I am not a big fan of Middle Eastern food as I was very concern about the gamey taste and too enriching dishes with dose of milk based dishes. Although skeptical, Best Restaurant To Eat went to taste this Middle Eastern Cuisine at Marhaba Restaurant located at D1- G4 -1, Publika Solaris Dutamas, No 1 Jalan Dutamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.
When entering this restaurant it exudes an air of elegant as the place is very stylish decorated.
There are special private dining room that you can book for your special and private event and reservation are on a first come first serve basis without any additional cost.
It has an open areas where patron can enjoy the evening breeze while tasting and savouring these authentic Yemeni Cuisine.
According to one of the owner, all its Chef at the Kitchen are all from Yemen. There are no changes or adaptation to local taste for all its dishes.
We were offered a special tea Shahnee Na' Na' which is concocted with a special mint that helps to whet your appetite before your meal. The tea drink has a very refreshing taste and aroma.
We then started our food review with an appetizer which is Fatoush Salad that is topped with some fried Yemeni bread and served with green garden salad.
Next, was the arrival of a Mulauwah super large size Yemeni Bread which resembles a super size Naan bread. This can easily feed up to 10 person. As we were told this bread is a staple everyday food for the Yemenese.
To eat the bread, an order of sizzling and boiling hot Saltah Fahsha - Sizzling Lamb cooked in fragrant Yemeni spices in a stone pot is eaten with the Mulauwah.
With the balance use of the spices, the lamb does not have any sign of gamey taste, which makes this dish very tasty and you guess it, we had it finish in less than a few minutes and a second order for this was in store.
Next, we had the Chicken Mandi which is steamed tender chicken with traditional Yemeni spices. The meat has a soft texture and was very well flavoured.
and followed by another chicken dish which is the Chicken Mazbi, which is a charcoal barbeque chicken cooked in a tandoor.
Next, we had the Grilled King Fish
followed by the Grilled Prawns.
The Hummus that was served at the Marhaba has a very soft creamy base and is topped with olive oil.
The final main dish is the Lamb Hanith - the chef uses a very young lamb usually around 4 to 6 months old. The chosen parts are either the lamb ribs or the lamb shoulder.
The lamb was first pre-cooked in a spice based soup and then grilled before being served. The result is that this lamb ribs that we had was succulent with a nice aroma while its meat was tender without any gamey smell.
Served with the basmati rice, it was a very delicious tasty dish that had me going for second and third helping of this dish.
To end our meal, we had the Shahee Mula Ban Tea which is said to be good for the stomach after a hearty meal. After having the tea, we did feel not that bloated from the dishes that we had earlier.
At the end of dinner, my perception of Middle Eastern meal especially Yemeni have taken a new found taste as it was very delicious especially the Lamb dishes served at Marhaba Restaurant.
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