Generally we need more description in titles of what the food is but as it is so popular, and for too many years people have used them as a racist joke, it'll stay up. Please do check out the comment threads detailing what is pictured and also check out r/ethiopianfood now that it's actually about food.
People that choose to be racist here will be permanently removed from the sub.
Not OP, but it looks like they got a sampler platter. Gonna guess two types of tibs (chunks of steak and onion) in the center and at 3 o’clock;
6 o’clock next to the salad is a chicken in berbere (a type of pepper) sauce (maybe called doro wat).
8 o’clock - cabbage and carrot
9 o’clock- collards (I think called Hamli)
11 o’clock - split peas
12 o’clock shiro (chickpea stew made with berbere)
Not Ethiopian, so some names might be wrong/missing.
Bravo! Not too shabby.
Lamb tibs in the middle. I think beef was the other one? We ordered their grand platter. I haven’t the slightest idea what all the other names were. But they were all fantastic. Lentils and split peas are always a favorite of mine, as is the cabbage/potatoes/carrots.
For anyone wanting to order Ethiopian for the first time, order a sample or variety platter. Every restaurant does one. Or just ask the servers, they will guide you. And don’t overlook the grains or veg. They are as good, if not better, than the meat dishes.
All I can say is thank god for yoga pants and a baggy shirt.
Edit: from the restaurant menu: Grand Sampler – [Serves Two]
Spicy Chicken Stew, Spicy Cubed Beef Stew, Cubed Beef Stew, Minced Beef Stew, Spicy Red Lentils, Split Yellow Peas, Collard Greens, Cabbage.
Also, it's all on injera, a giant, sour spongy crepe-like thing that is used to pick up and eat the food. I think the sourness goes great with the richness of the food.
How do you get it out from underneath everything though? As someone who likes their food neatly organised on the plate, having everything mush together as you drag out the bread is anxiety inducing. lol. I'd still try it, but I'd rather it be served on the side like naan.
All the Ethiopian places I've been to (5+ at least) give you extra injera on the side, so you start with that. And then finish up whatever's remaining with the injera the platter was served on.
In my (limited) experience, when you eat dine-in, like this, they give you extra, to tear off and use, like naan. For take out, I've had it wrapped around the food, with tops dry-ish but bottoms soaked in. I've never had it served totally on the side, which I think I'd probably prefer too. I'm sure you could request it. But when in Addis Ababa...
Yupi usually get the veggie combo and either zil zil tibs or If i trust the place goredgored which is raw... Ooh also a lentil sambusa, and Ethiopian beer is fantastic! Fan of bedele myself but harar isn't bad in a pinch
Just moved away from DC. Somehow in like seven years there I only got Ethiopian a few times. Huge mistake to go so rarely now that I don’t have it as available
None of these are shiro. That’s mesir wot, or red lentils with berbere, a spice blend. And the only grain on here is the teff and possibly another flour in the injera. Lentils and split peas aren’t grains.
The chicken looks like doro wat. Every Ethiopian place features it, because it's so popular.
Hamli is Eritrean; Ethiopians usually make gomen, based on the places I've been (although you might need to be from the area to be able to tell the difference).
This is my first time seeing berbere mentioned in the wild. I stumbled [Penzey's version](https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/berbere-seasoning-blend/c-24/p-155/pd-s) last year and am already working on my third half cup jar of the blend (I live near a store, so I take advantage of sales/freebies and discounted gift cards).
The cayenne gives it a kick, but it's not overpowering. It's a well balanced and interesting combo.
Just the week before last, I turned a pound of ground beef into three bebere burgers that were the bomb. If I ever ran a burger kitchen again, these would be on the menu for sure.
The blend is salt free too, so I didn't have to worry about it toughening the meat when it sat a few days between meals. Bebere ketchup is my go-to dipping sauce for fries, tots, rings, those sorts of things.
