Pictured (in order): Chicken Gabla $16.95, Lamb Fatah $29.75, Lamb Fahsah $21.85 and Lamb Haneeth $29.95 This authentic Yemeni restaurant serves the most fresh and delicious Yemeni food we have had. Our personal favorite was the Lamb Fatah, which was packed with flavor. The lamb Haneeth was grilled and roasted to perfection, and the oven clay bread which we got on the side was no doubt a 10/10. They have fast service and a cozy atmosphere, we will definitely be back. Overall 9.5/10! read more

In downtown Brooklyn, you can find this hidden gem or maybe not so hidden bc it was consistently busy on a Thursday night. We sat down and they brought us soup, salad, and water without us getting a chance to look at the menu. I ordered the lamb haneeth, and a chicken dish. The lamb haneeth wasn't too gamely and so tender. I could have gone without the chicken dish. They also have Yemen tea, which is pepperminty and sweet. Highly recommend! read more

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This place is jam packed and bustling harder than the streets outside...and for good reason! When the six hour slow cooked "Lamb Haneeth" is set in front of you and you pull apart the tender meat from bone, you will feel your heart melt and think to yourself "This is what it must feel like to fly". Despite so many accolades from critics plastered on the wall, you will get nothing short of the best and kindest service from the staff. Yemen Cafe feels like a home and the staff serve you like you're family. It's a crazy busy family with so many moving parts, but you won't want it any other way. You can't go wrong with anything on the menu, and you won't be mistaken if you fill yourself up on their freshly baked flat bread with the incredible soup. They're that good! After such a big meal you might not have space for dessert, but ask for the "Areeka" anyway. It's one of the must unique blend of flavors and textures of any dessert I've ever had. Buttery, creamy, and sweet, it'll keep your warm while you exit the cozy restaurant and head back into the cold. read more

Yemen Café & Restaurant - Lamb Haneeth - Middle Eastern Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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Picked up the chicken agda and it was delicious! The portion was large and came with a yummy cup of soup. I've never had Yemeni food before, but I'm enthusiastic about exploring halal food, which is generally limited in restaurants, so this was a good surprise. The restaurant was filled to half capacity when I picked up my food, which is a depiction of the neighborhood's appreciation for the restaurant. The staff member who helped me was also friendly. Overall, super excited to come back for a sit down dinner! read more

Arrived on a Friday while they were at prayer... was told they would be back soon... when they returned, they promptly seated my party and served some delicious tea and soup while we perused their menu... we had some lamb dishes and some chicken dishes and they were very flavorful and satisfying... but we really really enjoyed the tasty tea so much that they gave us cups to go! Very attentive service. read more

I tried this place when I saw that Hadramout, my usual go-to for Yemeni food, does not deliver to my area. Yemen Cafe is famous, but based on tonight's experience, it seems to cater to Westerners. The chicken haneeth was firm and without flavor, rather than falling off the bone and soaking in flavor ‐ disappointing. The lamb broth was mildy seasoned compared to others I'd had. The fatah with honey and fresh cream, however, was quite good. read more

3.5 stars for the food, but 4 stars overall. We have only had Yemeni cuisine once before and were excited to try this place. Overall, the portions are generous, prices are fair (they charge 4% if you pay with a credit card) and the food comes out quickly. Plus you get a bowl of lamb broth and a salad with every entree. However, we found most dishes lacking in flavor. The highlights were the fassolia and the Zorbian lamb. Both were nicely spiced and we would definitely eat again. We also enjoyed the chicken hummus and bread it came with, though the hummus was a bit loose/liquidy. The mixed grill meat was dry and lacking spices. The kibdah (lamb liver) was missing flavor. We had wanted to try the lamb haneeth but we arrived at 7pm and they were out. read more

