Brooklyn Kabab House — Restaurant in New York

As a longtime restaurant reviewer, who has been recognized for expert feedback and contributions on middle eastern food and restaurants, I tend be a bit more picky when looking for true authentic, good middle eastern food. Hello Brooklyn Kabab House, where have you been all my life! Just ate here last night and can confidently say it has now reached to my top 5 restaurants in NY and probably top restaurant for middle eastern food. Unbelievable huge menu that weaves through traditional middle eastern delights like hummus, fattoush, mixed platters and then offers an abundance of Yemeni authentic dishes. The menu works! Vegetarians, meat lovers and seafood aficionados will leave with smiles and filled tummies! Just the aromas coming out of the kitchen whisk you away into oasis for a true culinary experience. The restaurant is not fancy and pretentious and the food is top quality,where every dish comes out with love and just the right spices. Just like moms's cooking which is all we want. So amazing and they have a fantastic downstairs seating area which is great for romantic dinners and also private events. Everything we ate was perfect--couldn't be better and the chef accommodated all my menu change requests due to allergies. Every plate came out with vibrant colors and love. The salads were super fresh and great portion sizes. I loved my tabbouleh and tasted the freshness of the parsley and lemon juice--one of the best I've had. The baba ganoush was so smoky and yummy and had just the perfect balance of garlic and lemon. My husband had the traditional Yemeni lamb haneeth that also came with soup salad and bread. He said it was the best haneeth he's ever tried and the lamb was slow-cooked to perfection. The broth was so hearty but not heavy-just right! The traditional bread, Rashoosh came out warm and crispy-perfect fluffiness and actually light and airy! We savored every bite and it was a nice sized portion for two people. The staff was just spectacular and made us feel like it was our home. They accommodated our request to sit downstairs even towards the very end of the night and allowed us to take our time--we really appreciated that. I enjoyed getting to know the magnificent manager Abdul and his son, Sanad who is manager there. They couldn't be more friendly and professional. You can tell they take extreme pride in their establishment and treat the entire staff like co-owners not employees--that's not always a given at other restaurants and we can see this makes for a positive environment. The restaurant is squeaky clean and the they have a nice upstairs area and a huge downstairs section that is great for events! I think we will be going here at least once a week, that's how good the food is and the ambiance and staff are the cherry on top. Please do yourself a favor and run to Brooklyn Kabab house-you will thank me! Bring your appetites and enjoy the warm ambiance, authentic dishes and amazing staff and service. Thanks so much Abdul, Sanad and staff! You guys are...

I would not recommend this place to anyone. I went here with my family, there were 7 of us in total. We came in and were sat in the basement, which I have to say does not look as nice as the main floor. We were sat for a while, no one gave us menus we got up and got them ourselves. We waited for so long that one member of our party suggested that maybe we have to go upstairs and give the order ourselves. One person got everyone’s order and went upstairs to place our order. The waiter then said someone would be with us shortly. It was like they forgot that we were waiting downstairs. The waiter came, got everyone’s food orders and it took at least 20-25 minutes for the food to start coming. One of the children wanted chicken tenders and fries, the waiter came down with a plate of burnt chicken nuggets and said there were no tenders. Everyone’s food was luke warm, barely hot. some member of the party ordered chicken over rice. The rice was hard and cold. The chicken is meant to come with 2 sides, they decided that they wanted to choose rice for both sides. The waiter did not say we could not choose 2 of the same sides but when this person questioned why there was such little rice the waiter told her she could not order 2 of the same sides. Which was odd that he did not mention this earlier. Anyways, he brought out another plate of rice, which was also cold and hard. The member explained that their rice was cold and hard and he brought out another plate, which was a little warmer but honestly was still hard. We also ordered 2 orders of fries and it seemed that the waiter forgot, that was until we asked and then the fries were brought out towards the end. Even the fries were not good, which is surprising because how do you get fries wrong? They were over cooked and did not taste good. Another member of our party ordered a burger. The waiter came about after 30 minutes that we placed our order and came with a different burger, saying the one that was originally ordered was no longer available. Overall I would say it was a bad experience. The food was not worth the money at all and I regret spending my money here. I would not recommend this...

I came here mostly by accident and the recommendation of a local hookah cafe I stumbled into. Wow - I owe him big-time! The food is REALLY good! Everything was full of amazing flavors and textures. Babaganoush, with plenty of hot pita, came quickly and in generous quantity. I had beef shawarma,which came on a plate with rice and a delicious, vinegary salad. The Rice, OMG! I never noticed rice before! It was so deliciously spiced with cardamom and other wonderful mysteries! (So many exclamation marks! I wonder if I was having some kind of weird stroke, over rice - Really?) The texture was perfect. The beef shawarma was at the center of the plate, spicy and warm, without being too piquant, deliciously fragrant. The texture was tender, and made you want to enjoy it alone, or mixed with the other flavors. The service was warm, and along with the ambience, gave you a feeling of family and warmth. I was initially served by a young man who greeted me when I came in. Later, when I asked for some hot sauce, a pleasant woman took charge of me, and brought me some "special Yemeni sauce" which was a kind of mildly spicy relish. It was mildly spicy, but delicious, and didn't overpower any of the flavors of the food. As I finished my meal, I thought I'd top it off with some baklava, but my waitress took me up to their dessert counter and pointed out something she had just made - a small square of what looked like cornbread, I don't know if it was, but the texture was similar and the flavor sweet and satisfying. What a find - in a neighborhood in Bay Ridge that felt like a "little Yemen," (if it's proper to say that if you've never been...