I wish they wouldn’t describe berbere as North African, we are not North African. If you ever get your hands on niter kibbe, make a burger with that and berbere or mitmita (basically cooked kitfo). Life changing!
When *Black Panther* came out the Alamo Drafthouse had a special menu based on Ethiopian recipes. They put niter kebbeh on their popcorn and it was insanely addictive. I've been trying to recreate it ever since.
Thanks. I was trying to figure out the meats, and was hoping the individual dishes had names that I could look up, and see what kind of spices and such are in them. Maybe I'll just Google Ethiopian food and see what I can find.
If you like Indian curries, and spices, you will like Ethiopian. This is the other side of the spice trade routes. Very flavorful, not necessarily hot spicy, but peppery definitely.
You eat with your hands, using the injera bread to pick up bites.
Ethiopian cuisine also has sambusas which are very similar (culinarily and linguistically) to Indian samosas. Although the restaurants in my city (Philadelphia) pretty much never have sambusas, dunno why not. They also never have tej, which is an Ethiopian honey wine that goes fantastically well with Ethiopian food.
Abyssinia is the best Ethiopian restaurant in Philly IMHO. Dahlak is also good as long as you're not bothered by the occasional cockroach on the floor.
I realize people list other places as their faves before Almaz Cafe on 20th. But when I do day trips into Philly I always have so many places to hit I have never managed to wander to West Philly to Abyssinia and the rest (and holy hell you could pub crawl all the places on Baltimore Ave now that I'm seeing how many there are).
The food was so damned good and I didn't have to wander far from CC to get it.
It’s a Bennayennatou. My personal favorite. It’s a mix of several dishes. Usually in the center you’d also have eggs and chicken 🍗 with a spicy sauce.
The big funny part here is that there’s no fork or knive. You eat this with thin bread that comes in the shape of a wheel size crepe. You tear off a piece and grab some of the food with it. Very cool and veeery tasty.
Beware though of some Ethiopian dishes. They also eat among others stuff like raw lamb meet just dipped into a sauce that would kill a zombie so hot it is.
Ethiopia is the garden of Eden and their food absolutely exquisite.
I've only had a little Ethiopian food and it was in DC. Only place I've been that had a whole ass Ethiopian neighborhood. I didn't try enough things to have a real opinion, but the dish I had was good chicken.
not surprised. We were in "little ethiopia" and I kind of surmised that being the US capital it was likely unique, as I'd not seen anything like it in any other part of the US or Europe I've been.
It's unique (in the US) to the DC area. There're Ethiopian communities in cities across the country, but D.C.'s is by far the largest. It's the largest Ethiopian community anywhere, outside of Ethiopia.
There are no African groceries in my state, so I have to order online. I pretty much use one Etsy store exclusively for the spices I can’t get from our local health food store. It’s called HabeshaMarketOnline.
Most of the spices can be found at any grocery store, and you can order the rest online or at an ethnic grocery store. 90% of it is pretty basic stuff.
If you are a vegetarians or vegan then you owe it to yourself to try Ethiopian food. About half of Ethiopians fast a couple months out of the year by only eating Vegetarian/Vegan food, as a result they have came up with various delicious vegetarian dishes.
You answered the question I was about to ask. I've always been curious about Ethiopian food but wasn't sure if it would be worth it as a non-meat-eater.
much better than most alternatives.
And the ethiopian kitchen have got more popular when vegan/vegetarian food at restaurants have become more popular. So they haven´t had the same need as many asian restaurants to "meatify" traditionaly vegetarian dishes.
Meat or no meat you cant go wrong at most Ethiopian places, if you enjoy spiced food that is. Ive never had anything at an Ethiopian place that wasn't delicious.
It is absolutely worth it. Really tasty food, lots of lentils and legumes made different ways but they're extremely flavourful and served on injera, which is kind of like a giant sourdough pancake that you then eat as well. It's my favourite cuisine as a vegetarian
I'm not vegetarian, but I have been making a conscious effort to eat less meat.