I initially planned on going to Hadramout, but noticed Yemen Cafe right next door. Still, I walked into Hadramout and no one came out to serve me, so I left after a minute and walked into its next door neighbor. The interior looked pretty nice, and there was plenty of seating. There was a steady stream of customers, including some who seemed like regulars, so that's a good sign. Supposedly this is the first Yemeni restaurant in the US, but who knows. As soon as I sat down they served me complimentary soup (I believe lamb broth) and a large piece of homemade bread, along with some sort of tomato salsa/salad (which had a nice kick to it). The soup was okay, but I didn't come here for soup. They also served a complimentary salad, but it didn't look very appealing (basic lettuce). I ordered the lamb fahsah, and it came out very quickly, so they must have had a big pot going. It came out hot and sizzling. I burned my tongue due to impatience, but this was a very good dish. The shredded lamb was tender, and the sauce and veggies (basically green onions and regular onions) provided good flavor. I imagine this dish would be excellent on a cold winter night. The serving size wasn't huge, as the clay bowl wasn't as deep as it looked, but that's okay; it was plenty for one person. Overall, a satisfying dinner and one that felt like an authentic experience. read more

Yemen Café & Restaurant - Lamb Fahsah - Middle Eastern Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

8.17.2023 * Saltah Lamb w/ Haneeth lamb (4/5) The lamb came apart easily, was salty and the broth was flavorful. It came with stale flatbread and a salad with a refreshing citrus sauce. * Baba Ghanoush (1/5) The cream was decent, coffee could have been stronger and the cake was not fluffy, but weirdly crumbly. Overall, I wouldn't get it again. They also provide free soup, which was flavorful and good spices, and free spiced and sweetened tea. read more

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One of the best Authentic Yemenis Spot in NYC , if you don't know now you know. This is a family owned restaurant in the heart of Downtown Manhattan serving up some good eats. At the moment they also have a outdoor setup , it first come first serve. Went with a group of friends we ordered few dishes. All I remember the Lamb Shank was delicious , it literally just fell of the bone. Also make sure to have their tea with like milk !! Ambiance- 10/10 Price - Very Affordable Service - 10/10 Thank You Sid Parking - Good Luck Outdoor Seating read more

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I went here over a year ago but this delightful evening remains as clear as yesterday It was a Monday night in November and we did not have to wait to be seated. As we were sitting down, still shivering from the blustery cold outside, waiters arrived with steaming, delicious, complimentary lamb soup (lentil soup for vegetarians). We immediately warmed up. We ordered the lamb fahsa - a slow cooked stewed lamb so tender that it fell apart at the touch of our forks. Every bite had so much flavor. Flavorful but not spicy. We ate and ate and chatted for 3 hours with no pressure from the waiting for us to wrap up. To finish our meal we had several rounds of complimentary Yemeni black tea. We also stopped by a Yemeni pastry place next door after our meal. One of the best places I have been to in NYC to catch up with friends over a cozy meal. read more

Yemen Café & Restaurant - Middle Eastern Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

absolutely amazing food. good prices. very good service. delicious self-service tea. got the lamb haneeth which was incredible and the hummus with chicken. everything was amazing would love to come here again. read more

I love this place and food is always fresh hot and delicious of course. We finally have one in Staten Island yay I did go to it a few times out here in Staten Island but service isn't like Brooklyn. They need more staff waiting. But place is really nice you can sit outside Food and tea very good I love the broth salad always on point. read more

This place has been on my radar for quite a while and I was really looking forward to some Yemeni food. I went with my boyfriend. We got 1 lamb haneeth, 1 foul, and some Yemeni tea. A few minutes after we were seated at the table, we were served some lamb broth and flatbread. The broth warmed up my appetite and the flatbread was delicious with it! We kept getting more flatbread throughout our meal, which was genuinely appreciated. The tea is simply a must-try. Sweet and warms you up. The haneeth was unfortunately disappointing. I love lamb and was really looking forward to trying this entree. Starting with the positives, the lamb was tender and fell off the bone quite easily. The rice served with it was delicious. However, the flavor of the lamb left much to be desired. It wasn't anything special, especially given the price point. The foul was quite good! I love fava beans and have eaten a lot of it during my childhood in Dubai. Paired with the haneeth, rice, or even the flatbread, it was the perfect accompaniment. The ambience was quite standard. The service wasn't very attentive but I did not mind that at all. They were straightforward, which I appreciated. Overall, the food was standard and the price point isn't justified. I still loved the experience and am grateful that I got to try some Yemeni food. Im open to coming here again and hope to have a better experience. read more

