One of the best meals I’ve ever had is Yemeni breakfast served for dinner in a restaurant in Irbid, Jordan. I don’t know what the restaurant is called, or even where it is, only that it holds memories infused with fragrant spices and sweet tea, and has a large Pepsi logo on the door.
During a few months studying in Irbid, this Yemeni restaurant became a weekly treat. Two friends stumbled upon it one day, then brought a small group back to sit in a circle and rip pieces of bread, which were used to scoop up eggs scrambled with garlic, onions, peppers, and cumin; spicy shredded chicken with tomatoes; ful medames; and a few other dishes.
There was room for four or five groups of people to sit on the floor, where sheets of plastic were spread and giant rounds of flatbread were dropped in the center. In the back corner an ancient looking stereo played Arabic music and a group of men sat smoking, no matter the night. Our group stood out, but was always welcomed–first curiously, and then as expected weekly guests.
The bread–called sabayyad–remains the best thing I’ve ever eaten. It’s similar to paratha–thin and layered, crispy and flaky on the edges, and softer in the center, but with blistering charred spots like a neapolitan pizza. It has a subtle flavor that’s almost sweet, balancing the spicy stews. There are really no words that can do it justice. We would scoop up flavorful meat and fluffy eggs, wiping the metal bowls clean with the soft parts of the bread, and then we would sit back for shahi haleeb, a sweet milk tea.
The restaurant sits on a small street and from what I could tell doesn’t have a name. Inevitably, someone would get lost trying to find it each time (this was in 2010, pre Google map accessibility around the world). I wish I would have made a note of a street name, because if I went back to Irbid now I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Our last week there we ate at the restaurant twice, trying to ingrain the taste of the bread in our minds forever.
A year later, back in Jordan but this time staying in Amman, I told friends about the most amazing Yemeni restaurant in Irbid. “Yemeni?” they said, laughing. We eat it all the time! Then they took me and a friend, who had also experienced the wonder of the Irbid spot, to a beautiful restaurant where we sat on the floor and feasted on….something completely different. They had brought us to the best restaurant in Amman for mandi, the famous Yemeni rice and meat dish served with spices and yogurt. It was delicious, but not what we had been craving. We explained and explained, but none of them had heard of the foods we were describing. Finally, we showed our waiter a photo. His face lit up, and he explained that the foods we loved were actually traditional breakfast foods, but he knew of one place we could get them any time of day.
This place is aptly named Sana’a, and is near the University of Jordan in Amman. With plastic tables and fluorescent lighting it doesn’t have the charm of the Irbid restaurant, but it does serve the same dishes. They aren’t as moist or as perfectly spiced, and the bread is a bit crunchier and not quite as addicting, but if you’re in Amman it’s worth a stop. Over the years, I have sought out Yemeni breakfast in Oman, Detroit, Istanbul, New York, and elsewhere around the world, always comparing the bread to those first perfect rounds. Maybe one day we’ll actually make it to Yemen, but until then, nostalgia is hard to beat.