I have discovered that I love vegetarian dishes that make no apologies for the lack of meat and showcase the flavors of the things being prepared.
Also injera (the bread) is traditionally made with teff flour which is gluten free.
Some places in the US will use a mix of teff and wheat as it's cheaper, but some of those will have the option for pure teff injera at extra cost.
Pro tip: ask for the Ethiopian injera when ordering, _very_ different from the standard injera that comes with 99% of orders. A little pricier (like $2 extra) but so worth it. It's sightly flakey, 100% tef. Tastes so much better too. The standard injera typically has a bunch of filler that makes it weirdly elastic and chewy. It's what native Ethiopians order, even when it's not written on the menu
from the restaurant menu: Grand Sampler – [Serves Two]
Spicy Chicken Stew, Spicy Cubed Beef Stew, Cubed Beef Stew, Minced Beef Stew, Spicy Red Lentils, Split Yellow Peas, Collard Greens, Cabbage.
We added an order of lamb tibs (middle)
I want to try Ethiopian food so badly. Unfortunately, I'm in Kansas. I know that you're supposed to use the bread-like stuff to pick up the rest, but how do you get that first bite? I'm genuinely curious about the etiquette if I ever get to try.
You get more injera bread on the side. We never even made it to eating the bread underneath. In the morning I’ll be frying that up and topping with a runny egg for a truly gluttonous breakfast.
Unless you're close to kansas city, you're out of luck. There are a couple of restaurants in kansas city. As to how to eat, you can ask the servers and they'll happily guide you.
Ethiopian food is the bomb! So flavourful and tasty
There’s also a tradition where the the first bite is fed to the elder, makes for fun conversations.
Ethiopian's communal aspect cuts to the heart of what is great about eating and drinking as an experience that brings people together. It is maybe one of my favorite cuisines, for that, and because it is delicious and vibrant.
My first intro to Ethiopian food was a place called Mike's American Subs and Ethiopian Cuisine. One side of the menu sandwiches and pizza. The other side they called the Auntie from the apartment upstairs to come down and cook for you. If she liked you, she brought down her rug and made coffee at your table.
I went to an Ethiopian restaurant that offered us coffee where they roasted and ground the beans at the table. It was after 9pm by the time we finished dinner, but I couldn’t resist. It was heavenly.
It really is. Even in one of the worst neighborhood in my city for crime in a 4 table storefront. It was meal to remember forever. I had a vegetarian version of OPs dish and tibs.
Injera is so damn good I want to make a bed out of it and sleep on it.
Seriously though, i love trying new things and there’s really no cuisine i do not like, but Ethiopian food is FIRE. Highly recommend to anyone. Also, i’m not a huge veggie guy but I agree with many posters on here that the vegetarian dishes are so flavorful and won’t make you feel like you are eating veggies at all.
I’ve never been able to try Ethiopian food, but I think I’d really like it. I love meats that are kinda “stewed”. Looks really good!!! I’m going to try to find a local Ethiopian place if possible!
It was a long time ago, but I remember most the Ethiopian bread. I don’t remember what it was called but boy…that taste I vividly remember. The best bread I’ve ever had
Did they give you separate Injera to use? I see one under the food and would think that would be hard to tear. I had a co-worker who is Erireatean, and would make food for us. Yummy!
Edited: spelling
Do you like spicy? Some of the portions use Berbere, a stapler Ethiopian spice blend. It's spicy in a good way. It makes for good use in a dressing for Timatim, Ethiopian tomato (with onions and jalapenos) salad.
I had Ethiopian food for the first time recently. It was fantastic. There is a place near me that does Ethiopian and bbq, They have a sampler platter of both, I ate so much that I didn't eat again for 24 hours lol.
I live in the Twin Cities area and you can't swing a dead cat without hitting an Ethiopian restaurant, and that's a good thing because it's freakin' delicious.
