Home Plate Detour: Try Al Safir’s Fattah Hummous

Delicious Dinner Spread at Al Safir Middle Eastern Restaurant

Thanks to theBeijinger's foodie team Josh Ong, Marilyn Mai and Iain Shaw, I got the head's up to check out Al Safir Middle Eastern Restaurant as a part of my mission to test out all possible Middle Eastern Restaurant options in Beijing to see if one of these lesser-known gems can blow Biteapitta off its pedestal.

I've already hit up Dareen Coffee – a delightful discovery on Sanlitun street just north of Sanlitun North Village and Khatoon Iranian Restaurant – a Muslim inspired restaurant with a Halal menu. Although Dareen Coffee came dangerously close, I am not convinced they can beat out Biteapitta and besides, there are still more to Middle Eastern restaurants waiting to be acknowledged and discovered within this foodie city!

Next up on LDS's Middle Eastern Restaurant Hit List: Al Safir

Before coming here, I knew the restaurant was located on the same street as Home Plate Bar-B-Que, just a few doors down, and yet, I found myself walking up and down this street twice with zero luck finding it.

Look for Al Safir on this street: a few doors down from Home Plate Bar-B-Que

With growing frustration and building up an even more ravenous appetite, I couldn't resist the temptation of a killer BBQ pulled pork sandwich. So I didn't. I caved and popped into Home Plate for some of that pulled pork goodness and a beer to wash it all down. And it was just as glorious as I remember.

To be perfectly honest, I found it near impossible to tear myself away from just giving up on Al Safir entirely and settling in at Home Plate for an entire meal of real American BBQ.

Home Plate's BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich

With strong will power, I pulled myself away from Home Plate and lo and behold, Al Safir was really just 3 doors down. And it's not surprising why I couldn't see it before. It's MINI and it's restaurant sign has no lights! It's really quite hidden among the other comparatively brightly lit restaurants with the whole strip lined with red lights and glowing restaurant signs.

Finally found Al Safir Middle Eastern Restaurant

Walking in with a half finished bottle of beer from Home Plate, one of the restaurant owners ordered our beer to be thrown out immediately as it is a Muslim restaurant that frowns upon alcohol.

We felt quite guilty and respectfully threw out the beer before coming back in, still feeling a bit shunned and hoping they wouldn't spit in our food.

The place is teeny-tiny with only 4 small tables inside and a couple tables outside, which would have been nice except for the other chain-smoking patrons and lack of lighting for my LDS snapshots of our dishes.

Lucky for us, the menu is a picture menu so you're not left guessing what you're ordering without knowing what to expect. The owner who sent us out because of the beer was also the same person who took our order. When we came back in, he apologized for his strong initial reaction and was helpful in recommending dishes and giving suggestions.

We were originally going to order their standard hummus, but he said his favorite thing on the menu is their Fattah Hummous (RMB 45) which is something you can't find anywhere else in Beijing. It is their restaurant specialty and this stood out as the best dish of the night. He warned us that it would be oily, but it's much lighter than it looks and the oil is all olive oil. The hummus has a nice touch of lemon and pita bread is soaked inside so the texture is spongey and creamy with whole garbanzo beans sprinkled throughout the dish.

Al Safir's Fattah Hummous (RMB 45)

They serve two types of falafel – normal (RMB 20) and spicy (RMB 30). I'd never tried spicy falafel so I naturally went with my instinct to try something new and different. The Spicy Falafel dish comes with five falafel balls, each one stuffed with sauteed onions and spices. It was a bit dry and we were not accustomed to the spicy flavor, so the general consensus was that we'd probably just order the normal falafel next time around.

Al Safir's Spicy Falafel (RMB 30)

Al Safir's Spicy Falafel Dissected

With a thick and creamy hummus dish and a plate full of spicy falafels, the Tabouleh Salad (RMB 20) was a refreshing change and helped to balance out our meal. To sum it up, it's basically a parsley and tomato salad, which was light and fresh, but nothing particularly exceptional.

Al Safir's Tabouleh (RMB 20)

For our main meat dish, we were recommended the Kabsa or Mandy chicken or lamb dishes – both are RMB 50 and both looked about the same with chunks of chicken or lamb over fragrant rice. We opted for the Kabsa lamb and were left disappointed. The lamb had zero flavor – it's as if the lamb was just boiled in water and dumped on top of fragrant rice. And it was odd to see a side of salsa served together with this dish since it did nothing to compliment or enhance the lamb or rice of this dish. This dish really just served as a filler more than anything else.

Al Safir's Kabsa Lamb (RMB 50)

My fellow Egyptian foodie was beyond excited when we saw the dessert selection – Basbousa (RMB 20), Arabic Pudding (RMB 15) and Kanafa Nabulsi (RMB 80) which were all favorites from his childhood. But our hearts sank when the owner said that they were completely sold out of all dessert options. Oh well, I guess it's just an excuse to come back again for their desserts!

Gutted with disappointment, we were left with no option but to head back to Home Plate for a couple of their homemade cookies. Only RMB 12 for 3 cookies (it's RMB 5 per cookie), we got one of each flavor – chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin and peanut butter.

Home Plate's Homemade Cookies: Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin & Peanut Butter

Review of Al Safir: 35 Xiaoyun Lu courtyard (a few doors down from Home Plate Bar-B-Que), Chaoyang District 朝阳区霄云路35号院; Tel: 5130 4243; Open Mon-Sat. 10:30AM-10:30PM (closed Sundays)

Best Part:

Try Al Safir's Fattah Hummous (RMB 45), the only one of its kind in the city.
I hear the Basbousa and Konafa Nabulsi desserts are authentic and really special, but they happened to be sold out when we came.

Prices are very reasonable – expect to pay around RMB 120 for dinner for two.
The restaurant is literally just a few doors down from Home Plate Bar-B-Que so you can grab a BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich to have on the side.

It's along a very well-lit strip of restaurants just north of Xiaoyun lu, and yet it's the only one that doesn't have a glowing lights to catch your eye. I walked by Al Safir twice before actually seeing it. It's teeny-tiny with only four small tables inside (with what looks like an even smaller kitchen), but there is outside seating available should the weather permit al fresco dining.
I would have preferred to sit outside if it weren't for the lack of lighting needed to take photos of the dishes. Inside felt claustrophobic and shelves around our tables were all very cluttered with random items that shouldn't be displayed in front of customers. Everything from staplers, notepads, cleaning supplies and calculators, none of this is appropriate to be laying out for all to see. Clearly, the tables inside double as an office for admin work during slow hours.
Don't even think about bringing in any of your own alcohol, there is no BYOB policy like at Rumi. This is a strict Muslim restaurant so be aware and be respectful.
The Fattah Hummous was exceptional and something really unique to anything else I've tried, a great twist on your standard hummus dish. I wasn't impressed with the bland Kabsa Lamb dish, and everything else was just decent. I would definitely come back to try their normal (not spicy) falafel and I was gutted to miss out on trying their desserts. Next time I plan to come back, I might even call ahead to make sure their desserts are in stock.

I met both owners – one who was mostly in the kitchen and the other taking orders and taking care of customers. They were both very hands-on and ensuring the quality of the food they were serving. I think this place has a lot of potential and it was nice to see it was pretty full in spite of their small, hidden location.

Rating: (on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being best)

Food: 7
Atmosphere: 3
Service: 6
Overall Experience: 6

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