At the corner of Caniff and Conant in Hamtramck is perhaps the most Hamtramck business one could find for this moment in time — an old-school doughnut and coffee shop mixed with a Yemeni restaurant, and it might just also have the area’s best fried chicken.
Family Donut, which has operated the small shop for decades, joined forces with Taj Al-Yemeni around a year ago, and though it’s not clear what motivated the merger, one can speculate that it has to do with the city’s shifting demographics.
And Taj Al-Yemen/Family Donut are attuned to those demographics as it’s not just limited to classic American doughnuts and Yemeni food — there are a few options geared toward the town’s large Bangladeshi population, Bosnian burek, and what I might submit as the best fried chicken in metro Detroit, as well as solid subs.
Taj Al-Yemen/Family Donut reflects Hamtramck in a way that no other restaurant here does, and manager Nivil Al-Haiga says that’s by design — they want to have something for everyone in town.
The menu is largely Yemeni food, and the operation is run by Yemeni-American folks. Al-Haiga says part of the reason their food is so good is because they poached an experienced crew of cooks from other Yemeni restaurants in town, like Yemen Cafe, Remas, and Sheeba.
Perhaps the best dish was the lamb agdah, with super tender, stewed lamb, carrots, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, garlic, and parsley. It’s super fragrant and bright, which I suspect is driven in part by some combination of cumin, coriander, cloves, and cardamom, among other spices.
And that fried chicken: dang. I’ve long groused over the dearth of excellent fried chicken in Detroit, but this is it. This changes everything. A medium level of crunchy crag, the right level of salt, moist but not too greasy, and your fingers will be left stained yellow from turmeric — plus, it is priced to move. A new favorite lunch, and it appears to only be available midday in a case on the counter along with fried shrimp, grilled chicken, fries, and some other quick, hot carryout dishes.
Another banger is the Al-Yemeni gallaba, with small cubes of beef mix lightly charred to impart a slight smokiness that balances beautifully with a piquant, fragrant sauce and the hunks of bell pepper, onion, garlic, tomatoes.
The lamb fahsa is also solid. A stew with what I suspect is a garlic-onion-bell pepper base that is slow cooked, rendering the lamb super tender, all of which is topped with a fenugreek. This wasn’t the richest version I’ve had in town, perhaps because there seemed to be less fat, which is what imparts the flavor and depth. Still excellent.
The chicken mandi is a quarter bird rendered bright orange from turmeric, and also flavored, I’m guessing, with some combination of cumin, cardamom, black pepper, and other spices. On the breakfast menu, the foul (pronounced “fool”) is garlicky and deep plate of mashed fava beans, tasting almost like a Yemeni chili.
I also tried several subs that were solid but honestly the menu is so stacked that it feels like I won’t be getting back to them. A grilled chicken that was similar to the mandi but came out of the lunchtime hot food case is also worth a try.
Not much appears to have changed from the vibe from the Family Donut days, save for giant pictures of Yemen affixed to the wall. There are plenty of tables for dining in, though many of the customers were grabbing carryout.
And the doughnuts — they’re still good, what one expects from Family Donut.
