Mark's Deli
The kosher haggis made in this kitchen gets shipped around the world for Burns Suppers, and the shop says it has been mentioned at the Scottish Parliament.
Why go
This is the only kosher deli in Scotland, and it works under the supervision of the West of Scotland Kashrut Commission with Rabbi Moshe Rubin (venue site). Mark Cohen owns it as the fourth generation of his family to run a kosher business. His mother is Doreen Cohen of Simcha Catering, a kosher caterer in Glasgow for over thirty years; his great aunt, known to everyone as Auntie Annie, ran Cohen's Deli in the Gorbals and later in Giffnock; his great great aunt was Sophie Geneen, who ran Geneen's restaurant and hotel in the Gorbals (about page). The kitchen carries a constraint most kitchens never attempt: Our kitchen is completely dairy free. There are no dairy products in anything made in our kitchen
(deli page). Inside that rule they cure salt beef, smoke their own salmon, make gefilte fish, cholent, latkes, tsimmes, sausage rolls and steak pies, and build a dozen salads. They deliver across Glasgow daily, Edinburgh fortnightly, Dundee and St Andrews on request, and have shipped as far as Carlisle and John O' Groats.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the hot salt beef sandwich, which the shop says The Herald called the best in the city, though no such piece is published, so take it as the shop's own line2. Then the gefilte fish, the house smoked salmon, and the crunchy noodle salad they name as their signature. Buy the kosher haggis to take away, in season or out. Their chicken soup goes on the menu as Jewish Penicillin.
- Avoid: turning up for a sit-down lunch. The cafe is marked temporarily closed on the shop's own site as of July 2026, with no reopening date, so the counter and the takeaway are what is running. Do not try to get hours off the website either, because they sit inside a slider that will not load. Phone 0141 638 8947.
What locals & experts say
- The shop's own claim on the salt beef, carried here as its claim and not as a citation:
our salt beef has been described by The Herald as the best in the city.
The Herald piece was searched for and not found.2 - On the haggis, also the shop's own words:
Our haggis is shipped throughout the UK and beyond for Burns Suppers. Our haggis has even been mentioned at the Scottish Parliament!
1 - Stanley Dalnakoff, after the Bet Yosef Tour of Scotland, on a Burns night held in the cafe:
You should feel very proud of going that extra step to ensure the needs of the lady with the strict dietary needs were met. I doubt any other caterer would have been so meticulous in preparing her special needs.
3 - On the cafe menu, in the shop's words:
Try our famous hot salt beef sandwich or our falafel served with secret falafel sauce. Our Jewish Penicillin (chicken soup) is like what your grandma used to make! We've mastered the parev cappuccino (dairy free).
5 - Local rec: Jeff's save. He left no note on it.
Good to know
- The cafe is temporarily closed as of July 2026, per the shop's own site, with no date given and no reopening date. When it runs it seats over 60 and takes private events including birthdays, anniversaries and stonesettings.
- Hours could not be established. The shop publishes them inside a JavaScript slider that does not render. Phone 0141 638 8947.
- Kosher: supervised by the West of Scotland Kashrut Commission, with Rabbi Moshe Rubin named as supervising rabbi. It is the only kosher deli in the country.
- Dairy: nothing made in the kitchen contains dairy, on the shop's own statement. They also stock dairy free, gluten free and sugar free products, which is a retail range rather than a kitchen guarantee.
- Delivery and mail order: Glasgow daily, Edinburgh fortnightly, Dundee and St Andrews on request, anywhere else in Scotland by arrangement, and UK-wide mail order in insulated packaging with icepacks. They will provision kosher travel for groups of over a hundred.
- Where it actually is: Giffnock, in East Renfrewshire, on Burnfield Road, outside the Glasgow city boundary.
- Hygiene: East Renfrewshire Council rates the address a Pass under the Food Hygiene Information Scheme, inspected 19 May 2026.4
Verdict
should-visit — Scotland's only kosher deli, in Giffnock, run by Mark Cohen as the fourth generation of a family that goes back through Cohen's Deli in the Gorbals to Sophie Geneen's Gorbals restaurant and hotel. It is supervised by the West of Scotland Kashrut Commission with Rabbi Moshe Rubin, and the kitchen holds no dairy at all, in anything, by design. They cure their own salt beef and smoke their own salmon, make gefilte fish, cholent, latkes and tsimmes, and produce a kosher haggis they ship for Burns Suppers around the world. The 60-seat cafe is shut for now, so this is a counter and a takeaway rather than a lunch, and they will deliver anywhere in Scotland.