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So I'm going to eat Ethiopian for the first time with some friends.
stavesacre
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm very excited to see these guys after so long, but I have no idea what Ethiopian food is like. I get a bit overwhelmed when I see a new menu that i have no idea about.
I notice they have Lamb, which I like. But I also like veggie dishes (most Indian food I enjoy is vegetarian).
What would you suggest for my first meal eating Ethiopian food.
And secondly, and more importantly, same question but for my wife. She is 16 weeks pregnant. Unfortunately for her, our last trip to eat Indian food annihilated her stomach. But she normally eats Indian food all the time (loves it). I'm guessing the spices did not agree with the baby.
So with that in mind, what would be a dish she might be able to eat without regretting it later.
Here is the menu for the restaurant we are going to if that helps:
http://www.dukemrestaurant.com/WOTand%20FITFIT%20CO.htm
Thanks guys. Much appreciated.
I notice they have Lamb, which I like. But I also like veggie dishes (most Indian food I enjoy is vegetarian).
What would you suggest for my first meal eating Ethiopian food.
And secondly, and more importantly, same question but for my wife. She is 16 weeks pregnant. Unfortunately for her, our last trip to eat Indian food annihilated her stomach. But she normally eats Indian food all the time (loves it). I'm guessing the spices did not agree with the baby.
So with that in mind, what would be a dish she might be able to eat without regretting it later.
Here is the menu for the restaurant we are going to if that helps:
http://www.dukemrestaurant.com/WOTand%20FITFIT%20CO.htm
Thanks guys. Much appreciated.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
stavesacre on
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It can get kinda messy, but it's definitely an experience.
As far as the food goes - it's about as spiced up as Indian food, maybe a little less. Haven't eaten it enough to give specific recommendations for the wife, unfortunately.
The spices aren't like Indian vindaloo or curry or anything. It's much more subtle, in my experience.
Stand out veggies at my last visit was a lentil dish that resembled toor dal, but cooked down so the moisture was absorbed and it was the consistency of mashed potatoes. A "salad" that seemed to be composed of mung dal beans, onion, spices and tomato. Spicy collard greens and a spicy eggplant dish (I normally dislike those vegetables). Injera is a flatbread that presents like a thick crepe and you use it to eat like a chapati/roti in Indian cuisine.
We brought our 6 month old along, and although the waiter told us the cabbage dish and the salad dish were mild enough for the baby, he totally ate up the lentils and they did not negatively affect his digestion.
*Edit: Here I mean heavily flavored with spice, none of the Ethipian food I've eaten has been "hot" as in capsaicin from chillies "hot". If I ate a spoonful of garam masala, that would be spicy. If I ate a nice orange habanero pepper, that would be hot.
Anyway, the idea behind most of the restaurants is to get a couple different things -- think of it like "middle-east tapas." So both you and your wife should get a couple things.
When my wife and I go with friends, we typically all order different things and then try some of everything. Your hands get messy, but not like eating wings or ribs.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/dukem-ethiopian-restaurant-washington
Personally, I go for the sample platters when I go to the Ethiopian cafe around here.
None of the curries will be very spicy if the place I went is any guide, and I'm told it's a very authentic restaurant. So don't shy away from those too much. Also, try the lentils. It'll come out probably as a brightly coloured yellow or red paste. The paste is delicious.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
I second Pheezer's recommendation of the lentil dishes. They look terrible: a reddish or yellowish pile of slop. But they are so good, especially the red lentils.
I also usually get kantisha, which are spicy mushrooms.
Really, though, you can't go wrong. It's all good. And they can generally make it as spicy as you want it, from not spicy at all to flames going down your throat. Just let your wife tell the waiter/waitress that she's pregnant and has a very sensitive stomach and can't handle spices and they'll be careful. They can also give you some yogurt which you can put on whatever you're eating to mute the spice even further.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Wait, that's not right.
Anyway, yes: lentils. I'm wondering whether some people here are eating some weak-sauce Indian food or whether I had weak-sauce Ethiopian food. Everything my ex from Mumbai ever fed me would peel paint if you let it sit on the hood of a car, it was so spicy.
the restaurants i've been to had such items on the menu (usually a vegetarian one, meatatarian one, and mixed)
and i 2nd the "get lots of beer" suggestion...
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
I've eaten at Dukem as well, and it was pretty good. Order a little of everything. I also recommend the honey wine, it's pretty damn good.
The bread they use is usually a thin, cold, pizza shaped deal, you just tear off a piece of the bread, scoop and eat. Some of the stuff is spicy enough to melt the eyeballs out of your head, but a good portion of the stuff there isn't really spicy at all.
It gets crowded there pretty fast, so get there early.