Ethiopian

In our quest to try everything ethnic in our neighborhood, Ethiopian had always stood out as something exciting and adventurous.  Knowing nothing about the food, or how it was consumed, I read up a little about it to prepare ourselves for the adventure.

Traditionally, Ethiopian food is served on a large platter and there are no utensils involved.  You eat the food with a soft, spongy bread called Injera, which acts as your utensil (pictured below).  The tradition is similar to Naan in Indian and Bangledeshi culture but Injera tastes nothing like Naan.  It is made out of a native grain called teff (which is extremely nutritious with high concentrations of fiber and protein) and it tastes almost like a sourdough pancake.  Reviews and websites also recommended we try the Tej which is a fermented honey wine.  And of course the coffee which orginiated in Ethipoia.  

So we sought out some good Ethiopian places in the area.  Turns out, the majority of the Ethiopian restaurants are around the intersection of Briarcliff and Clairmont.  The first time we went a couple weeks ago, we decided to do the whole experience.  We went to Queen of Sheba on Briarcliff just north of North Druid Hills.  We started with the Tej.  At first sip, it was enjoyable.  A sweet wine with a little more alcoholic aftertaste than regular wine and a syrupy texture.  We should have stopped there, though.  It was an interesting flavor, but not something I wanted a whole lot of and we were all working to finish our glass.  We ordered Sambussas which are lentils packed in a pastry dough and fried.  Then, we ordered the sampler (below).  To be honest, I don't remember all the different dishes that were included.  There was lamb, beef and chicken in a variety of spices and sauces.  The vegetarian dishes consisted of stewed cabbage, chickpeas and a salad among others.  On the menu it said it served 5 people (kind of an odd number for a restaurant, we should have brought one of our single friends to share) and the portions were huge.

Most of their dishes are like stews.  They slow cook meat in a variety of spices and it comes out very tender and flavorful.  Finally, we ended the night with some ethiopian coffee.  It was served in an iron jug and was more like espresso.  It was also served with popcorn to help absorb the acidity of the coffee.

The second time we tried a different place to see if the experience was any different.  We tried Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant.  We skippied the Tej and stuck to beer.  We had the Sambussas again which were even better here.  There was no big combo dinner like at Queen of Sheba so we decided to go with different dishes.  Pictured below is the vegetarian combo that Malory and Stacy shared. 

After the two spots we hit, we've decided that Ethiopian is an adventure we can only handle every so often.  Both Queen of Sheba and Meskerem were good (the latter a little better) but I don't think the food is something we will find ourselves craving (like Indian or Thai).  The food and the experience is a ton of fun, though, and that to me is always important so give it a try.