While we were in San Francisco earlier this month, we had a terrific dinner at Saha (http://www.sahasf.com) - which offers a wonderful and unusual fusion of Yemeni Arabic, Moroccan, and California cuisines with French influences. In addition to Middle Eastern and North African dishes, Saha has many vegan dishes like shiitake mango ravioli, and many creative dishes like Salmon Baklava!
We had never had Yemeni cuisine, and I was anxious to try it. The experience was great. I wish we lived nearby. I would go there often
The atmosphere is warm and Middle Eastern.
Our waiter was a Moroccan named Hassan. He was very nice. He introduced us to Mohamed Aboghanem, the owner and chef. In our short conversation, Mohamed mentioned that Yemenis tend to use more cumin in their dishes; whereas Levantine Arabs tend to use more allspice.
Hassan began by bringing us some delicious, fresh-baked Moroccan bread with a dip of olive oil, sesame seeds and thyme.
My wife decided to have two appetizer dishes. She started with the traditional Arabic kibbeh. There are many versions of kibbeh - both cooked and raw. Saha serves a cooked version. It has an outer shell of cracked wheat (bulgur wheat) stuffed with ground beef, onions, pine nuts, and spices. It is served with a tomato sauce and leban (Middle Eastern Yoghurt). It was very tasty. (My mother used to make incredible kibbeh.)
I started with Lahem Sougar, a Yemeni dish. It involved grass-fed lamb sautéed with sumac, pine nuts, and olive oil, and served over Baba Ghanoush, with pita bread, olives, and harissa sauce. It was delicious, and cost $16.
My wife’s second appetizer dish was Bastilla, a Moroccan dish with chicken, almonds, onions, egg, parsley, and spices, wrapped in phyllo dough, baked with powdered sugar garnish and served over saffron sauce. It was wonderful and cost $12.
Bastilla
I had Helba, a Yemeni national dish made with okra, potatoes, fenugreek, rice and vegetable broth. Saha offers three versions - with only vegetables, with lamb and ground beef, and with wild salmon, ahi and scallops. I had the version with lamb & ground beef for $23. It was served with excellent pita bread. The Helba was fantastic. (Diners who have never had really fresh, genuine pita bread, rather than the mediocre supermarket versions are missing a real treat.)
Our wine was a Nyers 2010 Vista Luna Borden Ranch Dry Creek Zinfandel for $41. It was very, very nice.
For dessert, my wife had crème brulée.
I had a Yemeni cake called Bisbusa, with syrup, strawberries, and pistacchio gelato for $6. It was very tasty.
One minor disappointment was that Saha did not serve Arabic coffee, so I had a cup of San Francisco Coffee Company coffee. Saha does serve Arabic tea.
Saha is located in the Hotel Carlton at 1075 Sutter St. Phone 415-345-9547. The night we were there, the restaurant was very busy, so I would strongly recommend reservations.
To get a really good appreciation of Saha, see the YouTube story at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlyZLGfJrQE
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