We were really impressed with our lunch at Sheeba Restaurant. This was our first time having Yemeni food and it was great. Our friend, whose wife is from Dearborn, recommended this place to us.
There are two Sheeba Restaurant locations in Dearborn: this one on Michigan Ave which opened in 2015 and the original, I believe, on Dix Ave which opened in 2013. This location shares a building with 360 Lounge, a Lebanese restaurant. It's unassuming from the outside. Inside, the space feels clean and relatively new. The dining rooms (there are two; one can presumably be reserved for large groups and private parties) are spacious and simply decorated with colorful paintings and a touch of Yemeni design/architecture. The atmosphere is relaxed and casual. During our lunch visit, the interior was naturally well lit. I felt quite comfortable.
The restaurant serves both Yemeni and Mediterranean cuisine. The menu has a decent selection, from breakfast dishes like foul (ful; fava beans), fasolia (kidney beans) and lamb, beef, and chicken galabah (minced meat sauteed with onions, tomatoes, and Yemeni spice) to traditional Yemeni entrees like lamb/chicken agdah stew (with okra, carrots, potatoes, onions, and green peas) and zorbian, a Yemeni staple, similar to biryani (mixed rice). They also offer desserts like fatta (fatteh) and beverages like juices, Adeni tea, and shanina (buttermilk) yogurt drinks. Expect to spend about $11-23 each for most individual dishes. For family-style dining, group platters and trays are available and they do catering too.
My fiancee and I ordered from both the special lunch menu, where most entrees (with rice and salad) are under $10 each and most sandwiches (with drink) are under $6 each, and the regular menu. Here's what we went with:
* Lamb haneeth ($12.95, lunch portion) - Sheeba's most popular dish; slow-roasted lamb, seasoned and cooked, served with mandi basmati rice
* Saltah ($7.95, lunch portion) - fresh assorted root vegetables combined with whipped fenugreek, served bubbling in a hot clay bowl
* Shafoot ($4.95) - chopped tanoor bread soaked in labneh yogurt, mixed with cucumbers, green onion, and chutney
* Hot tanoor bread ($1)
All of the food was delicious. It was very satisfying and comforting and really hit the spot for us.
Yemeni house salad, which comes with the lunch entrees, was served first. This was a pretty simple salad consisting of chopped iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes with a wonderful dressing. I'm not sure what the dressing was, but it was light and vinegary with appetizing flavor. The vegetables were fresh, cool, and crisp.
The lamb haneeth was outstanding. The quality of the lamb, served bone-in, was excellent. The portion size was generous/reasonable. The meat was tender and flavorful. There was a mix of consistencies including charred outer edges, moist meat, and chewy tendon. The lamb was served with mandi which is a Yemeni rice dish. It's not too different from other basmati rice dishes I've had. Along with lamb, the plate contained some chopped potatoes and carrots.
The saltah was great. This stew was hearty. It had a thick, savory, "meaty" broth even though there is no meat in this dish. Both the lamb haneeth and saltah were served with a side of what I call Yemeni "salsa." It resembled a tomato-based Mexican salsa. If anyone knows the name of this sauce, please let me know. Our server told us the sauce contained tomato, mint, onion, and peppers, among other ingredients. It was a cool, light, yummy and fresh-tasting sauce with a little bit of a kick to it. I'm not sure which dish it came with. Our server told us it was meant to be eaten with everything.
The shafoot was tasty. This dish is pretty much a salad. It's served cold with many chopped up ingredients mixed up and served together. I loved the different, fantastic flavors in this dish, though I can see some people getting turned off by either its texture (soggy, soaked flatbread) or temperature (cold).
The hot tanoor bread was huge. It was served in a basket. There was more than enough bread for the two of us. It was essentially like naan; doughy, puffy, and oven-baked with charred bubbles.
Service was super. Our server was friendly and our orders came out from the kitchen in fairly short order. At the end of our meal, we received warm, wet hand towels and our receipt was served in a cute little wooden treasure chest with Sheeba-branded mints and individually-wrapped toothpicks.
Sheeba has its own paved parking lot with about 20 spaces. read more