Comments on: Ethiopian food

Question: Ethiopian food

Slimemonster — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:19:06 -0800

My friend and I are going to go check out an Ethiopian cuisine place tomorrow and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for what we should try?

The only ethiopian cuisine I've had was from a friend, so I really don't know what to expect. What are everyone's favorite dishes that I might find at a typical ethiopian place and can you describe them a little?

By: The Jesse Helms

The Jesse Helms — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:22:16 -0800

Get the goddamned jama jama and plantains.

By: luriete

luriete — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:23:04 -0800

Do you like meat? Can you handle almost raw beef? I think kitfo is a delicious, amazing substance. Wrapped in a nice thin sweet injera, it's fantastic.

By: atom128

atom128 — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:24:49 -0800

Chick peas and lamb on the gigantic tortilla like things. Spicy as hell, and tasty.

By: mathowie

mathowie — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:27:53 -0800

In SF at the ethiopian place on Haight, I would always get the vegetarian platter which was covered in 5-6 different vegetable sides, sort of like indian or thai food. The most tasty was a spicy mushroom thing that I don't know the name of, but it was totally amazing.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:28:11 -0800

Here is an article by Chowhound's Jim Leff on eating Ethiopian food in Ethiopia. Or click here, for an article he was interviewed for about an Ethiopian restaurant here in Toronto. You have to pay for the article, I'm afraid.

My best suggestion is to put yourself in the waiter's hands. And if they do the coffee ceremony there, even better!

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:33:41 -0800

Skip lunch! It's delicious and in my experience i can't ever eat as much as i want because i am stuffed to the gills. I favor chicken wat, and I also like a spicy beef or pork dish, possibly gored-gored (?)

Be sure to order two or three veggie sides, they are super delish too. If possible, eat family style off one very large platter, and drink much beer!

oh now I'm hungry.

(Seattle peeps: eat at Queen Sheba on the Hill, it's the yummiest.)

By: spinifex23

spinifex23 — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:33:56 -0800

Chicken Doro Wot is one of the most popular Ethiopian meat dishes. Basically, it's chicken simmered in a very rich mixture of butter, onions, garlic, and hot powder for hours, until the meat almost falls off the bone. The dish is hot and strong flavoured and (imho) heavenly, it's my favourite Ethiopian dish. It's served with a hard boiled egg on a sheet of injera, which is used to eat the chicken with. (You take a piece of the bread, wrap it around a bite of the chicken, and eat).

I also get the Ethiopian tea, which is black tea steeped with cinnamon stick, cloves, and whole cardamom pods, and served with sugar. Now I'm hungry!

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:34:39 -0800

Hey! you ARE a seattle peep!

Where are you eating?

By: gramcracker

gramcracker — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:35:26 -0800

Honey Wine!

By: spinifex23

spinifex23 — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:36:10 -0800

Oh - Seattle peeps: The intersection of 12th and Jefferson in First Hill has about 3 Ethiopian restaurants there, with a couple more merely blocks away. All of them are outstanding, with Blue Nile being my runaway favourite.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:41:19 -0800

Hey look!

Seattle Ethiopian Restaurant Review

"Created by the self-proclaimed "Veggie Combo" Ethiopian restaurant connoisseur queen herself," apparently 'Ms. Emenke,' whhich I believe is an Amharic name.

Here's a P-I review of Mesob, and here's one of Saba from the Weekly.

Can I come?

By: matildaben

matildaben — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:41:35 -0800

Red lentils, red lentils, red lentils.

Sounds like we need a Seattle meetup at Queen of Sheba sometime soon.

By: spinifex23

spinifex23 — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:47:45 -0800

Or Blue Nile...

We could eat at all the Ethiopian places around town! Like a tour!

But yes - the next meetup needs to happen at Queen of Sheba.

By: spinifex23

spinifex23 — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:53:15 -0800

MetaTalk.

I'm a helper.

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:56:04 -0800

Second the suggestion of raw beef.
Maybe it's just me, but I think there's a bonus visceral delight in eating uncooked meat without the aid of utensils.

By: mischief

mischief — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 01:02:44 -0800

Set your budget and then call ahead a couple days to talk to the chef. Sometimes you can get a good deal on a very special meal.

By: brujita

brujita — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 03:13:46 -0800

If you love sourdough bread, get something made fit-fit (also spelled fir-fir or fin-fin). It has torn up pieces of injera mixed in with the meat and sauce. Do not eat the little green pepper unless you have a high tolerance for heat--it's dragon level. Get some of the homemade cottage cheese if they offer it. The honey wine is called tej; see if they have the cranberry flavor. Ethiopian is less messy than Moroccan because the bread is the utensil.

By: bcwinters

bcwinters — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 06:48:59 -0800

I second the recommendation to eat family style--they will give you 7 or 8 small dishes and a big pile of bread and you can just go to town. Just bring a list of everything mentioned here and see how many match up with the menu ;)

I was quite surprised the first time I went for Ethiopian in New York that the food was a lot less "scary" than I thought it would be--I'm no wuss when it comes to trying different things, but sometimes new cuisines can be a bit daunting, you know? But pretty much everything on an Ethiopian menu is "understandable" to a western palate.

By: Juliet Banana

Juliet Banana — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 08:13:10 -0800

Whenever I mention eating Ethiopian food, I get OMG WHAT LIKE STICKS AND DIRT jokes.

By: librarina

librarina — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 08:28:07 -0800

I get "so like one grain of rice on a plate?" jokes.
It's my favorite cuisine, aside from Japanese. You will have tons of fun, Slimemonster!

By: KirTakat

KirTakat — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 08:31:04 -0800

Just throwing out that it's a fantastic cuisine (that I was just recently introduced too), and definately try and get family style, because everything is OMG good.

By: Slimemonster

Slimemonster — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 11:47:11 -0800

Thanks for all the suggestions. For the record, I think it's called Fasica in Columbia City. Anybody want to offer any more suggestions?

By: vers

vers — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 16:58:03 -0800

Minchet Abish (ground beef seasoned with berbera) with yogurt on the side... so simple, and... oh man, I need some.

By: Vidiot

Vidiot — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 21:15:54 -0800

Every Ethiopian restaurant I've been to has some sort of "variety pack" option where you can sample a bunch of stuff. I usually get that and then whatever sides look especially interesting.

By: Slimemonster

Slimemonster — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 22:46:02 -0800

Thank you all.My friend and I got the chicken doro wat and this sampler option. Absolutely delicious. Certainly not the last time we go there. We actually almost finished it too (supposedly for 4 people, but they don't know how college students eat). Honey wine was awesome too. Music - awesome. decor - awesome. Just a great experience and a great restaurant. It was called Awash ( i think it used to be called Fasica) in Columbia City on Edmunds St. Check it out.

By: matildaben

matildaben — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 06:34:09 -0800

So are you going to come to the meetup at Queen Sheba on 10/1?