New York: Hoomoos Asli

The Yemeni-Yemenite conundrum continued today.  One of my favorite parts of Yemeni cuisine is the mystical pastry bread, called malawah.  It's soft and fluffy goodness and is a something between a croissant and flatbread.  It's amazing.

Yet, for some reason, I haven't seen this bread in a Yemeni restaurant outside of the Middle East.  Malawah (often also spelled mellawach) seems to be a common item at Yemenite restaurants though.  Hoomoos Asli has some Yemenite malawah sandwiches on their menu so naturally investigation was in order.

We decided to order the original version of the malawah sandwich.  It was amazing and I almost cried I was so happy to be tasting malawah again.  The Hoomoos Asli version was even more soft and gooey than usual, just how I like it!

Hoomoos Asli

100 Kenmare St

(between Mulberry St & Mott St)

New York, NY 10012

Neighborhoods: Little Italy, Nolita

+1 (212) 966-0022

New York: Grill 212

Today I set out to try to understand the difference between Yemeni and Yemenite food and if they are the same.   Previously, I asked one of my Arab Yemeni friends and he said that "yemenite" is the feminine version of the word "yemeni." I asked a Jewish friend and she said that "yemenite" and "yemeni" are the same. So what is it?

To try to get some clarity, I decided to try out a Yemenite restaurant, Grill 212. According to their website, they serve a "specialty Yemenite Soup, made with only the finest fresh ground spices from the Middle East and guaranteed to rock your palate!" They use "ancient family recipes infuse you with a taste for Old World Yemen where Jews have lived for thousands of years unchanged." Their menu lists some Yemenite soups, including one called "Yemenite Marak Regel," which sounded suspiciously like the Yemeni maraq soup that is a starter at Arab Yemeni restaurants.

I was lucky to be able to visit with an Israeli friend which made everything much smoother. She explained to me that the soups are the main dish of Yemenite cuisine. This seems to be a major difference as in Arab Yemeni food, the soup is just a small starter.

Anyway, so we tried to order the "Yemenite Marak Regel" soup at Grill 212 but it turns out that is just a winter specialty. Instead, the kind woman recommended the "Yeminete Meat Soup." We decided to split the soup since we didn't know how big it would be. That was a good call as the soup was huge! The soup was thicker than the Yemeni maraq and also contained meat and vegetables. Clearly, this is a meal on it's own.

We also got some salad with tahini dressing, hilba schug, and kubana, a Yemenite bread.  The hilba schug seemed to be hulba mixed with sahawiq.  The kubana bread was soft and fluffy.

As we were leaving, I also asked the kind woman working there what the difference between "yemenite" and "yemeni" is and she said it is the same.  So far I think there is some overlap regarding the maraq soup, hulba, and sahawiq.

Grill 212 

212 W 80th St 

(between Amsterdam Ave & Broadway) 

New York, NY 10024 

Neighborhood: Upper West Side 

+1 (212) 724-7455 

grill212.com

New York: Hadramout Restaurant

Yemeni friends all have the consensus that Yemen Cafe (Matam Al Yemen Al Saeed) on Atlantic Avenue is the best and most authentic in NYC.  Maybe if you are Yemeni?  After trying Yemen Cafe many times now, I just got fed up with the rude service and high prices.  Time for a change.

I was very pleasantly surprised with Hadramout Restaurant (Hadramout is a region in Yemen).  Honestly, the food tasted the same as Yemen Cafe but the atmosphere and Yemeni staff were so kind and it was a perfect lunch experience.  So far in the US I haven't found Yemeni food tasting like in the Middle East except for in Detroit which has the largest Yemeni community.  Thus Hadramout Restaurant was pretty good and I think a much better experience than Yemen Cafe.

The maraq soup was good and came at the beginning of the meal as it should.  I also particularly liked the salad at this restaurant and it had a really simple and delicious tomato sauce on top.  The sahawiq (Yemeni salsa) was sufficiently spicy.  The khobz bread was freshly baked and soft and fluffy.  Still haven't found my favorite Yemeni pastry bread, called malawah, outside of the Middle East.  I'll keep searching!

