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Mandina Kitchen

An alcohol-free restaurant where diners can sit on rugs or at the table.

Dani Valent

Go-to dish: Chicken mandi at Mandina Kitchen.
1 / 5Go-to dish: Chicken mandi at Mandina Kitchen.Simon Schluter
Ameen Almutawakel, Karan Bhatia and Mugdad Rassan break fast at Yemeni restaurant Mandina Kitchen on Lygon Street.
2 / 5Ameen Almutawakel, Karan Bhatia and Mugdad Rassan break fast at Yemeni restaurant Mandina Kitchen on Lygon Street.Simon Schluter
Flaky mulawah bread.
3 / 5Flaky mulawah bread.Simon Schluter
Inside the restaurant.
4 / 5Inside the restaurant. Simon Schluter
Mandina Kitchen’s mixed appetiser platter.
5 / 5Mandina Kitchen’s mixed appetiser platter.Simon Schluter

Mandina Kitchen

Middle Eastern$

Whether you’re seated at a table or cross-legged on a mat, this Yemeni restaurant rolls along generously: each meal begins with a complimentary lamb broth. Good dishes include flaky mulawah bread, sizzling lahsa (a claypot scramble of tomato and egg), mandi (baked rice served with bone-in spiced lamb or chicken, scattered with raisins, the juices of the meat infused into fluffy, glossy rice) and maglooba, a layered rice and lamb dish that’s tipped upside down to serve.

The menu describes maglooba as an “impressive tower”. It’s that, for sure, but the dish also finds the balance between delicate and hearty. Do as the experts do, and eat it with your hands directly from the platter or call for cutlery and share plates. There’s also the option of sitting on rugs and cushions to dine, as you might on the Arabian Peninsula.

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Dani ValentDani Valent is a food writer and restaurant reviewer.

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