Ethiopian food...it's awesome! (wine, restaurant, healthy, tomato)

[tvdxer]

Has anyone here ever tried Ethiopian food?

The Minneapolis - St. Paul metro area, 2 hours away from here, has about ten Ethiopian restaurants. And boy, is that cuisine delicious...and a unique experience to eat. The best way to go is with a friend or two (whose hygiene you trust) and order their largest "combination platter". It'll look something like this:



(Source: DanielGreene at Flickr, Our "Lalibela Exclusive" Combo on Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielgreene/3171866288/ - broken link))

It's eaten with injera, a spongy kind of bread. You all eat from the common (very big) plate.

It's absolutely delicious! Kind of like Indian food...spicy, but with a slightly different spicing. Some of the different kind of "wots" and "aletchas' (stews or curries), and other things you'll encounter

> Doro wat - Hot chicken and egg stew
> Misir wat ("Egyptian stew"?) - Hot yellow lentil stew
> Siga wat - Hot beef strew
> Gomen - Ethiopian-style greens
> Tibs - Sauteed meat or vegetables
> Kik alicha wot - Split peas

I STRONGLY recommend this experience. Usually Ethiopian restaurants are not expensive; the $32 combination platter at Fasika (in St. Paul, MN) was easily enough for 3 people, perhaps 4. It seems most large cities and some smaller cities (even Mankato, MN and Worthington, MN!) have Ethiopian restaurants.

[nomoresnow]

Heck, I'd give it a try. It looks delicious!

[Gil3]

I ate Ethiopian cusine a couple of times while living in the DC area. It's not one of my favorites, but I did find it delicious. Maybe I will do it again with a group of friends soon.

Tvdexer..If you ever visit the DC region, there is an abundance of Ethiopian restaurants here, particularly in the Adams-Morgan/U st area in DC proper and in Arlington, VA.

[juniperbleu]

Ethiopian's everywhere in DC. Even though I like meat, I think the veggie options were my favorite (lentils, peas, and tomato salad). There's some seasoning in Ethiopian that I don't really like (Berbere? It tasted like dirt to me, and was especially strong in the doro wat, but not tibs), but the vegetable sampler and tibs were ok.

[Pikantari]

I have had it once and the plate looked like what you have shown. Some things I liked, and some I did not.

My kids outright hated it!

[LittleDolphin]

Not only yummy, but healthy, and fun to eat using your fingers and the injera bread as a scooper...and don't forget to try the honey wine if it's offered--very good, too.

Love the spices that are used...

[lolagranola]

We are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. I was VERY surprised to learn there is an Ethiopian restaurant in SLC! Before we went, a friend told us what to expect and how to eat it (no utensils).

It was VERY good. Reminiscent of, but not as good as, Indian food. My teenage daughter loved it, and has asked to go back. My younger son ate ONLY the bread (injera). But that is what he does at Indian too!

[eger]

Correct me if I am wrong but isn't an Ethiopian food an Oxy moron?

[Gue]

Everything looks cooked down to a mush~still I would try it.

Don't know of any nearby & not sure I would travel too far for it.

[juniperbleu]

Originally Posted by eger

Correct me if I am wrong but isn't an Ethiopian food an Oxy moron?

Are you the same person who posted about an Ethiopian restaurant being impossible because they're starving over there?

*Edit* - Never mind, I checked and that was someone else, but no it's not an oxymoron