Food Adventure Team

Yemenese cuisine — new to me! It was more in the realm of “creative” Yemenese food rather than “traditional”, but no complaints here. We were seated right away and the service was excellent. We ordered several small plates and a few appetizers too. And then some desserts to top it all off.

Small plates:

• Stuffed Avocado — Technically a salad rather than a small plate, it was described as, “Knaffe coated & lightly fried avocado stuffed with Couscous tabouleh and served with semi-soy marinated tofu and raspberry reduction”. I’d never had cooked avocado before, and was highly impressed with what they presented us with. The half-avocado was warm and perfectly ripe, with a light crispy crust of shredded phyllo. I normally do not like tabouleh but the tabouleh that they put in the avocado’s seed-hole was to die for. One of my favorite dishes. I could eat the whole thing by myself!
• Hummus & pita — gone in about 1 minute. Very earthy and irresistable.
• Ahi Knaffe — “Ahi tuna crusted with shredded phyllo then lightly fried and served with carrot & roasted red pepper salad and prune reduction.” Pretty much just that! Perfection! Though I have concluded that I prefer my tuna raw, rather than seared.
• Kofta — “Yemeni meatballs of ground lamb & beef marinated with allspice, cumin, mint, cilantro, onion, and olive oil. Served with zahaweg.” Probably the most traditional small plate we got. Great flavors, but I found it not to be the most exciting thing in the world.
• Saha’s Signature Ravioli — Wow, so good! “Shiitake mushroom ravioli in sauce of fresh mango,
  red pepper flakes, fresh mint, and touch of cream.” Couldn’t get enough of these.
• Bastilla — savory-sweet chicken phyllo dish. A bit too sweet for me, but extremely delicate and tasty nonetheless.

Entrees:

• Orange chicken — “Free range Chicken breast marinated with orange juice, cinnamon, sage, honey and lime then pan seared and roasted. Served with couscous cake and orange-cinnamon sauce.” This was one of my favorite entrees. Usually orange chicken type dishes are too sweet for my liking, but this one was just right. And the chicken wasn’t dry, which can be difficult to accomplish.
• Zahara — “Wild mushrooms, heirloom carrots, and fennel with ginger-orange sauce and farina cake” Not my cup of tea, but others liked it.
• Sage duck — “Duck breast marinated with honey, sage and mustard then grilled and served with roasted pears, mashed sweet potatoes , and cinnamonorange reduction. Cooked Med Rare.” This was my favorite dish, hands down! I normally don’t like duck because it tastes “ducky”, but this, wow, this was amazing!! Comparisons were made to filet mignon. When I return, I will be ordering this as my entree.
• Mansaf — “Classic Middle Eastern Dish of Tender Cubed lamb stewed with Arabic yogurt, allspice, cauliflower and mint then served with Arabic rice.” Very flavorful and tender; I loved the hot sauce it was served with!
• Lamb Tagine — “A tender lamb cube stew with saffron, ginger, cinnamon, prunes, carrots, and pearl onions. Served with Maftoul.” Also flavorful and tender, this seemed like a more traditional dish.

Desserts:

• Chocopear — “Chocolate & Pear mousse with poached pear” Yum, just yum. Gone within a few seconds.
• Slap ya mama — “Roasted fruit, date & almond marzipan, and chocolate wrapped in phyllo and baked” Wow! This was crazy! It was kind of too rich and sweet for me, but one bite was delicious.
• Bisbusa — “Yemeni cake with syrup and gelato (we got cardamom)” – Tasty but kind of boring. I wasn’t a huge fan of how crumbly the cake was, but I certainly wouldn’t turn it away were it offered to me! The gelato was fantastic.
• Something that’s not on their online menu. It was a white/milk chocolate pyramid shell filled with a kind of pastry, dulce de leche, and other good stuff. By far my favorite dessert!