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Eat Around The World In Albuquerque – Middle East/Africa

It’s time for the fourth installment of international cuisine!

Eat Around The World In Albuquerque - Middle East/Africa

We’ve already given you some recommendations on places that provide North American, South American, and European cuisine, and this month, we’re taking you to Africa!

Yemen: Sheba’s Cafe

Posted by DragonLee England on Thursday, September 1, 2016

Have you ever had Yemeni food?  It’s delicious.  It shares a lot of hallmarks with other Middle Eastern cuisine, but also has a strong Indian influence as far as spices.  Sheba’s Cafe is a great place to dine if you’re hoping to try something new, and their beef saltah is a wonderful place to start, both because of the taste and the fact that it’s the national dish of Yemen.  It’s a thick stew, warmed with some mild spice, with rice, potatoes, and other vegetables.  Enjoy it with some flatbread.  For dessert, try the fattah, which includes dates, honey, and bananas for a sweet and light treat.

Iran: Pars Cuisine

Enjoy some delicious Persian food from Pars and get to watch some talented belly dancers at the same time.  You’ll want to gather a group for this, because the best option is the Kebab Feast, which serves four people.  It comes with six different types of kebabs, white rice, and polow, an amazing rice dish with barberries, almonds, and saffron.  You’ll walk away full and satisfied, and really feeling like you’ve experienced another culture.

Middle East: Sahara Middle Eastern Eatery

The cuisine of most Middle Eastern countries is grouped together, but you can find a variety of the dishes at Sahara.  Start with kibbeh, a Lebanese dish of spiced meat and bulghar meatballs that is served with a delicious garlic sauce.  From there, you can enjoy Turkish chicken shawarma, deliciously spiced and served on pita bread with feta cheese, or order the Afghani tika kabob.  Finish off with Egyptian kanafah, a cheesy sweet dessert, or Arabic warbat, which is similar to a custard-filled baklava.

Africa: Talking Drums

Albuquerque doesn’t have different restaurants for the varying cuisines of Africa, but you can still try the dishes.  Talking Drums started as a clothing store, then branched into African groceries.  When they noticed the lack of local African cuisine, they opened a restaurant, and they’ve been feeding the public for the past 7 years.  Start your meal with Nigerian moin moin, a black-eyed bean blend, and West African suya kabobs.  For the main course, you can order the delicious Ethiopian injera bowl, which features layers of the flatbread between chicken and greens.  Finish with the Cocopuffs, a sweet taste on Nigerian fried dough that just perfectly caps the meal.

Enjoy exploring some new cuisine while you’re in Albuquerque!