For those of you who know a little bit about me, you’ll know my long lasting love for Yemeni food and my continuous search to find good representations of it in England. So, when we heard about this spot just off of Edgware Road, we were super excited to go check it out. Just a quick note: when you search this on Google Maps do not confuse it with THE Queen of Sheba in North London, which is an Ethiopian restaurant.
We ordered:
Grilled baby chicken with rice (madbhi chicken)
Lamb soup (usually comes with madhbi)
Ma’soob (named fatah with banana and cream on the menu)
Yemeni coffee (Qishr)
Apologies for the quality of the images – the lighting in the restaurant was not appropriate.
How was the taste?
Everything tasted good. We know the lamb Mandi is the thing you have to order at Yemeni spots, but we’ve always preferred the grilled chicken version (Madhbi). It was good here, but it just lacked that wow factor that we have received from our other Yemeni experiences. The rice just didn’t have that Mandi rice taste – charred and slightly meat broth fragrance. The Ma’soob is something you will only find at Yemeni spots and they do it good here. Tasted very authentic. A few too many nigella seeds for our liking, but it was good nonetheless. The coffee was unique, I’ve had nothing like it. It was spiced and provided a nice twist to plain black coffee.
The ambience and service
Usually, Yemeni spots are known for their on the floor seating. This place did not have that. The decor was nice though and it had an oriental feel to it. Women and couples are given comfy seats at the back (if available), which we loved! The service was okay – we were attended to very quickly. However, the food came out extremely late considering what our order was. It was over 45 minutes late (we came at the beginning of a football match and we got our food during half time)!! Also, everyone that came after us were served before us, which we found strange. Another strange occurrence was in between our mains and dessert, the waitress came round and cleaned the table by spraying it with disinfectant. This was strange because a) we still had a drink there (don’t want any disinfectant residue in our drink thank you) and b) we don’t want to breathe in any disinfectant residue during a meal either. Surely, this does not need to be done at this particular point?
Is it like other Yemeni restaurants we’ve dined at?
As mentioned before, the lack of on the floor seating reduces some authenticity. The madhbi portions were disproportionate. Usually, you can choose from half a chicken upwards on a bed of rice (and a lot of it!). Here the chicken only came in full baby chicken size and it was served separately to the rice. The rice was considerably less to what is usually served, which isn’t a problem for us, but it was actually less than the chicken!! Which again isn’t a problem for us, but it was a little strange. This is a dish that is traditionally shared and had we been bigger eaters, I don’t think the plate of rice would’ve been sufficient. Another difference was that the dish didn’t come with a lamb broth soup – this is usually served with Mandi or Madhbi and it functions as a starter and or complimentary sauce for the rice. We had to order this separately.
Overall, a decent spot with fairly good food. I’d definitely come back – I’d like to try the lamb Mandi for sure. However, it didn’t match up to the authenticity levels for me. So, the search for Yemeni food in London continues…
Getting there
Parking: Norfolk Cresent – park and display and yellow single line lanes are free on Sundays / evenings. You can also drive around to look for other spots; there are some roads that are evenings and Sundays free (a little further out). But most are residents only.
Nearest Mosque: Masjid Alforqan
Nearest station: Edgware Road
