Al Jazeera

this is some fantastic yemeni food without a doubt. we went for the saturday buffet and they had just about everything i could think of. when you walk in, just go ahead and find a table, grab a plate and go to town, the waitstaff is helpful, but they also kinda expect you to know what youre doing. try the meshekel and the chicken, and the lamb and rice is a no brainer. good stuff!

This place is a gem hidden behind a whole lot of Ethiopian stores. I just landed here in DC and my friend took me to a place to eat and I didn't really have any expectations so I went there open minded. When the soup first came as an appetizer, oh my lord, my jaw just dropped. It was the best soup I ever had, unfortunately because we went there too late, they didn't have the mendi that we wanted. However the owner was gracious enough to have us try the chicken mendi and I couldn't be any happier. I had an amazing dinner and it was the best chicken I have ever had. The customer service was great but we were the only ones in the restaurant.

With another Snow Day, my husband and I decided to check this hole-in-the-wall near Skyline. Parking was a little rough, as it was jam-packed to the brim and there were trucks delivering food for the stores in the plaza. However, we were lucky to get a spot in the corner! When we walked in, we were told that we could sit anywhere. All the tables were pushed to the perimeters, and the buffet was set up in the middle. There were stuffed grape leaves (very well-packed and it was delicious), tabouleh salad, salad with dressing, diced vegetables, hummus, bone-in chicken in a savory tomato sauce (one of my favorites as it was quite tender), roasted bone-in chicken, spinach, okra, rice with lentils/pasta (I loved the little lentils), soup, fried fish, a tomato-based ground beef with eggplant, and puff pastry filled with minced chicken, topped with sesame seeds (I would love to eat these for breakfast!). There was even a chef who was carving a whole-roasted lamb and he gives you a generous piece (there is rice next to it as well)! The lamb was not game-y at all, but it was a whole roasted lamb - you can season it yourself with salt and pepper at your table, but I didn't think there was any need - it was quite delicious, and almost resembled pot roast. Yum! It's a buffet style, so you get a new plate every time you go up and you eat to your heart's content. The staff were very friendly, and I enjoyed the fruit punch that was also available - very refreshing! There was also lemonade and tap water if you choose. I thought it was a great find, and I'm glad I was able to try this place out!+AYCE lunch buffet+stuffed grape leaves+whole-roasted lamb (!!!)+limited seating available

I'm going to let you in on a little secret with this review. I've been guarding this place since I was first taken to it in March of 2008.I almost didn't Yelp it because I wanted to save it for myself and the few American Arabists who know about it. I've been four or five times now and never seen another American inside. A couple of times I've seen a few Latinos, but otherwise it's a mostly Arabic speaking crew.Because I feel loyalty to my soon-to-be-fellow -American friend Miriam, to her favorite Washingtonian (and mine too), and to her wonderful enterprising spirit, I've decided finally to post a review. Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I'm leaving the country and can't really justify hogging this place to myself. First, you should know that this is a Yemeni restaurant. This means it is Gulf cooking with a heavy horn of Africa spice inflection (after all, it's a small straight separating Yemen from the African mainland). If you have Saudi friends, or know someone from the Levant, they'll probably tell you it's not really "Arab". Especially Syrians and Lebanese who vie for "best cuisine" in the Middle East. Saudis might even look down on the whole idea of eating Yemeni food. All you need to know is that it is great: better than Fairouz and better than The Jerusalem Cafe, or whatever it's called.Second, the owner is Yemeni, but the waitresses appear to be Ethiopian, or Eritrean. I'm not precisely sure; I only know many of them don't speak Arabic. The cooks do (or some do) at least. Don't let the mix of nationalities throw you off track. Everyone there is extremely nice and happy to see you.Third, AND MOST IMPORTANT, for your first trip you MUST go for the lunch buffet on either Friday or Saturday ONLY!!! Why? Because these are the days and hours in which they roast whole lambs and serve them whole (minus the head) on a gigantic bed of Yemeni rice. The rest of the food is fabulous with real textured flavors: lots more cardamom, cinnamon, and turmeric than you might find at other Middle East joints. In fact, I kind of think the stewed lamb dishes are better than the roast lamb...but when they bring out the whole lamb, it is really a sight to behold. The pleasure and excitement in the room is palpable.The buffet is around $11 or $12; I think it's 12 if you get a drink. Oh...the drinks are lifeless juices that seem to be made from some instant mix. Stick to the water or soft drinks. The coffee is pretty good...if you get the Arabic variety (see the wizened man behind the coffee bar upstairs in the hookah room).Be aware that every taxi cab driver in the area (they all seem to be Sudanese) is waiting for this meal. Get there on the early side and start in on the buffet, but pace yourself. The first lamb doesn't usually come out of the kitchen until 12:30 or so. They'll usually do two or three for the lunch buffet, depending on the crowd. So...pace yourself and enjoy the hummus, the babaganouj, the meat-stuffed pastries, the soup, etc. The selection of buffet items changes a little bit each time, so it's hard to say what will show up on any given Fri. or Sat.Note that this restaurant is in the same strip mall as Fairouz cafe, but it's on the other side of the building. It's not big, but there is an upstairs hookah room that is large and has tables where you can eat should the downstairs be completely full. Yeah, the guys smoking and watching soccer might eye you warily, but it's worth it for the buffet. If you can greet people in Arabic, that's even better.

