San’a Restaurants

  1. Al-Fanoos

    Probably the best Western-style sit-down-and-relax restaurant in Yemen - though don't rely on it being open, as it often only swings back the doors at weekends or when there's a group booking. The food is predominately Middle Eastern and there's occasional live music.

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  2. Al-Khima

    Its Yemeni and Lebanese food isn't great but it's one of the few places where you might want to linger over a meal. Better than the food are the fruit-flavoured sheesha pipes and the big-screen TV showing all the major sporting events.

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  3. Al-Shaibani Modern Restaurant

    This is the restaurant that all the other restaurants in Yemen want to take after. All the staples are done to perfection, but it's the oven-baked fish that rules the roost.

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  4. Houmald Salta

    Next to the qat market in the heart of the old city. This salta (a kind of stew and the traditional lunch dish of the highlands) restaurant is regarded as having the best salta in San'a and is a pre-qat-session institution. Buy the accompanying sheets of bread from the women standing around outdoors.

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  5. Naeem

    This shiny white-tiled restaurant is cleaner than most and does great roast chickens (around YRI600 ) and freshly squeezed fruit juices (around YRI1000 ). It's right next to the Bab al-Yaman.

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