Most Buffalo diners don’t know how good they have it. Manhattanites are jealous of our menu prices, and few cities this size boast such a diverse lineup of world cuisines.
If you try to do your ABCs with nations whose delicacies are offered here, you’ll come up short only for X, Q, Z, and O. There is only one country on Earth, that starts with O Oman. Unfortunately, Omani restaurants are in short supply.
Y is for Yemeni. Of all the world’s cuisines available in this city built by immigrants, it’s a relative newcomer. That’s because Buffalo’s Yemeni community, centered in Lackawanna to serve Bethlehem Steel and other steelmakers since the 1920s, only recently got into the restaurant business.
So here’s your beginner’s guide to Yemeni meal culture, as experienced in Buffalo. Almandi opened on Broadway as a glorified shack, but now a new, comfortable dining room welcomes guests. For a century, Broadway was the main artery through Polish and German neighborhoods so unassimilated Buffalo supported daily newspapers in both languages.
Now Arabic and Bengali cultures, taking root in Buffalo, offer their own satisfactions. At Almandi, customers can order takeout from the steam tables next to the cash register. While they wait, they sip “red tea,” made of black tea, cardamom, and sugar, free to all as a gesture of hospitality in the nearby self-serve urn.
A cup of maraq, “broth” in Arabic, arrives with sahawiq, Yemeni salsa as a welcoming opener.
Haneeth lamb with rice ($19.99), steam-roasted in covered pans, is silky satisfaction for lamb fans. Like its cousin almandi chicken ($24.99 whole over rice), haneeth lamb is traditionally eaten by hand, with the whole table digging into platters at the center of the table. Another tradition: handwashing sinks on the side of the room, so you can clean up without waiting for the lavatory.
Gallaba with hummus ($14.99) tops hummus with a quick saute of vegetables and either beef or chicken. Chicken on coal over rice ($24.99) and grilled fish over rice ($19.99) posit spice-dusted animals cooked to well done.
Kibda ($10.99), lamb liver traditionally eaten for breakfast, is one of the most sanguine preparations of this oft-derided organ meat. Sauteed in a spiced tomato sauce that disarms the liver’s gamier aspects, this is the rare organ dish that won my heart.
Despite its role in the gleeful dispatching of whole animals over rice, there are plenty of seats for vegans and vegetarians at the Yemeni table.
Foul medames ($8.99), fava beans cooked down with garlic, onions, and chile, flecked with fresh herbs, plus a piece of fresh bread ($1.49) bigger than your head, is a completely satisfying vegan meal.
Seltah ($9.99) is vegetable stew that arrives bubbling furiously in a battered black cauldron. That creamy-looking stuff on top is fenugreek foam, a traditional topping that reminds me of bitter maple. Fahsah ($11.99) is the meat version, usually beef but sometimes lamb.
Foul with eggs ($8.99) and white beans with eggs ($8.99) are found on the breakfast menu, but can usually be ordered all day, after checking with the kitchen.
Almandi has a fresh fruit smoothie counter, too. But if you’re looking for a sweet coda, think fata ($10.99). Day-old pita bread is chopped with dates, mixed with clarified butter and honey, then covered with canned pastry cream and nigella seeds, which pop like cumin-esqe sesame seeds.
At Almandi, there’s room for every appetite. Here’s to adding it to your Easter and Christmas visits to the Broadway Market for trips that pay off in distinctly Buffalo ways.
The more you get to know the various opportunities around you, the more you can enjoy the comforts of home.
797 Broadway, see menu, 716-853-1090
Hours: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. daily.
Prices: breakfast $6.99-$14.99, meals $9.99-$24.99
Parking: lot
Wheelchair accessible: yes
Gluten-free: most meat dishes, stews
Vegan: foul medames, saltah, fresh bread
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