Yemen Café & Restaurant - Middle Eastern Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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The food here is delicious. Obviously it's loved by locals and non locals. The flavors are light and comforting. We ate a lot but didn't feel heavy at all. Our favorite dishes were the lamb with the exception of the appetizer that came with hummus. It was good but we could have done without it. Chicken was tasty. The rice was packed with flavor. The meals come with soup and salad (iceberg lettuce). The soup is perfect for warming you up and scaring away a cold. Mera's Tip: have the lamb read more

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Absolutely top tier in every regard. My wife and I found ourselves just strolling about downtown BK and for a little hungry. Although I'm from Brooklyn I now live in Florida and whenever I am in the area I suss out ethnically diverse meal that are hard to find in Fl. Well Yemen Cafe did not disappoint in any regard. From the moment we sat down and that delicious bowl of soup was offer to us to the signing of the check.....we experienced nothing but top tier food and service. The prices are beyond fair and the portions will require you to take a walk afterwards read more

Yemen Café & Restaurant - Just chilling - Middle Eastern Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Lamb was dry. Chicken was dryer. I don't understand how this place has such a high rating with the lack of flavor and seemingly overcooked meat. Maybe i got a bad piece but honestly I expected more based on the sheer amount of people that raved about this place. Rice and salad was on point, which is so strange because I thought the meat and sauce/seasoning was supposed to be the main event. Service was kind of lacking. Waiters are not attentive. Would i try it again? Maybe. Not anytime soon though. read more

Nicest, most gracious staff and service in the NYC area in my opinion. Have been to both locations; downtown Brooklyn on Atlantic Avenue and Bay Ridge. Gratis hot tea and delicious bread. The soup is tasty as is the seasoned rice and salad dressing. The Lamb is out of this world--tender, falls off the bone, beautifully Seasoned. Thankfully, they have a robust menu so I can explore different dishes with my friends and family as we will be frequent diners at both locations. I've had Moroccan, Palestinian, and Middle Eastern food and Yemeni food is deliciously different in its own right. Makes for a nice addition when exploring the beautiful and delicious culinary arts and culture within this part of the world. Can't say enough good things about Yemen Cafe. read more

The food is delicious always and the portions are great! There's always soup, salad, and bread that comes with a meal, as well as free tea inside. The tables move fast even when there's a line! Such a rare, freat restaurant in downtown brooklyn that i bring friends here when we need to grab a bite! You do need to wave servers over for service, but nothing tedious read more

Yemen Café & Restaurant - Middle Eastern Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Food excellent!!!! Authentic and wonderfully affordable, too! Great service, 10 minute wait at prime dinner hour. Do not miss this gem!

Surprised it took so long for me to review this spot as I've been here several times both for lunch and for dinner. They have very good lunch specials and all of the main dishes comes with a huge piece of very good bread (though as mentioned by others Hadramout downstairs has better) as well as marag, a soup made from their wonderful lamb broth as well as spices (and perhaps lentils as it reminds me of said lentil soup.) The most popular thing here is the lamb haneeth which is very tasty but overpriced. Perfectly tender lamb and some tasty rice. I personally prefer the lamb fahsa/fahsah as the excellent bubbling soup which you can dip your bread into has some wonderful spices. The lamb fatah is also quite good and very filling because of the bread chunks. The only lamb dish I don't like here is the massloug. It's just not as flavorful for similar prices and the lamb was chewy. The glaba available as both lamb and chicken is also slightly worse as well as the chicken curry. In terms of other dishes, the grilled fish was surprisingly good. There was also a fish kabsa which I believe was tuna based which was fantastic. The chicken dishes are worse than the lamb overall. If you're looking to absolutely stuff yourself or buy a dessert that can feed a family of four, order the fatah with dates. Massive and delicious but obviously very sweet. If you want something lighter, get dessert across the street from Damascus (no not the overpriced Sahadi's) or Diwan next door (which also has very good Yemeni coffee/tea) or Malko Karkanni Bros for a pastry or two. 4.0. A bit overpriced but good food. read more

