Queen of Sheba

We stumbled upon this place our first night in London, and we were very pleasantly surprised. The hummus was good, but the Malawah was fantastic (not to mention huge). The lamb with rice was tender and flavorful. The wait staff were helpful and pleasant — definitely recommend this place, and would like to go back to sit with a hookah and cup of Yemeni tea on the front patio.

I went inside to order soup to go. I walk out with 5 kilos of food for take– away and when i open the box there was almost an entire lamb inside falling apart over the mendhi rice with just enough Hint of clove and cardamom. If i was married, İ’d make my husband bring me here because the restaurant is romantic and fresh tulips are on the tables.

«First Yemeni restaurant in London» reads the sign over the door. Authenticity is the watchword. Outside Yemeni men puff away on hookahs. Unfortunately, inside this solo traveller is left with his solitude and does not feel particularly welcome. So much for Middle Eastern hospitality. I get the feeling if I was a party of 4 there’d be smiles and warm greetings.
When it is time to order, my server is gruff and perfunctory. Food is served in surly silence. My portions are all family size, as are prices. The Yemeni flat bread I’m served is the size of a bed sheet! Mandi Latham lamb I order is moist if a little bland. No condiments or further service is provided. I won’t be back.

I lived in the Middle East in Qatar for years and my favorite Middle Eastern food is Yemeni which I’ve had the opportunity to eat many times. Since we were passing through London, we figured that we would check out Queen of Sheba. We found the restaurant but the door was locked when we tried to open it. Some of the restaurant staff came to the door and asked if they could help us. They were surprised that we were trying to eat there! Haha.
Once they knew that I lived in Qatar and my friend lived in Kuwait, it was smooth and they brought the food. We started off with the traditional maraq soup (made from lamb broth) that always starts off the meal. It was great.
Then we got mandi meat (lamb with rice) and chicken ogda. The mandi meat was decent and the chicken ogda was good but needed to be in the black pots to keep it warm.
We were happy to discover that they had fresh juice and we got lemon mint which was great. The bread was also good and they had a bread oven in the restaurant.
We ended the meal with some karak tea (black tea with milk and sugar) and it was yummy. Overall, it was a pretty good experience but quite expensive (I guess this is London).
More information about Yemeni food:

Went there with a friend tonight… we were craving shisha, and after reading the reviews, we thought we’d give this place a try. Boy am I glad we did.
At first we were a bit worried… –2 degrees, during one of the coldest spells in London this winter… and we’re thinking of hanging outside for an hour or so? That didn’t throw us off, and Haani, the Shisha guy was super nice… kept making sure our coal was red hot, and kept dumping more coal my our feet so that we could keep nice and toasty. The shisha was smooth, easy pull, and well maintained, either by the manager (Ali) or Haani.
After an initial smoke, we went inside for dinner. The wonderful experience continued. Ali took the liberty of ordering our mains, a mix of grilled chicken and super tender lamb, served with rice… (almost like a biryani). It was truly succulent.
The hummous with fried, diced lamb is delicious, as are the various aubergine mezzes.
We then headed out for some more huffing and puffing… and ended up super, super chilled out.
Love this place… and love the fact that is away from the hustle and bustle of Edgware Road. Have fallen in love with Yemeni food… and will make this a regular venue for a chilled evening out.
Nice one.

Service was great. I’d never had Yemeni food and the waiter made several recommendations and insisted that i try the Yellow Rice. Glad he did! The rice was unlike any rice I’d had before, cooked with cinnamon stick.
Also loved the chicken curry served in a stone bowl and the fresh squeezed lemon fizz drink.
When will someone open a Yemeni restaurant in my hometown of Boston?!

Nice outdoor shisha (roughly 10gbp), Good service!

This cute little place is nicely tucked away in a back street, away from a bustling and rowdy Edgware Road with it’s numerous restaurants where staff are lacking in more than just customer service skills…
It’s cosy and original décor infuses the atmosphere with sense of tradition that I crave for when I go to experience a cuisine. You will be served a freshly baked bread straight out of their oven, yum
Outdoor shisha is an absolute must and here they don’t let you down either: they will regularly attend to adjust or change the coal, blow out the build up on the foil… you get the idea
But I am forgetting something, ain’t I? The food is goood! and so are the prices :))
I went with a bunch of friends, but it’s just as perfect for a quiet meal
This place really stands out with it’s polite and courteous staff, who add to the sense of welcome that true middle eastern culture is known
for!