We had mandi lamb and chicken ogda.  Both were good, but the chicken ogda had bones in it and was a little less soupy than it should be.  The rice was particularly perfect and fluffy.

The Yemeni tea was good and seems to be popular in NYC.

However, really what made this such a nice experience was the really kind staff.  It was so nice to finally see the famous Yemeni hospitality.  We were having trouble cutting the lamb so our kind waiter helped us cut it.

This leads me to probably the best part of the meal which was the Yemeni dessert, masoob.  If you haven't tried masoob, you definitely should.  It's something to be split with the group since one or two spoon fulls is plenty and really heavy.  There are a few types but pretty much it is bread, dates, banana, cheese, cream, and Yemeni honey.  Wow, it's amazing.  So when we were ordering this, the Yemeni guy asked us if we really wanted it hesitantly, and we said "oh yeah!!" as we've had it so many times in Qatar and love it.  He said okay and then I saw him run out the door and come back a few minutes later with a container of honey!  He was so sweet and went and got the honey for us!  Yemeni honey is so good and the masoob was perfect.

Of course I'll be checking out all the other Yemeni restaurants in NYC but for now, Hadramout Restaurant is at the top of my list in NYC.  $60 for 5 people, including tip & tax.

Hadramout Restaurant

172 Atlantic Ave

New York, NY 11230

Neighborhood: Cobble Hill

(718) 852-3577

hadramoutbrooklyn.com

Chicago: Yemen Restaurant

The specialties of Chicago's Yemen Restaurant are chicken mandi and lamb mandi.  The lamb mandi was excellent.  The kind Yemeni chef will take requests though and kindly made chicken ogda.  They didn't have the black pots but it was still good.  The sahawiq was very spicy and the salad was simple as it should be.  The maraq soup tasted just as it should.  They do not have a bread oven so no fresh bread at this location.  The portions were huge and it was a great meal.  $25 for 3 people.

Source: Yelp

Yemen Restaurant

4748 N Kenneth Ave

(between Elston Ave & Leland Ave)

Chicago, IL 60630

Neighborhood: Irving Park

(773) 777-8755

Home-cooked Yemeni Lunch

Not in a restaurant, but at the home of some of my Yemeni friends.  It was my first time to try the chicken version of salta.  We also had traditional chicken and rice.  Delicious!  

Detroit: Yemen Cafe

Detroit's Yemen Cafe is the first Yemeni restaurant outside of the Middle East that has been the most authentic and delicious.  This is not surprising as the largest Yemeni community in the US is located in the Detroit area as per research based on US census data.  

The maraq soup was the usual and delicious.  The chicken ogda was absolutely amazing here and much better than in Brooklyn, NY.  It was made perfectly and tasted very good.  It was served in the traditional black pot so it stayed hot and perfect.  The lamb haneeth was good and the rice had a nice flavor.  The salad was more of a Lebanese fattoush and not the simple Yemeni salad.  They have a bread oven and the bread was freshly made and excellent.  The sahawiq was also fresh and very spicy.  $34 for 4 people.

Yemen Cafe

8735 Joseph Campau St

Hamtramck, MI 48212

(313) 871-4349

New York: Yemen Cafe (Matam Al Yemen Al Saeed) on Atlantic Avenue

It's the consensus among my Yemeni friends that Yemen Cafe (Matam Al Yemen Al Saeed) on Atlantic Avenue is the best Yemeni restaurant in NYC.  The food was good, but still not as good as in the Middle East.  In addition, the staff were a bit rude and the prices are very high.

We tried their maraq soup, ogda, salta, and lamb haneeth.  The first time we ordered the chicken ogda, it just came out on a plate and not in the traditional Yemeni black pot.  Thus, it got cold very quickly and it wasn't much of a stew.  The next time we were more specific and it came out right.

I think you really need to be with a Yemeni friend at this place to get the good food and service.  I won't be back for a while since there are so many other Yemeni restaurants in NYC to check out.

Source: TripAdvisor

Yemen Cafe

176 Atlantic Ave

(between Court St & Clinton St)

Brooklyn, NY 11201

Neighborhood: Cobble Hill

(718) 834-9533

yemencafe.com