Showing posts with label maraq. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maraq. Show all posts

Friday, March 7, 2014

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

Friday, February 21, 2014

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

Monday, January 6, 2014

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

Sunday, December 29, 2013

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