the worst damn Resturent I've ever been to, so dirty, so expensive, and the food was the worst, checkin is uncooked, the order took literally an hour !! And at the end, tasteless, and not worth it even if it was free. We found a hair in the salad plate, plus the bathroom was so bad.In short, go to a Walmart, and get a pre made potato Salad, or get something from McDonald's dollar menu

Yeah, not like the TV Station...Why weren't we helped even after the man who seemed to be the owner spoke to us? We asked for some (spicy) chai and we waited...and we waited...and we waited some more...and then...we waited UNTIL we caught his attention and told him we hadn't received our chai. He was surprised no one had come along to take our order...but we told HIM!After he got the attention of a waitress, we ordered a bowl of lamb soup and a piece of cake (the name escapes me.) Well, just so you know, the lamb soup actually does not have any lamb in it - it's just broth. It does come with this really good spicy sauce you can add in though! The cake - overly sweet, completely doused in the syrup that is used on baklava. I wouldn't call it a desert or even a decent accompaniment to the chai, it was just sugary syrup over a not-so-moist cake. A second chance? Sure. Only because we didn't order a proper dinner and everyone around us who had, looked like they thoroughly enjoyed their meal. It all looked yum... But the service here seemed pretty disorganized.

Lunch buffet with a beautiful roasted lamb sunbathing on a bed of rice. Delicious side dishes and salads to stuff your belly till you can no longer remember your own name. Top it all off with the spice tea with milk. All this at a reasonable price so you can do it again next week.

I am not quite sure how this place has earned four stars at all. The restaurant is pretty small to start, the wait is very long until you can get the attention of anyone, and if your a newbie your often unnoticed. More importantly, the parking although it sucks to find a spot to park, whats even worse is everyone is parking very close to you, to the point you cant even open your car door, or double parking and leaving their car in the parking driveway so you cant even drive off.The food, it sucks to be quite honest, for $11-13 plus tips, I feel like I am being ripped off. Most of the food lacks flavoring, spices, or even salt. The only big hype or main focus of every diner is the lamb offering which isn't properly juicy, almost every portion I had was dry and the meat wasn't chewy, it was like I am chewing on a beef jerky or something. The juice is overly sweet and tastes like concentrate with large amounts of syrup, very unhealthy especially on your teeth.Not a very good experience, but I give it a 2 stars because the staff seem to be nice.

The food at this local VA Halal spot is pretty tasty! I have been going there for a few years. If you go during the time that they are busy, you must be patient. Parking during holidays (Ethiopian/Muslim) is always packed so be ready to hunt for parking. Lunch time is usually wide open for this strip mall. Lamb Hanif is excellent. They don't always have ice and the drinks are general soft drinks, fresh mango and fresh orange juice which is on point. The customer service is ok but does get pretty bad when it's packed and real busy. It requires a lot of patience. The food quality does take a hit when it's super packed and busy but if you pick a time (lunch) and non-busy days in the evening it's excellent. We love it. Their fairly friendly. However, remember, be patient. If your not a patient person your going to complain and be mad.

Amazing food. Some of the best lamb I've ever had. A bit expensive for the atmosphere and ambience. I highly recommend the Al Jazeera special with lamb. Parking is sometimes a challenge since it shares a lot with the rest of the plaza.