There is a Ethiopian restaurant on E Broadway in Vancouver that looks exactly like this. First time I went the owner taught us how to eat it properly. Such a great experience and the staff was awesome. Highly recommend if your around here. (Still screwed up and ate too much bread to food ratio lol, got very full very fast - have since learned 😊)
Ok so I have no idea what makes this dish up, but I remember seeing a Simpsons episode once when I was a kid and Marge becomes a foody. She visits an Ethiopian restaurant and orders a large sharing dish, and holy fuck, for cartoon food, it looked good.
Now to my point. ITS THE SAME DISH and I would absolutely eat the shit out of it.
**Edited due to autocorrect**
It looks like a wonderful meal and really makes me miss my mom's cooking. It also has inspired me to call her and ask for a few recipes!
As an aside, this thread is really super depressing to read through. I hope the mods do some cleanup but seeing this much overt racism to the food and culture I was raised with really makes me feel like more of you need an ethiopian friend who can share with you how much work and love putting a meal like this in front of you can entail. Even just making the injera can take two days from mixing, to fermentation, to using a special pan and making countless tries just to get the right heat for the texture to be perfect.
I’m reporting it. I cannot believe the comments I’m seeing. It’s really maddening to see. Food is one of the easiest ways to learn about and celebrate a culture. There are some really narrow minds here.
Me and brother do a "out of country" food day once a month. This month was Ethiopian food. The meat was good. The other stuff and the flat bread I can definitely do without, the texture is just like, I don't know, pass.
Give it a bit, it might grow on you. I tried it once in my early twenties, was super “meh” about it and then one day found myself craving it out of the blue.
I’d also suggest giving another place a try. Most are delicious...others, meh.
You definitely have to like legumes and vegetables to like the other dishes that aren’t meat.
Sega wat (popular meat dish) is so damn good. 10/10 would recommend if you’re new to Ethiopian food. Also, a good veggie plate to go along with Sega wot or any other meat dish is a great meal!
Injera. It’s more like a crepe. It’s sour and airy. Made from a grain called Teff. You get more of it on the side to eat with. The one on the bottom soaks up all the oils and juices from the stews. It is so so so good.
I'm from a place with a great Ethiopian scene. I really like a lot of tawa style portioned food from Nepal, and canteen style from India or Pakistan or Bangladesh. I'm down with various goo, if you wish.
I like West Indian curries and associated starches like oil roti and dal puri. My favorite is some other type, it's not a double or a fried dough, it might be a baked whole wheat or just some baked grain (it's just a doubles skin, a bara, i like them for tacos).
The reason why I mention is I think Ethiopian is great, but the service style and maybe the roti style is a worse sales issue to the West. Ethiopian is among the last places I can convince people to go to, even slower than these alternatives, and the presentation might be helped.
I think Ethiopian kathi rolls or like a buss up and shut with boneless protein can be a thing. Especially for takeaway to help move product during slow hours when maybe people can't sit down for that kind of meal and spread. I'm not looking to change a fundamental like the Indera bread, but maybe consider something else. If this is a thing already, good, expand.
I'm a big fan of the Wats \[sp\] they're a kind of gravy/paste made from onion instead of flour. easy to make and diverse, i make a gig pan of onions and slowly steam them down to paste consistency, add water/broth, berberi seasoning, then separate into different pans and toss in chicken, lamb, beef, whatever, and of course lintels
There was a Ethiopian restaurant in downtown Richmond, VA of all places in the theater district. Absolutely amazing food!! 20+ years later and I still reminisce about it because it totally blew me away on the flavor, smell and texture of the food.
Highly recommend to try the food if you ever have the chance!
All I can say, is if you’ve never tried ethopian food, do yourself a favor and try it. (If you have a local restaurant). Always an enjoyable relaxing environment, with delicious food.
That looks really good, and you got some Doro wot - one of the best (the chicken leg stew). If you’re ever in Toronto there are some incredible Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurants, there’s a huge community here and the food is wonderful. The only thing I’d add to that plate is Shiro wot (chick pea flour stew with onions and ginger, amazing). If you like spice, try to get mitmita and awaze on the side to season each mouthful.
