Hen House Nyc — Restaurant in New York

I fiiiiinally got here yesterday after drooling over social media posts about it for ages. I was NOT disappointed!

First, could the gentleman who took my order BE any nicer? He was lovely and smiley and appreciated my excitement at being there.

I decided to splurge because I simply could not get one thing. I got the piri piri sandwich, and the lamb birria to take home.

That chicken was so perfectly crispy, I can't even tell you. And it was huge. I had to pick off chunks of chicken to eat before I could actually pick the sandwich up. It was the right amount of heat in the sauce, too. Fortunately, I really enjoy drippy sandwiches when they're this good (not greasy-drippy, just saucy!), and I'm pretty sure they had no napkins left in the building when I was done.

The lamb birria was soooo delish, even after reheating it at home, and the au jus dip had NO grease on top when I took it out of the fridge this morning. It's sharply garlicky in a good way, and I could not stop eating this massive thing. I had it last night for dinner and for breakfast this morning and there's still some left. $25 well spent!

I hope the neighborhood continues to support them because I want to take the trip from Queens again to try all the other things...

The food here is amazing. I live in Westchester and refuse to come to the city but this place convinced me. However, service was underwhelming. When we came in, it was packed and there was a line for a table. A staff member took an entire table to wrap presents which made no sense. The priority would be to ensure traffic is being controlled and patrons had seating no? The blonde lady working the register seemed overwhelmed. We ordered the cheese crusted shwarma which is featured on their Instagram page but she didn’t know what we were talking about. We showed her the video and she tried to make us order the birria shawarma instead which we said no to. The order came and it was not cheese crusted but we took it. She gave us one fork for two people. We ordered the knafeh pancake and she stated they did not have a knife and lastly, while we were eating she pulled our food away and I told her we are not done eating.

This place is a gem in terms of food but I hope staff are provided better training. Would love to see this place thrive even more because the dishes are unique and you can feel the love put into it by the owners.

Ordered Knafeh pancake, soujouk shawarma, batata harra and...

FIREEEE THIS PLACE IS AMAZINGGGG i’m shocked that food THIS good is served in a cafe setting like they need a nice restaurant space wow. The vibe inside is cute and the hospitality is so nice, also they were playing eurodance and 90s hits the whole time I wanted to dance like lemme get a link to this playlist please.

Started with the Lamb Pitaquilles… i nearly passed out in my seat those flavors were UNBELIEVABLE. Like a Lebanese Chilaquiles made with pita chips. The lamb was so so so tender and the sauce on this made me tear up. I want to eat this every weekend now.

Then we got the Knafeh Pancake, this thing was THICK. It was so soft but also crispy. The cheese and the berries paired soooo well like every bite was enlightening. And I have leftovers for later i’m so excited!!!

Also tried their seasonal lemonade, the current flavor is passionfruit. This was really good too. A bit more on the tart side on its own but when paired with the food it’s sooooo refreshing!!

I need to try more items on this menu because i’m...