This Yemeni baked rice dish is a must-try on Lygon Street

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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