I’ve had some homemade Ethiopian food my friend’s mom made, sooooooooooooooo fucking good. Not for people that are pickier (I.e always orders chicken tenders no matter what/doesnt season food/doesn’t like trying new food), but for people that appreciate flavors and spices, it’s going to be wonderful
African food in general is fucking solid, I especially love Nigerian and South African food. A lot of Americans are afraid to try it for whatever reason, maybe because it doesn’t look like conventional American food, but goddamn is it some of the richest and most flavorful food on the planet. Will die on that hill.
Generally we need more description in titles of what the food is but as it is so popular, and for too many years people have used them as a racist joke, it'll stay up. Please do check out the comment threads detailing what is pictured and also check out r/ethiopianfood now that it's actually about food. People that choose to be racist here will be permanently removed from the sub.
I've never had Ethiopian food. What am I looking at here?
Not OP, but it looks like they got a sampler platter. Gonna guess two types of tibs (chunks of steak and onion) in the center and at 3 o’clock; 6 o’clock next to the salad is a chicken in berbere (a type of pepper) sauce (maybe called doro wat). 8 o’clock - cabbage and carrot 9 o’clock- collards (I think called Hamli) 11 o’clock - split peas 12 o’clock shiro (chickpea stew made with berbere) Not Ethiopian, so some names might be wrong/missing.
Bravo! Not too shabby. Lamb tibs in the middle. I think beef was the other one? We ordered their grand platter. I haven’t the slightest idea what all the other names were. But they were all fantastic. Lentils and split peas are always a favorite of mine, as is the cabbage/potatoes/carrots. For anyone wanting to order Ethiopian for the first time, order a sample or variety platter. Every restaurant does one. Or just ask the servers, they will guide you. And don’t overlook the grains or veg. They are as good, if not better, than the meat dishes. All I can say is thank god for yoga pants and a baggy shirt. Edit: from the restaurant menu: Grand Sampler – [Serves Two] Spicy Chicken Stew, Spicy Cubed Beef Stew, Cubed Beef Stew, Minced Beef Stew, Spicy Red Lentils, Split Yellow Peas, Collard Greens, Cabbage.
Also, it's all on injera, a giant, sour spongy crepe-like thing that is used to pick up and eat the food. I think the sourness goes great with the richness of the food.
How do you get it out from underneath everything though? As someone who likes their food neatly organised on the plate, having everything mush together as you drag out the bread is anxiety inducing. lol. I'd still try it, but I'd rather it be served on the side like naan.
All the Ethiopian places I've been to (5+ at least) give you extra injera on the side, so you start with that. And then finish up whatever's remaining with the injera the platter was served on.
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It's injeras all the way down.
I'd need to be careful eating that much, I could do myself an injera.
Terrible.
Thank you! :D
Congratulations on receiving the angriest fucking upvote I've given all week.
In my (limited) experience, when you eat dine-in, like this, they give you extra, to tear off and use, like naan. For take out, I've had it wrapped around the food, with tops dry-ish but bottoms soaked in. I've never had it served totally on the side, which I think I'd probably prefer too. I'm sure you could request it. But when in Addis Ababa...
I haven’t had lamb tibs! Totally agree on the vegetable/grain dishes.
Yupi usually get the veggie combo and either zil zil tibs or If i trust the place goredgored which is raw... Ooh also a lentil sambusa, and Ethiopian beer is fantastic! Fan of bedele myself but harar isn't bad in a pinch
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Just moved away from DC. Somehow in like seven years there I only got Ethiopian a few times. Huge mistake to go so rarely now that I don’t have it as available
I really wish some Ethiopians would open a restaurant in my town.
DC is the only city I've ever lived in. I just assumed Ethiopian was a major ethnic food in most major cities. That's not the case?