When we walked in on a chilly Friday evening, it was almost full but we could find a table. We got the complimentary warm clay oven bread, tea and the soup. Tea was way too sweet, but the soup and bread were good. Ordered kabsa lamb, chicken glaba for the table initially, the glaba was undercooked, left the whole dish. Wanted to get something else, but by this time the number of people waiting grew. When we called a waiter, instead of asking us what we wanted they wanted us to get our food to go which we all felt was quite rude. But we still ordered lamb haneeth, which was apparently a quite popular dish but all the waiters were really looking to get us all out, so we just took the food to go. The dessert listed as an appetizer was good. Not a good experience on the whole. read more

Yemen Café & Restaurant - Lamb Haneeth - Middle Eastern Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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I have had this food and it's amazing ! I always love eating here. I love the chicken Haneeth

Incredible food. Love the free sweet tea. The bread was right out of the oven. Authentic and delicious.

We bring our students there for our Food Journalism class. They always make the experience smooth with their excellent service and the food is off the hook. It is our students favorite place and word spreads in our school , especially the lamb! read more

My friend has raved about this place and I was glad to finally get the chance to go! Who knew there would be such a good Yemeni place in Cobble Hill? Loves: + Yemeni tea hot and ready inside + Bread, broth, salsa, and lemons arrive quickly after sitting down + Huge portions + Also for food: highly recommend the massloug lamb ($25) as that bb is boiled for four hours (!). We got the fatah with honey ($10) too and while good, it is incredibly sweet. While this place is no frills it's still an awesome spot for some great Yemeni food. read more

Incredible food and dining experience. Every staff was nice and patient and spent effort to confirm dietary restrictions. We loved everything we got and would love to go back. All three of the hot stone bowl dishes were amazing (foul, fish saltah, veggies saltah if I must rank) with the super thin and fresh bread that's better than pita in my view. That fatah with honey was super flavorful and refined sugar free! The lamb soup that was on the house was flavorful too. Definitely coming back to dine again! read more

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Ordered Kibdah, Lamb Haneeth and Chicken Zorbian. Kibdah and Haneeth were really good. Lamb was full of flavor and tender. Zorbian was a waste of money. Didn't enjoy it all. But over all good food. Would like to try more lamb dishes. read more

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One of my friend introduced me to which is now my favorite Yemeni restaurant in the entire United States :) they use to be a hole in the wall few blocks down and now have a bigger cute setup. The best part about this restaurant is when you enter they welcome you like you're home and even before you could have a seat they will bring out a fresh bowl of salad, green chutney/sauce, hot bread and my fav bowl of hot Paya Soup. In case they are busy please be patient you will get your soup for sure. We usually order the same thing every time we are here. Chicken, egg and small lamb. Do not miss the tea at the end. It's de-le-cious. I was worried post pandemic this place will loose its charm but it's still authentic and warm as it use to be. Do give it a try if you're around the neighborhood. The only thing I like to ask the owner is to make the soup little ticker and tiny bit more flavorful. Felt little watery this time around. But it was delicious either way :) thank you for keeping this amazing restaurant running for all of us. See you soon. read more

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Wish I have great knowledge about Middle Eastern food to provide a detailed review. Recommended by my Middle Eastern friend who says this is a must-try. I can just say that I really liked the food. The tee/tee with milk is great addition. A casual restaurant so you should not be looking for decor. Just clean and family friendly. Will go back to try more dishes without a doubt. read more

