Yemen Cafe
"Besides the few photos of Yemen on the wall, the place looks more like a card room, equipped with chairs and folding tables, than a proper restaurant. Fortunately the food turns out to be a good deal more appealing than the restaurant itself," writes JJ Goode for New York magazine. "The food covers familiar native dishes—hummus and baba ghanoush—but we recommend you branch out and try the large portion of louybia: juicy white-meat chicken parts with fresh zucchini and carrots in a thick stew, served with mounds of clover-seasoned basmati rice and a platter of nan-like bread," says Time Out New York.
Yemen Cafe is a Chowhound favorite, and 'Hound Nancy C says, "my standby is fatah with lamb...so, so delicious." Jack S describes the fatah as "little strips of toasted bread flavored with butter and honey. You eat it with a fork. Delicious, although it feels like maybe it should be more for dessert than an appetizer." And Village Voice staffers say they "dined sumptuously on a cumin-laced lamb bouillon, a salad of fresh greens bathed in spicy red dressing, a cauldron of bubbling salta topped with the foaming fenugreek jelly called hilbeh and sided with enormous flatbreads, and, finally, a festive communal platter of roasted halal lamb on a platter of fragrant white rice."
Prices have recently increased at Yemen Cafe, but Eating the World in NYC shares a money-saving tip: "All the same dishes were almost twice the price on the dinner menu, so we decided that lunch was definitely the time to get a meal here." What's your take on this place?
Reviews (10)
bayridgegirl wrote a review on March 3, 2009 1:12 PM
I've raved about this place on brownstoner before and I will rave about it now.
Hubby and I have been coming to this restaurant for about 8 years now, quite regularly (about once a week). Hey when I love a place, I’m a repeat patron.
The food is excellent!! If you are a lamb lover, order the Roast Lamb (house specialty)…..exceptional!!!!!!!!! I love the lamb chops. Eat like the Yemeni’s, with your hands. Pick up the tender meat with your fingers and after placing it in your mouth lick your fingers of the succulant juices. Mmmmmm, mmmmmmm, finger licking yumminess.
Also, good is the shredded lamb and rice dish (I don’t know what it’s called in English, but in Arabic it’s ‘Lamb Kabsa’), and for you non lamb lovers, the curry chicken is really good.
Wait till they throw the hot steaming bread on the table, you’ll devour every last piece. sorry Dr. Atkins…it’s too good to pass up.
Go there for brunch…huh, brunch?? Arabs don’t do brunch, but hey this is on the cusp of Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill. Order a plate of eggs and a plate of foul; which is a traditional bean dish eaten for breakfast by Arabs. The eggs are flavorful and again use the bread and your hands to sop up every last tasty bit.
After your meal, enjoy the tea which is spiced just right.
Who cares about décor, the entire time I'm looking at my plateful of delicious food!!
Everyone we’ve taken there looooves it.
bayridgegirl wrote a review on March 3, 2009 1:18 PM
Hey, How come my food rating didn't come up??
Of course, Food Rating: *******************
As in Excellent!!!!
bayridgegirl wrote a review on March 3, 2009 1:22 PM
And Mr. B, please check your World Atlas.
Yemen is right under Saudi Arabia and not in Africa.
This is not African food. It's Middle Eastern.
motorinstructor wrote a review on March 3, 2009 1:39 PM
I ate there a couple of years ago with some co-workers. The food is pretty good and the prices were very reasonable at the time.
BrooklynSteve wrote a review on March 3, 2009 1:45 PM
Anytime I want to bring an out of towner to an authentic ethnic restaurant with very good food in my neighborood, this is where I go. Sure, there are nicer places for Middle Eastern like Bedouin Tent and Zaytoons. But if you want to feel like you've left the country without leaving the block, this is the place to go.
janelle wrote a review on March 3, 2009 2:04 PM
try the foul
Brenda from Flatbush wrote a review on March 3, 2009 4:45 PM
I would go anywhere, with any ambience, to try "foaming fenugreek jelly"!!
cobblehiller wrote a review on March 3, 2009 5:33 PM
Uhm, Mr. B, BRG noticed that you have the type of cuisine noted as "African" - that would be incorrect.
Yemen is right next door/south to Saudi Arabia on the peninsula.
[And how is it that I have never eaten there?]
Carol Gardens wrote a review on March 3, 2009 6:12 PM
I've only been here once but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Very lamb-heavy menu. In fact, after ordering two different lamb entrees, we were told that they come with soup. What kind of soup? Lamb! Delicious. Lunch must really be a bargain because even dinner is fairly inexpensive.
Kara wrote a review on March 4, 2009 8:24 AM
Oops -- I messed up the tag on this one, but I'm aware that it's a Middle Eastern spot and I made the change.
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