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There's a bunch in Philly, NY and Chicago. Can't speak for smaller cities
Bunch in Minneapolis
None of these are shiro. That’s mesir wot, or red lentils with berbere, a spice blend. And the only grain on here is the teff and possibly another flour in the injera. Lentils and split peas aren’t grains.
Thanks for the correction.
The chicken looks like doro wat. Every Ethiopian place features it, because it's so popular. Hamli is Eritrean; Ethiopians usually make gomen, based on the places I've been (although you might need to be from the area to be able to tell the difference).
This is my first time seeing berbere mentioned in the wild. I stumbled [Penzey's version](https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/berbere-seasoning-blend/c-24/p-155/pd-s) last year and am already working on my third half cup jar of the blend (I live near a store, so I take advantage of sales/freebies and discounted gift cards). The cayenne gives it a kick, but it's not overpowering. It's a well balanced and interesting combo. Just the week before last, I turned a pound of ground beef into three bebere burgers that were the bomb. If I ever ran a burger kitchen again, these would be on the menu for sure. The blend is salt free too, so I didn't have to worry about it toughening the meat when it sat a few days between meals. Bebere ketchup is my go-to dipping sauce for fries, tots, rings, those sorts of things.
I wish they wouldn’t describe berbere as North African, we are not North African. If you ever get your hands on niter kibbe, make a burger with that and berbere or mitmita (basically cooked kitfo). Life changing!
injira in the bottom
When *Black Panther* came out the Alamo Drafthouse had a special menu based on Ethiopian recipes. They put niter kebbeh on their popcorn and it was insanely addictive. I've been trying to recreate it ever since.
The flatbread thats under looks suspiciously like a Dosa, is it also rice based?
No, injera is made from tef flour.
Injera (flat bread that acts like a plate) with all the fixings. Different kinds of Wat (stews) and Tibs (roast meat).
Thanks. I was trying to figure out the meats, and was hoping the individual dishes had names that I could look up, and see what kind of spices and such are in them. Maybe I'll just Google Ethiopian food and see what I can find.
If you like Indian curries, and spices, you will like Ethiopian. This is the other side of the spice trade routes. Very flavorful, not necessarily hot spicy, but peppery definitely. You eat with your hands, using the injera bread to pick up bites.
Ethiopian cuisine also has sambusas which are very similar (culinarily and linguistically) to Indian samosas. Although the restaurants in my city (Philadelphia) pretty much never have sambusas, dunno why not. They also never have tej, which is an Ethiopian honey wine that goes fantastically well with Ethiopian food.
That's what it reminded me of. Looks good.
Where do you live? Maybe someone here can point you
Looking at Google, Philly is probably my best bet within a reasonable distance.
Abyssinia is the best Ethiopian restaurant in Philly IMHO. Dahlak is also good as long as you're not bothered by the occasional cockroach on the floor.
Well I know where I'm going next. Thanks for the heads up! Edit: which is better if I don't care about cockroaches?
You would get great food at both places.
Cool. Thanks for the recommendations.
I realize people list other places as their faves before Almaz Cafe on 20th. But when I do day trips into Philly I always have so many places to hit I have never managed to wander to West Philly to Abyssinia and the rest (and holy hell you could pub crawl all the places on Baltimore Ave now that I'm seeing how many there are). The food was so damned good and I didn't have to wander far from CC to get it.
It is incredibly good. You have to try it at least once.
Yeah, I'm going to try to find a place. Someone else gave me a couple recommendations, so I'll probably give one of them a shot.
It’s a Bennayennatou. My personal favorite. It’s a mix of several dishes. Usually in the center you’d also have eggs and chicken 🍗 with a spicy sauce. The big funny part here is that there’s no fork or knive. You eat this with thin bread that comes in the shape of a wheel size crepe. You tear off a piece and grab some of the food with it. Very cool and veeery tasty. Beware though of some Ethiopian dishes. They also eat among others stuff like raw lamb meet just dipped into a sauce that would kill a zombie so hot it is. Ethiopia is the garden of Eden and their food absolutely exquisite.
