Marib, Saba, and House of Mandi Make Up Northern Virginia’s Thriving Yemeni Restaurant Scene

When the phone rings at Marib Restaurant in Springfield, Virginia, co-owner Ahmed Alsheikh knows it’s probably one of his “pit-stop” customers. This time, the caller is a man driving south on I-95 from New York to North Carolina to visit family. He tells Alsheikh that he’ll be at the restaurant in five minutes and wants a single dessert dish, bint al-sahn, a giant flaky pastry drizzled with honey and sprinkled with nigella seeds.

“For Yemeni cuisine, this is the must-have dish,” Alsheikh says.

A pocket of Yemeni immigrants in Northern Virginia has created a demand for restaurants that offer traditional specialties from the small Middle Eastern country located in the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula. With a short drive from D.C., diners can feed their cravings for haneeth — slow-cooked lamb served on basmati rice with fried onions — or mandi, which calls for roasting the meat in a tandoor oven rather than plunking it in a pot. At some tables, diners will find tanoor flatbread that’s used as a utensil for a variety of stews and fiery condiments.

*Bint al-sahn* from House of Mandi in Arlington.

Marib isn’t the only Yemeni restaurant in Northern Virginia to serve bint al-sahn, but it does have a geographic advantage over its competition. Alsheikh’s restaurant sits on the northwest side of the Springfield Interchange. Notoriously known as “the mixing bowl,” it’s one of the busiest highway connectors in the country and a notorious traffic chokehold for D.C. commuters.

Even on a good day, the spaghetti-like exits and on-ramps snake with congestion. But the more traffic the better, says Alsheikh. His most loyal customers, many of them Yemeni-Americans, stop here as they travel up and down the East Coast.

“Customers come here to refuel,” Alsheikh says. “We offer a taste of home.”

The home Alsheikh is referring to is a country caught in the middle of a humanitarian crisis and a civil war between Houthi rebels and Saudi-led coalition forces.

“It’s so very sad to talk about Yemen,” Alsheikh says. “My whole family is there except my kids and wife. I don’t even know how to talk about it anymore. I’ve become so sad, crying is not enough.”

For Alsheikh, Yemeni food helps restore happiness and hope. On a Sunday afternoon, his restaurant is filled with customers. At one table there is a Yemeni-American family. Directly next to that table is a group of men from Saudi Arabia’s embassy.

“I had a customer from Venezuela come in yesterday, and he said it was some of the best food he’s tasted,” Alsheikh says. “I find that Yemeni food helps bring people together, and here, everyone is welcome.”

Marib opened in 2015, and ever since, it’s drawn in customers with its haneeth, a dish traditionally served at special events such as weddings and family feasts. To prepare it, Marib puts organic lamb in a pressure cooker for several hours with a mix of spices, including turmeric and cumin. The result is a fall-of-the-bone roast. Alsheikh says many regulars will special order it with crushed almonds and raisins to give the dish added texture and sweetness.

The connection between Yemeni-Americans and the food of their homeland is also evident at Saba in Fairfax, about 20-minute drive from Marib. Whole families typically fill up the place and vie for elbow room so they can dig into dishes like fahsa, a meaty stew that comes served in a bubbling cauldron of broth, herbs, and spices.

Beef *fahsa* from House of Mandi in Arlington.

By far, the best seats in the house are in the majalis, which means living room. Guests sit on a floor surrounded by comfortable couches and pillows. It’s a place to linger while sipping on coffee, tea, or gishr, a drink steeped in husks of coffee bean and spiced with ginger, clove, and cinnamon.

Back inside the Beltway, House of Mandi prepares a namesake dish that originated in southern Yemen. Whereas haneeth is pressure-cooked, mandi allows lamb to breathe a little while roasting in a tandoor oven.

Chicken gets roasted in a tandoor oven at House of Mandi.

Many guests here begin their meals with shafout, an appetizer that’s layered with flatbread and combines a cucumber-yogurt sauce with zahawig, a simple condiment made with tomato, cilantro, garlic, cumin, and coriander.

The sauce combines several herbs and spices, including basil, mint, and jalapeño. It’s typically spooned on top of a chicken, goat, or lamb mandi.

Other popular dishes include kabobs, agda — a braised beef and oxtail stew — and mugalgal, a dish found across the Arabian Peninsula and typically eaten during Eid. It’s a mix of finely chopped lamb, tomatoes, green peppers, cilantro, onions, and spices that are flash fried at a very high heat. A spice mixture called hawayij (turmeric, cloves, black peppercorn, cumin, coriander, and cardamom) gives the meat a distinct flavor.

*Mugalgal* is a flash-fried dish found across the Arabian Peninsula and usually served during Eid.

House of Mandi is a favorite spot for Amjaad Al-Hussain, a first-generation American who is committed to preserving Yemeni culture. She’s never stepped foot in the country, but as the daughter of immigrants, she’s made it her mission to record her family’s recipes.

In November, she self-published a cookbook called Sifratna, which means “our dining table.” It’s a collection of recipes passed down by her grandmother and mother, and it also includes some modern interpretations of Yemeni staples.

“I think this food is a really important tradition,” she says. “It’s been passed down through generations, and it’s a dining experience that’s meant to be shared—so many of the dishes involve dipping or mixing together.”

Yemeni cookbook author Amjaad Al-Hussain.

Al-Hussain marvels at how far Yemeni cooking has traveled. For instance, Yemenite Jews carried zahawig into other parts of the world. A variation known as zhug — made with ground chile, garlic, and cilantro — can be found in D.C. as part of the Mediterranean-themed menu at Olivia in Penn Quarter, or as one of the many condiments offered at Maydan. It’s even on the shelf at Trader Joe’s.

“I remember standing in the aisle [at Trader Joe’s] saying, ‘Wait, what is Yemeni zhug?” Al-Hussain says. “The fact is zahawig has changed a lot through history and people, and I think that’s fascinating.”

Marib Restaurant, 6981 Hechinger Drive, Springfield; Saba, 3900 Pickett Road A, Fairfax; House of Mandi, 5515 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington

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