Restaurant Review: Enter the Gate of Yemen for a delicious experience

Inside, the Yemeni restaurant, which is located on Ahmed Al-Attas Street, is clean and elegant without being pretentious. What impressed me the most was its décor. It has nice Yemeni touches that add character and make it memorable. The walls are decorated with various Yemeni artifacts and paintings along with two parallel lines of Arabic style lanterns hung across the ceiling. Even though a couple of the lanterns were not working, the restaurant is very well lit.
The seating area consists of wooden tables and chairs with nice cushions — similar to the Arabic style cushions that are normally placed on the floor — making for a functional combination of the old with the new. In my opinion, however, the flat-screen TVs and their sloppy wires really clash with the whole Yemeni ambiance of the restaurant. It would have been more appropriate to have some Yemeni or even Arabic music playing in the background — or even better, a musician playing a traditional instrument — instead of the soccer game that was on.
Our meal began with complimentary chicken soup. It’s an original move on their part in terms of complimentary starters; but, in the end, it is just chicken soup. The main courses came very quickly after the soup; so, the smart move was to ignore whatever remained from the soup and dive into the real food. We ordered the meat Fahsah, chicken Auqda and liver, which were all served in iron pots atop wooden holders and made for a very nice Yemeni touch. In addition, we had the Shrimp Maghash with side orders of rice, okra and cheesy bread.
The meat Fahsah and chicken Auqda were both delightful. The meat in both cases was very nicely shredded and of good quality. Personally, I am a big fan of shredded meats because they show that the cook took the extra time and care to prepare the dish. Too many times in the past, I would order an entree where the meat was supposedly shredded, only to find it served in small rectangular pieces. Both dishes were made with a nice array of spices along with the perfect amount of peppers, tomatoes and onions. The chef did an excellent job of making sure these truly enhanced the flavor of the meat rather than overwhelm it. Additionally, the juices of both dishes were amazing for dipping with bread, and I couldn’t help but think that the leftovers would make for excellent sandwiches.
The liver was very well made and was a great addition to the Yemeni feel of the meal, especially since I don’t usually order liver at restaurants. The shrimp was grilled and made with some sort of garlic sauce. Even though it was good, it did not really seem to significantly contribute to the consistent character of the other dishes. The okra was served with a tomato-based sauce and was delicious with both rice and bread. The rice was served with crispy onions and the occasional raisin, adding some flare to a generally mundane side. The cheesy bread, although lacking in cheese, was very similar to the Indian naan. It was truly fresh and delicious — perfect for use with all the main dishes and okra. We were also given a salsa dip and another dip made from a blend of yogurt and vegetables. The salsa, even though it was extremely spicy, tasted amazing, unlike the yogurt dip which was more on the bitter side.
The service was excellent and beyond reproach. We had two waiters who were both Egyptian and extremely friendly and understanding in helping us with what to order. Unfortunately, however, we didn’t get to meet the man with the magic hands — the Yemeni chef.
I am very happy that I took a chance on trying something new since Bab Al Yaman has the perfect amount of character to make it worthy of a second visit. If your exposure to Yemeni cuisine is limited, then Bab Al Yaman will be the perfect introduction.