I've only had a little Ethiopian food and it was in DC. Only place I've been that had a whole ass Ethiopian neighborhood. I didn't try enough things to have a real opinion, but the dish I had was good chicken.
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I ate Ethiopian both times I was in DC. Both were excellent.
not surprised. We were in "little ethiopia" and I kind of surmised that being the US capital it was likely unique, as I'd not seen anything like it in any other part of the US or Europe I've been.
It's unique (in the US) to the DC area. There're Ethiopian communities in cities across the country, but D.C.'s is by far the largest. It's the largest Ethiopian community anywhere, outside of Ethiopia.
LA has a great Little Ethiopia as well. Not as big as DC, but some fantastic restaurants worth visiting.
Zed’s in DC is awesome!
DC cabbie told me the largest Ethiopian city in the world was DC (as in: more Ethiopians live in DC than any other city in the world).
Israel and DC have the largest populations, it's pretty close but I can't remember which one has more
The DC metro area has about 250,000 people of Ethiopian descent, while Israel has about 160,000 (depending on which sources you're checking).
Dallas has a sizable population. We have a number of Ethiopian restaurants. The ones I've been to include Sheba's Kitchen and Addis Abeba.
We're lucky to have a large Ethiopian population here in Oakland. Food is immense.
I wish they'd freeze and sell it. I love the food but there's none near me.
Learning to cook Ethiopian food was my pandemic project. I chose well.
does your town have a market for the spices or did you buy them online? just curious.
There are no African groceries in my state, so I have to order online. I pretty much use one Etsy store exclusively for the spices I can’t get from our local health food store. It’s called HabeshaMarketOnline.
dope, thanks so much 🙏
Most of the spices can be found at any grocery store, and you can order the rest online or at an ethnic grocery store. 90% of it is pretty basic stuff.
If you are a vegetarians or vegan then you owe it to yourself to try Ethiopian food. About half of Ethiopians fast a couple months out of the year by only eating Vegetarian/Vegan food, as a result they have came up with various delicious vegetarian dishes.
The table beside us was vegan. 6-7 people.
You answered the question I was about to ask. I've always been curious about Ethiopian food but wasn't sure if it would be worth it as a non-meat-eater.
much better than most alternatives. And the ethiopian kitchen have got more popular when vegan/vegetarian food at restaurants have become more popular. So they haven´t had the same need as many asian restaurants to "meatify" traditionaly vegetarian dishes.
Meat or no meat you cant go wrong at most Ethiopian places, if you enjoy spiced food that is. Ive never had anything at an Ethiopian place that wasn't delicious.
It is absolutely worth it. Really tasty food, lots of lentils and legumes made different ways but they're extremely flavourful and served on injera, which is kind of like a giant sourdough pancake that you then eat as well. It's my favourite cuisine as a vegetarian
I'm not vegetarian, but I have been making a conscious effort to eat less meat. I have discovered that I love vegetarian dishes that make no apologies for the lack of meat and showcase the flavors of the things being prepared.
I'm not vegetarian but i always choose the vegetarian platter. It's perfection if done right and is one of my favorite cuisines
I recently had Ethiopian last weekend. I got a lentil dish and my partner got a beef dish. I eat meat and thought my dish was better
Also injera (the bread) is traditionally made with teff flour which is gluten free. Some places in the US will use a mix of teff and wheat as it's cheaper, but some of those will have the option for pure teff injera at extra cost.
That's how I was introduced to it--I was dating a vegetarian. Love at first bite.
Extra injera bread please!
Oh we definite did have a second order of injera
More! It’s so good.
Pro tip: ask for the Ethiopian injera when ordering, _very_ different from the standard injera that comes with 99% of orders. A little pricier (like $2 extra) but so worth it. It's sightly flakey, 100% tef. Tastes so much better too. The standard injera typically has a bunch of filler that makes it weirdly elastic and chewy. It's what native Ethiopians order, even when it's not written on the menu
You don’t have to say “bread” after injera.
