Dine on Yemeni cuisine and Mediterranean favorites at this new Newport News restaurant
NEWPORT NEWS – If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to try a new restaurant, here’s a good place to start: Shibam Yemeni Kitchen, which opened about six months ago, near Warwick and Denbigh boulevards.
It serves Middle Eastern food, including a few breakfast entrees such as Fasolia (kidney beans sauteed with onions and tomatoes) and Yemeni shakshouka (scrambled eggs with sauteed tomatoes, onions and coriander).
I recently walked into its large dining room, which had plenty of seating and five sliding barn doors to private rooms. Hostess Fatima Solimen greeted me and seated me in one which had a large window facing the parking lot. I browsed the menu with its appetizers, family platters, curry dishes, grill plates (lamb chops and kabobs), Mediterranean dishes and more.
Owner Faiz R. Edhah opened the restaurant because he was tired of seeing processed foods at other restaurants, he said, and he wanted to serve fresh food from his culture. He’s from Yemen and has lived in the States for about 17 years. He moved to the area from New York in 2015.
Shibam Yemeni Kitchen uses halal meats in which the blood has been drained from the animals in a specific manner, Edhah explained. Halal is Arabic and means permissible. It’s a dietary law derived from Islamic teachings, according to an article on the WebMD website.
Solimen offered a sample of two teas. While I let them cool, I admired the room, which had a table for four — a private option for families. The brown-brick wallpaper gave it a cozy feel and the spiral light fixture dangling from the ceiling a little flare. Edhah said they were still renovating and he plans to add cushions and pillows in some of the rooms for floor seating.
I couldn’t wait any longer. I tried the Adeni tea, a black spice tea from Aden, Yemen. It had a smooth balance of creamy milk and sweetness from the sugar. The red tea was prepared without the two condiments. I liked its pungent spiciness as opposed to the subtlety of the Adeni. They were equally good.
I wanted to swim in the baba ghanoush appetizer, which had a hummus texture but was made with eggplant instead of chickpeas. I went dipping instead with warm pieces of flatbread. Solimen said the bread was made in a tabun (taboon) which is a portable clay oven shaped like a truncated cone. The baba ghanoush had a smokiness with a little zing that made me sing. OK, more like hum. Whatever the case. It was splendid and addicting.
The hostess placed the next dish down while I was grubbing on the baba. Lamb Fahsa sat in a clay bowl waiting for me. Anything that bubbles or sizzles must be good, I thought. I was right. The shredded meat soaked in a broth of herbs and spices made a wonderful stew. Insert bread. Eat. Repeat. I had another yummy experience.
Solimen had recommended the Chicken Mandi. The dish arrived with large portions of reddish-orange poultry and basmati rice. I tore into the meat first. It didn’t have visible seasoning but I could taste the flavor of a roasted chicken. Juicy. Tender. Perfectly cooked. It paired nicely with the fluffy rice.
One restaurant down, more to go.
Rekaya Gibson, rekaya.gibson@virginiamedia.com, 757-295-8809; on X, @gibsonrekaya
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If you go
Where: 340 Oriana Road, Newport News
Hours: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Sunday
Prices: Appetizers $6.99 to $15.99, main curry $9.99, to $17.99, Mediterranean main dishes $15.99 to $32.99
Details: 757-234-4290; shibamyemenikitchen.com
