Hadramout Restaurant
“A Nets game a stop at a Yemeni late night spot seems like a balanced experience of Brooklyn Old and New.”
“There are few places in the city that will produce something of this quality at 2:30AM on a Tuesday (let alone at all)
Last week I went and accidentally ordered the lamb dish.”
“The selta is delicious and creamy, definately recommended.”
Hadramout Restaurant
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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TODO:
Yelp won't let me put this restaurant on a list unless I write a review (Yelp, please change this policy!)
Therefore, this is a stub review for the purpose of populating my list. I'll write the review later.
However, whatever rating I give the restaurant with this stub review is the rating I'd give the restaurant with a real review.
A great find that's open late. Like, really late.
Stumbled in at 4am and was happily greeted by an older gentleman working there. There were some other guys at a table, but I think they either worked there or were friends of the staff.
Street meat this place is not. They serve quality food at reasonable prices. The picture menu in the back doesn't list prices, but I think the lamb dish we had was $18 and the chicken one was $12. Both served with rice, and a starter course of salad and soup. It was all very delicious, but a ton of food. It also came with their version of naan, which was the size of a pizza. We definitely left with doggy bags.
Finished off the meal with two cups of what I believe was cardamom tea.
Great service, even though there were two drunk dudes who were obnoxiously loud (me and my friend).
In the weeks since I stumbled into Hadramout while waiting for some people to arrive at a bar, I've been engaged in a futile argument with my friends. There's a basement restaurant, with a hard to read sign on a not terribly nice block of Atlantic Avenue, that serves the best baba ganoush in the whole world.
There's a problem with claims like these -no one believes them. I think there's two reasons for this. First, you've ascribed the title to an obscure place, just to prove that you've been there. Why not name an Israeli restaurant or Middle Eastern place in the Village when most people have been and therefore judge? Secondly, it's hyperbolic. How can a dish be the best in the entire world?
I understand these issues but think they are moot. If the best baba ganoush in the whole world could be found in a Times Square McDonald's, I would have no shame coming on Yelp and saying so. And this doesn't have to be a secret spot. It's a less than ten minute walk from Jay-Z Arena, aka the Barclay's Center. A Nets game a stop at a Yemeni late night spot seems like a balanced experience of Brooklyn Old and New.
The bread will be a treat for those who have never heard the wide crisp circles of this part of the world. It takes a few minutes to come out of the oven, but it's amazing with oil, hummus, baba ganoush or the many lamb dishes on the menu.
There's a startling informality to the restaurant. It's unclear who works there, and those that do might be seen in the backroom or just chilling at a table in the front. There might be no one in the restaurant at all. It's like a Yemeni home, but one where anyone can eat. And one that serves the best baba ganoush in the world.
I lived in the Middle East for a few years and have been eating tons of real Yemeni food with my Yemeni friends. So, said Yemeni friends all have the consensus that Yemen Cafe is the best and most authentic in NYC. Maybe if you are Yemeni? I've tried Yemen Cafe many times now and I just got fed up with the rude service and high prices. Time for a change.
I was very pleasantly surprised with Hadramout Restaurant. Honestly, the food tasted the same as Yemen Cafe but the atmosphere and Yemeni staff were so kind and it was a perfect lunch experience. So far in the US I haven't found Yemeni food tasting like in the Middle East except for in Detroit which has the largest Yemeni community. Thus Hadramout Restaurant was pretty good and I think a much better experience than Yemen Cafe.
We had mandi lamb and chicken ogda, some typical and popular Yemeni dishes. The maraq soup was good and came at the beginning of the meal as it should. I also particularly liked the salad at this restaurant and it had a really simple and delicious tomato sauce on top. The sahawiq (Yemeni salsa) was sufficiently spicy. The khobz bread was freshly baked and soft and fluffy. Still haven't found my favorite Yemeni pastry bread, called malawah, outside of the Middle East. I'll keep searching!
