City Road's excellent Hadramowt was the restaurant which first brought Yemeni cuisine and their signature lamb mandi to my attention. Combining slow cooked meat and fragrant rice with a bevy of accompaniments, it's one of the best lamb dishes I've eaten in Wales.
Having since read more about the long history of Wales' Yemeni population, it seems rather fitting that both nations' cuisines heavily feature lamb.
Cardiff's Yemeni population is considered to be one of the oldest Arab and Muslim communities in the UK. With Yemen's port of Aden coming under British control in 1839, the city was used a strategic coal refuelling station for British ships en route to India.
Yemenis worked as stokers and sailors on the ships, transporting resources to and from Britain, and they arrived in Cardiff as early as 1862, with many settling in Butetown to work in the docks, coal mines and on the railways. Nowadays, there are Yemeni families of five generations who have settled in Cardiff.
I'm clearly not the only fan of Hadramowt as they expanded in the middle of 2024 by taking over the vast former Grape & Olive site on Wedal Road.
Gleaming turquoise paint and ornate signage was swiftly erected on the building's exterior but it then appeared to sit dormant for months and I questioned whether it would ever open its doors (I've recently posted about tricky restaurant spaces in Cardiff and I've always considered this to be one of them).
Just as I did so, Hadramowt's Wedal Road branch finally opened at the backend of 2024.
Hadramowt’s whopping interior is divided into a number of dining spaces, some with traditional floor seating, and a massive looking function room downstairs. Despite there being a couple of other groups there when we visited on a weeknight early evening, the place felt very quiet.
With just one starter and three desserts, the focus of Hadramowt’s concise menu is slow cooked lamb and chicken dishes. It’s clear that lamb mandi is their showcase as you can pre-order a whole lamb’s worth for £220… I really need to assemble a team to demolish one.
As soon as we sat down, we were bought steaming hot bowls of lamb broth with beads of fat glistening on its surface. Deeply meaty and earthy spiced with a nice punch of chilli, it was a soothing balm on an icy cold night.
A glass of sweet mango juice (£2) was tasty but unfortunately served at room temperature.
Mrs G and I were only ever going to both order the lamb mandi (£12). Whilst this makes my review rather limited, I’d probably recommend you do the same thing.
A whopping plateful was even better than the version I've had from Hadramowt's City Road restaurant. Beautifully fluffy rice fragranced with clove and cardamom was topped with a generous portion of lamb on the bone. Crusty spice edged with spoonably tender flesh and soft fat and skin - it's as good a lamb dish as you'll come across in Cardiff. Toasty caramelised fried onions and sweet sultanas completed the immense dish.
On the side, individual pots of fresh and tangy tomato, chilli and coriander sauce and minted yoghurt were brought without prompting. They were an excellent contrast to the bass notes of the lamb and rice.
There was also a thick, sweet and comfortingly spiced potato stew.
I was stuffed and Mrs G bagged up a box of half of her food to take home for my dinner the next day.
We had a feast for two from Hadramowt for £24. It doesn't get much tastier or better value than that. If you're yet to try Yemeni cuisine in Cardiff then I can't recommend a visit to Hadramowt to try their lamb mandi highly enough.
The Details:
Address - Hadramowt, 39 Wedal Road, Cardiff CF14 3QX
Telephone - 07367 070660
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