{"id":162638,"date":"2026-02-03T23:10:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T23:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/162638\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T23:10:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T23:10:07","slug":"mohka-house-brings-yemeni-coffee-to-the-dimond-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/162638\/","title":{"rendered":"Mohka House brings Yemeni coffee to the Dimond District"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dimond District looks and feels like a neighborhood that\u2019s often in an ongoing state of flux. Farmer Joe\u2019s has been a longtime anchor while many cafes, restaurants and bars move in and then out. There are, of course, exceptions. La Farine is veering towards its 20th anniversary there. And newer restaurants like Michauxn\u00e9e Olier\u2019s Willows & Pine<\/a> (2023) and the Grand Lake Kitchen (2019) are still in business. When Hive, the Place to Bee, closed its doors on MacArthur in 2023, Hamza Ghalib and his brother Yaser opened Mohka House in its place.<\/p>\n

Mohka House is one of many Yemeni coffee houses that seemed to appear in every Bay Area region overnight. The East Bay alone has at least a dozen, including Milyar on Adeline with its flashy rococo interiors and Old Oakland\u2019s equally ornate Sana\u2019a Cafe. I spoke with Hamza about his cafe and the sudden proliferation of his home country\u2019s coffee in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cYemeni coffee is one of the best, if not the best, depending on who you\u2019re talking to,\u201d Hamza said. \u201cIt\u2019s very popular on the East Coast but due to Covid, it slowed things down as far as trying to import everything.\u201d He noted that for many years the war in Yemen, followed by the lockdown, made it difficult to export anything out of the country. \u201cThere\u2019s a huge Yemeni population here,\u201d he added. \u201cIf you walk into corner stores, gas stations\u2014Yemeni people are in those industries.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the pandemic ended, there were fewer obstacles to get in the way of launching a coffee business. \u201cNow it\u2019s not as hard, even though it\u2019s still pricey. You can be talking about $40 a pound, and that\u2019s low to medium,\u201d Hamza said. But the price of beans can go up to $100 a pound \u201cdepending on what coffee you\u2019re serving and the market you\u2019re serving to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamza went on to say that, \u201cYemeni coffee is well known for its full, earthy flavors and chocolatey aftertaste,\u201d and is distinguishable by its small-sized beans. \u201cThe quality is second to none just because of the way it\u2019s planted and harvested. It\u2019s a long process.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

When I stopped by the cafe, I tried a cup of qishr, an unusual tea made from coffee husks. \u201cThat\u2019s the shell of the coffee bean,\u201d Hamza said. \u201cThere\u2019s not even a half percent of caffeine in them. Typically, families drink it at night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before they opened the cafe, the Ghalibs already had a business in the Dimond next door to the Hive. \u201cIt was sad to see them [the Hive] go because they\u2019d been such great neighbors to me,\u201d Hamza said. He told me that his store used to be a smoke shop and a bodega of sorts, but he added a kitchen. Mohka House makes many of its own baked goods next door, including a couple of Yemeni specialties.<\/p>\n

Sabaya and khaliat al nahl, both sweet, round breads, are served like large slices of pizza. I tried a slice of khaliat al nahl, or honeycomb bread. It resembles a pull-apart loaf with loose concentric circles of dough formed in the round. Inside, there\u2019s a cream cheese sweetened on the outside by bold drizzles of honey. Sabaya forgoes the cream cheese in favor of butter. Both are dotted with sesame seeds. The honeycomb bread melts in one\u2019s mouth when it\u2019s hot from the oven. It\u2019s like eating a piece of cheesecake embedded in a soft and pliable piece of cake-like bread.<\/p>\n

Before going to sleep, Hamza said people will drink a couple of sips of qishr with either one of the breads. \u201cThose sheets of dough are smeared with homemade Yemeni butter, eggs, and sprinkled with black caraway and sesame seeds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For customers who\u2019ve never tried Yemeni coffees, Hamza said, \u201cMost of them have spices, either cardamom or clove or cinnamon, depending on what kind of coffee you\u2019re getting.\u201d The spices are mixed into the ground beans. After the delicate art of roasting is complete, it\u2019s that unique mixture of spices that distinguishes one Yemeni coffee house from another.<\/p>\n

Mohka House, open daily 7:30am to 7:30pm, 2139 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. IG: @mohkahouse<\/a>.<\/p>\n