Vancouver: The Palm Tree Restaurant

We first tried to go to The Palm Tree Restaurant for lunch and arrived right when they open at 1:00pm. Unfortunately it was still closed and everyone was hungry so we had to go somewhere else. Then we tried again a few days later for dinner and success! We got some tea, hummus, and a half size kebsa since we had already eaten a bit since we weren't sure if they would be open. The tea was great and the kebsa was delicious. I hope to try the other meals on the menu sometime!  There is also a section in the restaurant selling many Arabic items and food.

Palm Tree Restaurant

724 Kingsway

Vancouver, BC V5V 3C1

Canada

Neighborhood: Kensington-Cedar Cottage

(604) 568-7292

palmtreerestaurant.ca

New York: Yemen Cafe (Bay Ridge)

This is the other location of Yemen Cafe that is located in Bay Ridge. This location was much nicer, probably because it's not in a completely gentrified area. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was very cosy. It was crowded and full with families.

We tried the usual favorites: maraq soup, salad, chicken ogda, and lamb haneeth.  All was good and I like this location much better than on Atlantic Avenue.

Yemen Cafe

7130 5th Ave

Brooklyn, NY 11209

b/t 72nd St & Ovington Ave in Bay Ridge

(718) 745-3000

yemencafe.com

New York: Saba Restaurant & Grill

Saba Restaurant and Grill is not really a Yemeni restaurant. The staff are from Northern Africa, such as Tunisia and Algeria. They serve some Yemeni dishes but they were just adequate. The tea was fine but nothing special. The maraq soup could have been better. The salad was adequate. The fresh bread was decent. We tried the chicken ogda and it was just okay. The lamb kabsah (zerbian) was decent but the rice could have been better. We tried to order dessert but they did not have sabayah that day. The kind Algerian guy did make us some fatta dessert on the house which was quite delicious but I'm hesitant to recommend this place as this should be on the menu or always available and not just a one off.  $37 for two people. The price is too high for 2 main dishes for lunch that were just adequate.

Saba Restaurant and Grill

25-75 Steinway St

Long Island City, NY 11103

Neighborhood: Astoria

(718) 777-5656

New York: Famous Yemen Sweets

Famous Yemen Sweets is a new addition to the Bay Ridge area and just opened last week! We were having lunch at Yemen Restaurant and learned that this dessert shop next door just opened! They are very kind here and let us try all the different sweets and even gave us some coffee. They feature the traditional Yemeni harissa dessert, a chocolate peanut flour mush that is very yummy! They also have halwa and some other candy-like items that I can only describe as something between Turkish delight and gummy candies.

The kind Yemeni man working there when we visited said they also plan to have fresh juice in the future. I really hope it happens soon! In the mean time, they serve some very light Arabic coffee. This is definitely a spot to go to if you want to try something really new and also very authentic. There is seating inside the bakery where you can sit and enjoy the coffee and sweets. The sweets are $5.99 per pound.

Famous Yemen Sweets

6708 5th Ave

New York, NY 11220

b/t Senator St & 67th St in Bay Ridge

(347) 517-4106

Washington DC: Al Jazeera Restaurant

Al Jazeera Restaurant is actually located outside of Washington DC in Falls Church, Virginia in a little shopping center with many Ethiopian shops and businesses. While there are some Yemeni dishes on the menu, it turns out that this restaurant is more Ethiopian than Yemeni. We started off with some maraq soup and salad. We then ordered two main dishes, lamb mandi and chicken mandi, and some fasoulia. I also got a fresh strawberry juice. It was all pretty good, but the sahawiq was really, really spicy!

Unfortunately they did not have any dishes in the black pots like salta, fahsa, or ogda.  Also, $52 for 2 people seemed a bit high but they rushed us at the end before I could think about it too much. We wont be back here...

Al Jazeera

3813D S George Mason Dr

Falls Church, VA 22216

Neighborhood: Skyline

(703) 379-2733

Manchester: Hadramout

Hadramout is a secret treasure in Manchester on Curry Mile.  We arrived at the restaurant at just about noon when it opens.  They saw us waiting outside though and let us in and gave us some karak tea!  So warm and perfect.  We thought that the only tables in the restaurant were downstairs at the entrance but it turns out there is a huge upstairs with carpeted rooms!  There is a huge main room which seems to be for the men and then there are several smaller rooms in the family section.  We decided to sit in one of the family rooms which is about the size for 2 people and maybe up to 4 if you squeeze in.

As usual we started off the meal with some maraq lamb broth soup and salad.  The salad dressing and sahawiq are in bottles which is so clever!  It works really well to squirt the sahawiq over everything and it wasn't spicy here at all and tasted great with everything.  I had also ordered some yogurt salad just in case to mediate any spiciness.

For main dishes, we got lamb kebsa and chicken fahsa.  I had originally ordered chicken ogda but the Yemeni guy said they couldn't make it in the black pots I think because there are too many bones.  I don't like bones in the chicken ogda anyway and so he offered to make chicken fahsa which would fit in the black pot.  It was my first time trying chicken fahsa and it was really good.  They made it with a tomato base so it actually tasted like the chicken ogda that I like!  So perfect.

They also make malawah bread here which was awesome and made the meal complete.  Another nice surprise is that they make fresh juice!  We had fresh lime juice with the meal and it was really good.

For dessert, we had some fatta masoob.  It's very heavy and we were so full by the time we started to eat it but it was yummy.

Hadramout is many times better than Queen of Sheba Restaurant in London and also 1/3 the price!  We paid £22 for 2 people for this amazing and perfect lunch at Hadramout.

Hadramout

1 Walmar Street East

Rusholme

Manchester M14 5SS

Neighborhood: Rusholme

+44 161 248 8843

hadramout.co.uk/index.htm