(Gerry Furth-Sides) Every dish on the House of Mandi menu looked so appealing on a first visit that we made a second round this week-end. Being anywhere near Little Arabia is enough reason. House of Mandi is just a happy place to be.

Lamb soup caught my attention, and our wonderful server insisted on bringing a bowl for us to try. My dining companion was skeptical that it would be watery. It turned out to be a heavenly broth flavored with lamb bones stewing for hours, green onion, black pepper and cumin. ($2.99 a bowl)

Mutabbal is an eggplant dish that has many regional variations. Her is it a luscious chargrilled eggplants mashed with garlic, yogurt and tahini sauce, was next up. ( $8.99)

Lamb Haneeth was the second version of the special traditional dish with lamb from the city of Sana’a in Yemen. A very young fresh lamb is gently roasted in an underground oven until the ultra-tender meat falls off the bone. It is served hot, wrapped in foil, and served over Mandi rice, that is dotted with slivered almonds and yellow raisins. Little tubs of Yemeni sauce and Yogurt are on the table. ($27.99 for 4-6 servings). The huge platter arrived at the same time as a pretty woven basket of bread.

House of Mandi is just a happy place to be with the continuous buzz of families and friends of all ages sharing food. Week-end chaos, kids and clattering trays, even between lunch and dinner service is somehow both inviting and satisfying.  Take the little guy in a high chair at the next table. He had already redone the wall of artifacts behind him and the plate of food in front of him by the time his family was leaving, all of which were now on the floor under the table.

And the staff are also all family and friends who decided it “it would be fun to open a restaurant.” And it looks like that.   We were so pleased to catch up with the chef, Rahim, who made this delicious goat soup with slow cooked lamb, green onion, black pepper and cumin. She is with Tulab, who helped us last time. And the young lady server, Hanim, the chef’s daughter!

For the story of how regal Biryani was brought to India by powerful, ruling Mughals to the northwest to be transformed by a shah’s wife, and how Mandi Biryani arrived in the south by way of traders from the Arabian peninsula, where it was cooked in special ovens that kept the meat moist and gave it its name, please see please see https://localfoodeater.com/mandi-biryani-at-home-in-house-of-mandi/. 

House of Mandi, 518 S Brookhurst St Unit 1, Anaheim, CA 92804, Phone: (657) 220-5272, https://www.houseofmandi-yemenirestaurant.com

For the fascinating history of Biryani, please see https://localfoodeater.com/mandi-biryani-at-home-in…/.

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