Yummy Yemen: Soofi Mandi Review

It was a bright Wednesday morning, and my friends and I decided to catch up for Mandi. It had to be the best in town. A couple of Google searches and Soofi Mandi came on top of the listings. The category mentioned it as a 'Yemenite Restaurant'. The 4.3/5 overall rating and a couple of perfect five on five reviews from the previous week made us fix our destination. Soofi Mandi had to be, and Beef Mandi was on the agenda.

The place was easy to locate amidst the mid-day traffic on NH544. And it had loads of parking space. We were one of the first customers to arrive, so we explored the drink at the entrance. The Kahwa, red and hot, was placed in a large tin can with a tap. Probably something to eat after the Mandi, to aid digestion. Time was running out, so we marched into the restaurant.

We took the cosy table in the corner and weren't having second thoughts on the order. The waiter took the order and 10 minutes later came with a huge plate of rice and eight pieces of beef. A bottle of Cola to drink as well. Take a look at the Beef Mandi along with the lettuce salad, Mandi chutney and mayonnaise.

Eight pieces of beef and four of us meant two each for everyone. It was the softest beef I've ever eaten, with the masala all over into the meat. It was well cooked and couldn't have been better. A long way from the usual chewy beef we get at other hotels. The rice had the distinct Mandi aroma with traces of cardamom here and there. Glad I didn't bite into one of those.

The mayo also needs special mention. It was very white, wasn't too oily, and tasted great. It was the first time I had salads along with Mandi, and I quite liked the concept. The Mandi chutney, though, could have been better with lesser water.

One round of serving finished the entire rice and mayo, and each of us still had a piece of beef left to finish. The free rice policy also brought in extra mayo, salad, and chutney, and we were ready to go through the second serving. A full plate of rice came along. I had second thoughts if we could finish it off, but all of those thoughts were dismissed (by myself). The plate was licked clean, and we finished a wonderful lunch.

The price was reasonable—790 for four of us, which translates to less than 200 for a sumptuous meal. Soofi Mandi lived up to all the hype it had on Google, and I would suggest you check it out next Mandi-time.

Summary

Restaurant: Soofi Mandhi, Choornikkara, Aluva

Order type: Dine-in

The order: Full plate Beef Mandhi, a bottle of Cola

Positives: Taste, quantity, accessibility and ambience

Not so great: Mandi chutney could have been better