Located just off of Van Ness Boulevard in the Hotel Carlton, this small restaurant is run by the husband/wife team of Mohamed and Marmee Aboghanem, and while Saha is a small in size it's large in flavor at the same time. Described as a fusion of Yemenese Arabic and Californian cuisine, I just know one thing: the food is good. Very good.
It took a while to navigate menu offerings but we settled on Lahem Sougar or Local Grass Fed Lamb sauteed with Sumac, Pine Nuts and Olive Oil and served on Baba Ganoush with Pita and Harissa. A little bit of char and oh so tender cubes of lamb. Never mind fork tender, you literally didn't need teeth to enjoy these morsels of goodness. The baba ganoush provided rich creaminess with each bite while the harissa more than warmed the palate. I could have had the whole plate as my dinner. We also sampled the Malfufa or Phyllo wrapping Potatoes, Sage, Garlic and Olive Oil served with Leban and Mustard. Crisp on the outside, tender herb spiced potatoes on the inside with a nice slightly tart sauce. Both were perfect with a glass of Beaujolais.
Our entrees consisted of Mansaf or Cubed Lamb stewed with Cauliflower, Arabic Yogurt, Allspice, Pearl Onions and Mint with Arabic Rice and Lamb Tagine with Cubed Lamb, Saffron, Ginger, Honey, Cinnamon, Prunes, Carrots and Pearl Onions topped with Maftoul and Almonds. My selection was the Mansaf but we switched dishes half way through the meal because the Mrs and I agreed that the Mansaf was the better entree. Once again, very tender lamb in a rich spicy sauce with rice to soak the extra sauce. Not to say that the tagine was a slouch of a dish but 99% still beats 95%. The tagine was also flavorful with pearls of maftoul (I believe it also goes by Israeli couscous) that absorb the spicy liquid.
Finally, we ended the meal with Bisbusa or Yemeni Cake with Syrup and Vegan Gelato and Knaffe or Layers of Shredded Phyllo and Arabic Cheese with Syrup. The cake had the flavor of baklava but with cake instead of phyllo as the syrup foil and the gelato almost tasted of slightly sweetened frozen yogurt. The balance of tender, sweet and tart perfectly refreshed our palates. The Knaffe... the menu stated that it took 15 minutes to prepare - I would have waited an hour! Crisp phyllo married to creamy, chewy cheese with an herbed syrup... I'm salivating again as I type this. It reminded of a No Reservations episode where Tony Bourdain is in Greece and has this hand made phyllo and cheese dish for breakfast. My guess is this is the Yemeni version of that same dish.
This definitely is another "repeater' restaurant in my book!
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