Bandar Aden Restaurant

One night, when I was at Doha, I went out for dinner with my parents and my Dad's housemate's family. We went to this dinning place named Bandar Aden Restaurant, a Yemen restaurant that is located at Souq Waqif - a standing market at the heart of Doha, Qatar. There were six of us at that time, and we were lucky that the restaurant was not crowded, so we headed to one of the private dining booths that were provided and ordered some dishes. 

There are two kinds of dining area at Bandar Aden Restaurant, the usual dining area and the private dinning booths. The usual dining area is the one with tables and chairs. Like any other restaurant, you can just pick a table and sit there when you dine. On the other hand, the private dining booths are more isolated and unique compared to the usual dining area. The booth is fenced and decorated with rugs and cushions. If we dine inside one of those booths, the waiter will spread some plastic on the rug to put the dishes at so that the food will not defile the rug. 

This is how we dined at Bandar Aden Restaurant

After we placed our orders, the waiter proceed to cover the rug with plastic. Lucky us, we got some complimentary soup from the restaurant! Dad said that we don't always get free stuff in this restaurant and that we were lucky to be given soup for appetizer. "I have tried this soup once and it's very delicious," said Dad in a very convincing way. 

The soup is dark yellow in color. It is very light and watery, yet spicy and very flavorful. At the bottom of the cup are chunks of shredded chicken and veggies. In my opinion, the soup is best eaten when it is still warm, with rice and some crisps - like roasted peanuts, crackers, or even deep fried chicken.

Complimentary soup for appetizer

Eat the soup while it is still hot

About 15 minutes later, our other dishes arrived - two hot-plates of Beef Ogdat, a portion of Hanid Chicken, and some Yemeni Bread. 

Beef Ogdat here is actually Beef Stew. Cooked with carrot, potato, tomato, and other veggies and herbs, Bandar Aden Restaurant's Beef Ogdat is very delicious! The stock is very tasty and is rich in flavor, not to mention light and throat-warming.

One of the waiters were bringing the dishes to our dining booth

Beef Ogdat

Beef Ogdat is rich in flavor!

The second dish was a basket of half-meter-in-diameter Yemeni Bread fresh from the oven. Yemeni Bread is like the signature dish of Middle East cuisine. Layers and layers of dough simply put into an oven, usually the traditional one that is made out of semen and bricks and cooked with charcoal and fire, and then served on a weaved basket. This bread is very large, has a chewy texture and is deliciously doughy. You can just tear the bread, scoop some Beef Ogdat with it, and indulged. The combination of the plain chewy bread and the flavorful beef stew is amazing!

This is how big the Yemani Bread was

Sprinkled with sesame seeds, then toasted to perfection

Tear the bread to get your share

The third dish was a big plate of Hanid Chicken - a big chicken, nicely boiled with some spices and herbs, served on a bed of rice that was cooked with saffron. The chicken meat was cooked evenly, savory and spicy, and went well with the complimentary soup from the restaurant. The rice on the other hand was plain. The shape of the rice itself was somewhat lanky, thin and tall, and they were broken white, yellow, and orange in color.

Hanid Chicken

One big portion of Hanid Chicken

I personally love the Yemeni Bread the most! Not only the bread tasted fantastic, it went well with pretty much everything. Hanid Chicken, Beef Ogdat, you name it! When you have the chance to visit Bandar Aden Restaurant, you ought to order a basket of those Yemeni Bread. It's a must-try!

If you would like to know more about Bandar Aden Restaurant, you can visit its' website here.


Bandar Aden Restaurant
Souq Waqif, between Musherib and Al Rayyan Road
Doha, Qatar

Phone: (+974) 4437 5503

Opening Hours:
Saturday - Thursday: 8 AM - 11 PM
Friday: 12:30 AM - 11 PM