Mandi Oasis — Restaurant in Homewood

Constructive criticism: please reduce the cook time on chicken Mandi and Haneeth! The breast meat is bone dry. And please make sure everything is evenly salted (not over salted or under salted)

I really wanted to like this place! The portions are quite large, but I find the food’s flavor to be lacking on a lot of dishes. Aside from the fahsa which is really good! I had tried the following from here: chicken mandi, chicken haneeth, lamb haneeth, fahsa, broth, and salad. I got the chicken Mandi my first time eating here, and got all of the other items my second time.

First order

Chicken Mandi - the flavor of the rice that comes with a lot of the dishes served here is good albeit light. But the chicken itself was extremely dry. Some of the driest chicken I’ve eaten in a long time. Flavor wasn’t too bad though, but could definitely use more seasoning honestly. Didn’t seem too bad, so I decided to give this place a second try.

Second order

Chicken Haneeth - the chicken was super salty! And again, super dry. So the dryness was not a one off thing like I was hoping. And the spice blend did not feel fully balanced

Lamb Haneeth - this was way under salted so it was like whiplash after the chicken but the meat itself was tender

Fahsa - pretty good! nice balanced flavor and meat has a nice shredded texture

Salad - very oily and inconsistent - first time it had a nice tart flavor second time it had no tart flavor at all

Broth - was not a fan and felt the flavor was very off

In conclusion: I really wanted to like this place but overcooked, dry, and unevenly seasoned meat stopped that from happening. Aside from the fahsa which was solid! But the restaurant’s name is Mandi Oasis, not Fahsa Oasis. My expectations for the Mandi and other rice based dishes was very high. But I was instead met with some really disappointing food (again aside from the fahsa). So if you go,...

I visited this restaurant yesterday, and I’m absolutely impressed10/10😍The staff are incredibly kind and friendly, and the place, including the bathrooms, is spotless.

Now, onto the most important part the food, The quality is exceptional! The chicken was perfectly clean with none of the unpleasant smell I’ve experienced at other places. Everything I tried was cooked to perfectiontender, flavorful, and neither overcooked nor undercooked. I ordered the Mandi combo and grilled chicken, and tried thier welcome tasty food, and I was beyond satisfied. As someone who’s pregnant and extremely picky, I was amazed that I loved every bite! I ate so much that I couldn’t breathe by the end of the meal. The portion sizes were generous, and the pricing is very fair for what you get.

I’ve been in Birmingham for nearly six years, and this is by far the best dining experience I’ve had here. Although we recently moved to Auburn, we made the trip just to try this place and it was more than worth it! I wasn’t very excited at first because I’m not usually a fan of lamb, but after this visit, my opinion has completely changed. Their lamb mandi is absolutely delicious, with no off putting smell, which is something that always made me avoid lamb in the past. From now on, it’s my go to dish whenever I’m in Birmingham.

Special thanks to Chef Esraa for making the experience even more memorable! As an Egyptian, this was my first time trying this type of cuisine, and now I’m a huge fan. Highly...

Our meal at Mandi Oasis was a wonderful experience. We were served bowls of lamb broth as soon as we were seated. Our table of four ordered the Yemeni Combo for 2 plus one order of lamb kebab. The portions were so generous that we had enough leftover for another meal for all of us. The Chicken Mandi was deliciously falling off the bone. The Haneeth was tender and complex. Both were nestled on a bed of basmati rice that was flavorful enough to be a meal in itself. But the highlight of the meal was the Lamb Fahsah. It came to the table bubbling audibly in a beautiful clay pot and was accompanied by a giant grilled pita. The flavor and texture of the shredded lamb lived up to its beautiful presentation. We scooped up the leftover gravy with pita because it was too good to go to waste. A large part of what made this meal so special was our server, Katie. She was attentive without being intrusive. She took care to space out the arrival of different dishes so that we could enjoy and appreciate each one. She offered advice and gave us condiments that she thought enhanced the dishes. At the end of the meal she brought us samples of a slushy fruity drink that she was developing to get our feedback. I hope it becomes a regular part of the menu. I am looking forward to trying everything...