At the Mandy House in Anaheim, a young waiter needs to lift a plate full of gold with both hands. The menu labeled it "No. 7," a large plate of rice, chicken, and lamb, dyed in sunset hues of turmeric and saffron.
So much fleshy, semi-buried forms protrude from the grain that it is difficult for the eyes to land. Where to start? It may be a chicken leg. Its skin is crispy and soft, almost orange rubbed with cumin spice. Next, reach for a fork of lamb pulled from the calf, plus a strip of scattered almonds. Spoon the mint yogurt and tomato chili chutney over the rice, let it do whatever you want, and repair it under the interaction of hot and cold. This is a place where you can slow down. Few customers appear to be in a hurry.
Mandi (the name of the festival) originated in Hadhramaut, Yemen, a region of rugged hills and fertile valleys in the central-eastern part of the country; it extends to the coast of the Gulf of Aden and flows into the Arabian Sea. Similar to the covered oven tradition that dates back to Mayan culture, mandi’s meat and rice have traditionally been cooked in coal pits. "Underground," Salem Muhammad emphasized.
Mohamed runs this restaurant with his family. Their modern adaptation of mandi may lack the smoldering aroma of the original method, but the meat is uniformly lush, with a hint of smoky flavor in the spices.
The House of Mandi opened in October. It anchors one end of the U-shaped small Arab square, a space that was housed for 15 years before the olive tree closed last spring, and sits on the corner of the wonderful Lebanese bakery Forn Al Hara and its za'atar-painted manaeesh. In the surrounding neighborhoods, also informally known as "Little Arabs", one can crunch in Kareem's bright green Palestinian falafel center; think about grilling, grilling, and frying Syrian bases in the Aleppo kitchen. The texture of shellfish changes; use the sticky and crunchy pastry from Knafeh Cafe to satisfy your desire for sweetness.
Yemeni cuisine, whose dishes exude an indelible fragrance due to the trade routes crossing the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea, which are rare in restaurants in Southern California. (However, it may cause a sensation: Monasaba is a small Yemeni restaurant chain headquartered in Canada, launched in nearby Stanton in April.) There is no doubt that the Mandi House focuses on its namesake dishes: there are 10 versions, large and small And the size varies. A combination of meats, including a spicy lamb called haneeth, wrapped in foil to keep it juicy.
But the menu went a step further, investigating a range of satisfying stews and breakfast staples. During a lunch, a Jordanian friend who knows Yemeni cuisine very well kept our order away from Mandy's open and rich fun; he hoped that we had room for the head and belly to provide other specialties. He pointed to my fahsa, the lamb stew rushed onto the table, tumbling like a volcano in a stone pot, and soon Dubu arrived on the way to a Korean restaurant.
The hilba floats on the stew and melts but is also intact. This is a condiment with chopped green onions, which is made by soaking fenugreek powder in water and then beating it into a fluffy, cool whip-like consistency. Dairy-free chefs looking for incredible creamy and savory decorations may want to test this scientific miracle further. I noticed hilba's description in "Sifratna", which is an excellent cookbook on Yemeni food written by Amjaad Al Hussain.
Once the fahsa has cooled, you can eat half of it with a spoon and half of it with Yemeni flatbread. The staff changes it frequently. It is wider than a basketball hoop and has blisters near the center. It is best if you can hold it with your fingers when you just take it out of the oven.
Like mandi, the kitchen offers various stew themes: vegetables with ground beef, lamb and vegetables; whole vegetables; and shrimp with tomatoes and garlic. Each appeared in its bubbling small crucible, most of which contained hilba.
Shafoot is a herb yogurt and cucumber salad, covered on delicate pancakes, reminiscent of ultra-thin Ingila, like a cold front between a bite of stew.
The restaurant opens at 11 am; its breakfast options are attractive at any time of the day. (Al Hussain points out in her book that her family often eats breakfast at dinner.) The ubiquitous shakshouka comes in the form of fried, medium-hard curd sandwiched between tomatoes and diced onions. The soothing muddy smell (dried broad beans) with plenty of olive oil is perfect for dipping bread. In this mixture, I also like the five-spice lamb liver fried with onions and tomatoes. Its iron content appears strong and true in other flavors.
"Yemen sauce" is mentioned repeatedly on the menu. That is zahawiq, also known as salata harra, a spicy condiment, now more widely known as zhoug-it is the general name in Israel and most of the Middle East. Many versions come with green Chile; House of Mandi uses tomato, although it has some flicker, it is easy to use at will.
I mentioned that most customers come for a casual meal. Generally speaking, the rhythm of the restaurant is leisurely; if you need to get in and out quickly, please call ahead to carry over. Otherwise, settle down. Most dining spaces have Western-style tables and chairs. The core customers of family and friends are attracted by the Yemeni-style floor-standing seats in a corner and relax on the cushions with red, black and white patterns. They linger on the platter, and finally have a sip of cardamom black tea with pine nuts or strong coffee with dates.
If you drive back to Los Angeles after a banquet of rice, bread and meat, I recommend the caffeine shake.
518 S. Brookhurst St., Unit 1, Anaheim, (657) 220-5272, houseofmandi-yemenirestaurant.com Price: Salad $2.99-9.99, Stew $12.99-19.99, Mandi $11.99-419 (large group) Details : 3 from Monday to Thursday morning to 9:30 pm; Friday to Saturday from 11:30 am to 10 pm. No alcohol. accept credit card. parking lot. Recommended dishes: Mandi No.7 (small group), fahsa, shafoot, foul, fried lamb liver.
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Bill Addison is a James Beard award-winning restaurant critic. He was previously a national critic for Eater and served as a critic in the San Francisco Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, and Atlanta Magazine.
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