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: 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: Queen Sheeba

I've been to Queen Sheeba in Harlem twice now, once for breakfast and once for dinner.  It's the only Yemeni restaurant in Harlem and pretty decent.  However, they do not make fresh bread here and you have to come around 6pm or call ahead to make sure there will be lamb dishes available.  We went around 8pm on a Friday and all the lamb was finished.  We tried lamb sughar, which are lamb chunks, and it wasn't bad.  We also got salta and it was good here.  The sahawiq is particularly spicy.

When I came for breakfast last year, it was good with fasolia, eggs, and meat.  No fresh bread but it hit the spot.

Queen Sheeba

317 W 141st St

(between Edgecombe Ave & 8th Ave)

New York, NY 10030

Neighborhood: Harlem

+1 (212) 862-6149

New York: Aden Restaurant

Aden Restaurant is one of two Yemeni restaurants in Astoria on Steinway, which is an area with a lot of Middle Eastern restaurants, shops, and food carts.

We got the usual maraq soup to start out and some salad and tea.  For the main dishes, we had chicken ogda and lamb zerbian.  Both were good but the ogda was a potato version without tomatoes.  The bread was freshly made and good.  They do not serve Yemeni dessert here.

Overall it was a good meal but not as good as other Yemeni restaurants in New York City.

 

Aden Restaurant

24-42 Steinway St

Astoria, NY 11103

(718) 777-3131

New York: Yemen Cuisine (Matam Al-Wahda)

Yemen Cuisine (Matam Al-Wahda مطعم الوحدة) really looks like a hole-in-the-wall more than the other Yemeni restaurants in New York.  I had to convince my not-so-adventurous friends to enter.  The restaurant was pretty empty when we entered but by the end of our meal it was lively and full of people.

We got maraq soup and salad at the beginning as usual.  The maraq soup was the usual.  The salad had a new dressing I haven't seen before and it was light and good.

For the main dishes, we got chicken ogda and lamb zerbian (called lamb kebsa here).  The chicken ogda was quite different from every other ogda I've ever had.  It wasn't shavings of chicken meat, instead it was more like cubes of chicken.  The sauce was thick with some spices I couldn't recognize and not so tomato based.  It was good but different.  The lamb kebsa came with a lot of meat and not so much rice!  It was good but the rice wasn't as fluffy as I like it.

The fresh bread was great and soft as I like it.  The sahawiq was particularly spicy here.

At the end we had some tea which was the same as all the other New York restaurants.  They do not make any Yemeni dessert here.  The staff were kind but a bit indifferent.  $36 for 3 people.

After sampling all the Yemeni restaurants in the Atlantic Avenue area of Brooklyn, I like Hadramout Restaurant the best in the Atlantic Avenue area.

Yemen Cuisine

145 Court St

(between Atlantic Ave & Pacific St)

Brooklyn, NY 11201

Neighborhood: Cobble Hill

+1 (718) 624-9325

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