Yemen Café & Restaurant - Chicken Adga. - Middle Eastern Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Not really attentive but once they acknowledge you (after about 8 minutes and the regulars part ways)... good housemade bread, lemons, hot salsa and lamb broth is placed before us before we even had a chance to sift through the menu. And an unimpressive garden salad to boot. We opted for the Lamb Haneeth- touted stewed lamb ribs that was the most popular dish. Also the kibdah or sautéed lamb liver. The liver was smoky and savory; stirfried with scallions and tomatoes. Some pieces were perfectly cooked and some were a bit drier- but overall yummy. The Haneeth was pretty small, a good size for one person to be honest. It was fall off the bone, fatty with a hint of tomato paste and starchy veggies that were cooked to indiscernible bits. It was warm and welcomingly tender but flavor-wise, it was acceptable and not really stand-out. We devoured everything because honestly, the 2 orders we'd selected were neither generous in portion nor taste. But the price would suggest otherwise. All the freebies we'd gotten from the beginning really weren't free if we had to weigh the cost per bite. Nice intro to Yemeni cuisine but devil is in the details. Perhaps their immediate neighbors is worth a try. read more

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Amazing food. The service very welcoming, I ordered the Lamb Haneeth dish 10/10 rating. Highly recommend

Lamb and chicken dishes were good. Spice, the amount, was just right. Didn't like the appetizer, foul, which was like a pureed hot bean dip, but I'd opt for the baba ganoush, which the table next to us got and which looked pretty solid. They don't let you BYO here which made me sad but it's ok. I'd return. read more

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It's ok ! Very crowded. Need to work on place cleanliness. Long line . I went 3-4 times .

Literally can't go wrong with anything. Take a group. Take everyone you know and get one of everything.

Sooo I have lived in NY all of my life and NYC for more than 1/2 of said life. I have passed this restaurant multiple times but never popped in. It just so happened that I was meeting a few folks for Iftar and this was the spot that was chosen. Everything was so delicious. The thing that I loved most.... The tea. That yea was SOOOO GOOD! I would go back for just the tea. The lamb was so tender. It melted in my mouth. The hummus was delicious too. Great ambiance. read more

Small place but very busy. Staff is friendly. Service is quick. Went there with a friend for the first time. In the beginning they served soup, flat bread and salad. Soup was okay, it had too much black pepper. Flat bread was little dry. Special house salad was good and fresh. Soup and salad is complimentary. I ordered chicken kebab with rice. Rice were okay but chicken kebab was delicious. My friend ordered lamb haneeth which has a large portion. Yemeni tea is also free. Overall, it was a good experience. read more

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Its a very small authentic restaurant. The place does not have a great vibe but I was just here for the food and I don't care about the ambiance. Let me start off by saying the Lamb Saltah was phenomenal. I never had anything like it. It was just packed with flavors and the shredded lamb was so juicy. The chicken was a disappointment - it was dry and bland and I will not order it again. Having said that I would absolutely come back here for their Saltah. read more

Yemen Café & Restaurant - Chicken Haneeth - Middle Eastern Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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The food is fresh and delicious. Indoor and outdoor seating. Service was awesome and the night ambiance cannot be beat! Perfect for dates, groups of family or friends. For more: YumYumYemi @Instagram / TikTok/ Facebook read more

Came here on a packed day watching families break fast. What a beautiful moment. The tables adorned with giant dates and soup and salad with delicious clay pot bread. Tried two chicken dishes. The Chicken Haneeth and the Curry. Personally I felt the curry imparted more flavor. I saw tables with beautiful platters of lamb. I would definitely try those next time. The soup was my favorite. Filled with earthy spices. Really hit the spot! read more

Yemen Café & Restaurant - Chicken Haneeth Chicken Glaba (Chicken Curry). The lentil soup was amazing - Middle Eastern Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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