Really what made this such a nice experience was the really kind staff. It was so nice to finally see the famous Yemeni hospitality. We were having trouble cutting the lamb so our kind waiter helped us cut it. This leads me to probably the best part of the meal which was the Yemeni dessert, masoob. If you haven't tried masoob, you definitely should. It's something to be split with the group since one or two spoon fulls is plenty and really heavy. There are a few types but pretty much it is bread, dates, banana, cheese, cream, and Yemeni honey. Wow it's amazing. So when we were ordering this, the Yemeni guy asked us if we really wanted it hesitantly, and we said "oh yeah!!" as we've had it so many times in Qatar and love it. He said okay and then I saw him run out the door and come back a few minutes later with a container of honey! He was so sweet and went and got the honey for us! Yemeni honey is so good and the masoob was perfect.
This place has been on the to-do list for sometime. Frequently, I jog by this place and it always stirs up curiosity. What is Yemeni cuisine? What is it like?
Finally, I was able to rope in a friend who speaks Arabic to bring me here. We came here for lunch. It was 1pm when we arrived and we were seated immediately. This place is in the basement and also it is no frills. You won't be impressing any date here. You are here explicitly for the Yemeni experience.
Yemeni cuisine is heavy on lamb, so this was going to be an issue. In any case, we were able to find something for me to eat. We ordered 3 entrees. One was a minced meat and vegetable dish called Selta, one order of lamb kebab (Heneeth) and one order of grilled trout. All entrees come with salad, soup, Hadramout bread and the entree. A pretty good deal!
I didn't try the meat dishes but the grilled trout was excellent. It was extremely fresh, tender, and moist. Lightly seasoned and cooked to perfection. It went great with the enormous-sized Hadramout bread! The portions are generous and we were all stuffed by the end of the meal.
The prices here are very good and you get your money's worth.
**Note: My friend who is Lebanese and my Arabic guide felt uncomfortable in the restaurant. He stated that people were staring at me because I was showing my bare arms. Luckily, my back was to all the other patrons. The restaurant caters mostly to Yemeni people, so if you're a Westerner, be prepared for staring. But think of it this way, you are being immersed in Yemeni authenticity! Sometimes discomfort is a good especially when you grow from it!
Come here for an "I'm not in Brooklyn" experience. After a glowing recommendation from a friend, about 3am we headed here after finishing at a bar down the street. Hadramout is a Yemeni restaurant, in a basement that has beautiful murals with camels, countryside and sheep. The people in the restaurant were eating huge platters of food and everyone was speaking Arabic and very friendly to each other. Seems very authentic. Oh, and yes they had Al Jazzera on tv which I found interesting, esp when the cook came out of the kitchen, yelled something at the tv and then went back into the kitchen.
So my friend comes here religiously and always orders the chicken shawarma but they ran out. I don't really blame them it was 3 am. So a bunch of us ordered the lamb shawrarma and split a platter of hummus and babaganoush which came with a few pieces of falafel and lettuce. None us ordered platters but the chicken and fish dishes other patrons ordered looked delicious. The lamb shawrama was very thick-not a gyro like consistency, think more like pieces of flank steak beef. It came in a wrap form, 2 huge wraps (not in a pita). The bread was thin and crispy. Very delicious. The babaganoush is the best I've ever had in my life and the falafel was great too but a little too deep fried for my taste. The dips also came with massive pieces of bread which was delicious.
I must stress that you MUST drink the tea here. I don't know what's in it but it's addicting and I would go back just for it and I don't live remotely close to this establishment. Next time I come, I will be more adventurously and order one of their yummy looking meat-foul platters with fava beans.
I agree with most of what has been said about this place. Good shwarma, super creamy delicious baba ghanouj, good hummus, impossibly light falafel, great bread, surprisingly great tea, and spotty service.
The one thing I disagree about with is the vibe. Basement stores are going to become a thing of the past in New York City, we should embrace the past while it is still part of the present. If Atlantic Avenue gets a makeover to the point where all the Middle Eastern joints are priced out, and a couple "Mr. Falafel" chains take its place, we will all long for the days when we could get really good food here at 1 AM amongst the Yemeni cabbies.
It's impossible to fight the wave of gentrification, but let's hold it off for as long as possible by eating at places like Hadramout more often.
Awesome food. Really. The bread, hummus, olive oil, diced tomato appetizer was absolutely incredible. The lamb was delicious, and the meat fell right off the bone.
I think it's open 24/7. I went here at 5 am.
The only problem while I was there was the big fat rat parked in the middle of the room.