Location: 468 West 47th St.
Time: 12:30pm
People: Laura and myself
Feelings: As far as I can remember, I have never tried Ethiopian cuisine. This was also LauraM's first experience, so we were quite excited about trying something new. I often feel queasy about eating food with my hands, and I usually eat burritos and sandwiches with a fork and a knife. Yes, I would eat candy bars with utensils just like George Costanza did. To prepare for the "hand to mouth" meal and ease my daft mind, I triple-purelled and ordered cranberry juice to battle any possible bacteria.
The lunch specials here are reasonable at the price range of $8-$9.50, the half price of the dinner. We shared an appetizer, Lentil Sambosa ($3, lentil, hot green pepper onions, and garlic), which was mildly spicy and tasty. The triangular shaped bread was crispy but not greasy, and it supported all the flavorsome lentils inside. It reminded me a lot of empanadas and spanakopita.
For entree, I tried Shro Wat ($8, ground chickpeas with berbere sauce), which came on a large injera. The stew was incredibly succulent and addictive. I really wanted to ask for a spoon and eat it with rice instead since I found the injera to be porous, spongy, and quite mushy. I know that is the way it's supposed to be, and it might take me a few more tries to get used to the idea of this spongy bread action. I probably did not know the proper way to eat this either; the injera kept breaking, and it was difficult for me to get all the stew in my mouth. I probably looked like those people who would struggle with chopsticks and ask for a fork instead.
LauraM enjoyed the flavor of her Doro Wat ($9, chicken legs with berbere), and we both found the portion of our lunch to be more than large. We could barely finish our dishes, and there were even more piles of extra injera sitting by us. We could have even shared one dish, and we would have been more than content. This is really a good lunch deal especially if you are starving and an experienced hand to mouth eater.
There are not that many Ethiopian restaurants in the city, but I hope to try other places and become an injara expert soon.
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7 comments:
Do you eat naan with fork and knife too? :)
You're right that injera could be very filling and it is an acquired taste because of its sourness. I feel like eating a sponge, hehe, but I liked it.
You should try Queen of Sheba next. I used to go to Ghenet, but the one in Soho closed awhile ago.
You're so cute with your description on your apprehension. :)
Yeah, Queen of Sheba is so close! I'll try next time... with purell, of course!
I was also going to mention queen of sheba. it is very good. let me know when you go, i'll go too! i LOVE Ethiopian cuisine and crave it regularly.
yep! let's go soon!
I went to Queen of Sheba for a friend's b-day years ago, but couldn't deal with the food. I agree with "Thoughtful Plate" that the bread is too sour. But the service there is good and if you already like Ethiopian I'm sure you'll like it.
Hi Yosh, we met at Trish's bday, really enjoy your blog by the way.
I'll have to try this Ethiopian place, the only one I've tried was in Nolita - Ghenet I think - but I believe it closed. I can't believe they won't let you share plates, that was the best part.
Hello Cheyenne!!
Thanks for checking R&F-let me know if you want to try the Ethiopian together some time.
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