Yemendi, Sydney: the Yemeni restaurant where every table orders the fluffy spiced rice

The mandi mixed plate with chicken and lamb is the star of Yemendi, in Sydney’s Beverly Hills. Photograph: Isabella Moore/The Guardian

Mandi is the biggest celebrity of Yemen’s cuisine, part of a beloved food category called the “mixed rice dish”, whose other famous members are biryani, bibimbap and jollof rice. Mandi is spiced basmati rice, topped with meat – usually chicken or lamb that’s traditionally roasted in an underground oven – with zahawiq, a spicy, tomato-based sauce, served on the side.

The salona, a thick prawn stew, is listed on the menu as ‘prawn curry’. Photograph: Isabella Moore/The Guardian