when dining with our grandson. You choose, young man, as he deliberated between the cheese cake and the Tiramisu. We all helped him out with his choice of Tiramisu, though any one of us would have been happy to polish it off by ourselves. Saba lit up when he saw Mille Feuille on the dessert menu. The Joya Mille Feuille is a modernized version of the layer cake that Saba remembered from another century in New York. This was a creamy dessert with crusty cracker-like dividers that were hard to share. These outstanding desserts were a sweet way to end an excellent meal. .

The dishes are generous and filling, and the foods that we ate were more than satisfying. The menu is varied and designed to appeal to a wide range of diners. The restaurant works for couples, families, groups and parties. Parking: Ample free parking in the Lev Reut parking lot.

From the Menu:

Burrata NIS 72
Arancini NIS 56
Tortolini NIS 78/79
Marketo salad NIS 68
Grilled salmon NIS 128
Pizza NIS 69 - NIS 79
Pasta dishes NIS 78