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

New York: Yemen Restaurant

Yemen Restaurant (مطعم اليمن) was a wonderful, serendipitous find in Bay Ridge.  We had originally planned to go to Bab Al Yemen but then discovered it was closed!  By a stroke of fate, my friend was late so while I was waiting for him, I started wandering around the area and found Yemen Restaurant.  With no reviews on Yelp, I thought it didn't really exist.  I thought I was seeing things so I took a photo before heading back to find my friend to bring him there.  The restaurant was still there when I got back and still open even though it was kinda late!

We started off with the maraq soup as usual.  We also got the simple salad which had some ranch dressing and sahawiq.  Both were great.

Next we got two main dishes: chicken ogda and lamb zerbian.  I really liked the lamb zerbian.  The flavors in the rice were amazing, and the lamb was perfectly tender.  This was really excellent.

We finished the meal with Yemeni tea and some dessert, called sabayah.  It's thin layers of pastry bread with butter in between and Yemeni honey on top.  This was my first time trying it and I really liked the middle parts that were extra soft.

The kind Yemeni man was really extremely kind and I told them I was missing one of my favorite drinks from Qatar, called karak, and so he made it for me!  It was perfect.

Everyone was so friendly in this restaurant and the other Yemeni guys eating there also spoke with us and gave us some good tips about Yemeni food.  Overall, this was a really wonderful meal and experience.  $36 for 2 people (but the amount of food we ordered could feed 3-4 people).

Yemen Restaurant

6726 5th Ave

(at Senator St)

Brooklyn, NY 11220

Neighborhood: Bay Ridge

+1 (718) 748-4500

https://www.facebook.com/yemenrestaurant

London: Queen of Sheba Restaurant

It seems that Queen of Sheba is the only pure Yemeni food restaurant in London.  The maraq soup that always starts off the meal was excellent and included huge hunks of meat and and even some on the bone.  The lamb mandi was decent and the chicken ogda was good but needed to be in the black pots to keep it warm.  Queen of Sheba was unique and surprising with the fresh juice outside of the Middle East.  The lemon mint juice was perfect.  The bread was also good and they had a bread oven in the restaurant.  The meal concluded with some karak tea (black tea with milk and sugar).  The staff were friendly and kind.  Overall, it was a good experience but quite pricy.  £60 for 3 people.

Queen of Sheba Restaurant

3-4 Bouverie Place

London W2 1RE

Neighborhood: Paddington

020 7402 6667

queen-of-sheba.co.uk