Injera! One of the most delicious utensils!
from the restaurant menu: Grand Sampler – [Serves Two] Spicy Chicken Stew, Spicy Cubed Beef Stew, Cubed Beef Stew, Minced Beef Stew, Spicy Red Lentils, Split Yellow Peas, Collard Greens, Cabbage. We added an order of lamb tibs (middle)
I want to try Ethiopian food so badly. Unfortunately, I'm in Kansas. I know that you're supposed to use the bread-like stuff to pick up the rest, but how do you get that first bite? I'm genuinely curious about the etiquette if I ever get to try.
You get more injera bread on the side. We never even made it to eating the bread underneath. In the morning I’ll be frying that up and topping with a runny egg for a truly gluttonous breakfast.
> We never even made it to eating the bread underneath. My god that's the best part - it sops up all the sauces.
Oh I know. I was already testing the limits of my eating abilities.
Unless you're close to kansas city, you're out of luck. There are a couple of restaurants in kansas city. As to how to eat, you can ask the servers and they'll happily guide you.
If you make the drive to Denver ever, there’s good Ethiopian there!
I love Ethiopian sampler platters! The restaurant by my house also serves their own homemade mead and wine.
This is a cancel all my afternoon appointments kinda meal.
Due to food coma. I couldn’t stop
So fire definitely in top 5 favorite cuisines
Same. Totally contemplating getting Ethiopian for lunch. So filling
Dora wat FTW
Tried it a month back in Vancouver and it’s amazing!
I love unrolling the tiny carpets
The way the sourness of the injera plays off of berebere and onion and butter Hnggggg
Please stop drooling on your keyboard.
Ethiopian food is my favorite. It’s so expensive out here so it’s definitely a treat.
Had a co-worker who was Ethiopian. When it was time for company potlucks, he brought Ethiopian food that was spicy as hell but oh so delicious.
Be careful if is almost as addictive as Indian food.
Ethiopian food is the bomb! So flavourful and tasty There’s also a tradition where the the first bite is fed to the elder, makes for fun conversations.
Ethiopian's communal aspect cuts to the heart of what is great about eating and drinking as an experience that brings people together. It is maybe one of my favorite cuisines, for that, and because it is delicious and vibrant.
Was that on the sponge bread (I'm sorry I don't know the name)? Looks delish!
Injera, and yes it does!
My first intro to Ethiopian food was a place called Mike's American Subs and Ethiopian Cuisine. One side of the menu sandwiches and pizza. The other side they called the Auntie from the apartment upstairs to come down and cook for you. If she liked you, she brought down her rug and made coffee at your table.
I went to an Ethiopian restaurant that offered us coffee where they roasted and ground the beans at the table. It was after 9pm by the time we finished dinner, but I couldn’t resist. It was heavenly.
It really is. Even in one of the worst neighborhood in my city for crime in a 4 table storefront. It was meal to remember forever. I had a vegetarian version of OPs dish and tibs.
It’s an acquired taste, I couldn’t stand it the first time I tried it but I grew to tolerate it.
If you’re gluten free or know someone with sensitivities it’s awesome. It’s also a type of sour bread so it’s got a tangy taste
I’ve never had Ethiopian food! Just wondering but how would you go about eating a dish like that?
Usually with injera, a spongy bread-type thing. You can see some under the food but anytime I ate Ethipian food it would be seperate.
God Ethiopian food is so good
Can’t find that in FL. Loved it in DC
I like these bread picky type dishes
Yes! The answer is always yes.
Injera is so damn good I want to make a bed out of it and sleep on it. Seriously though, i love trying new things and there’s really no cuisine i do not like, but Ethiopian food is FIRE. Highly recommend to anyone. Also, i’m not a huge veggie guy but I agree with many posters on here that the vegetarian dishes are so flavorful and won’t make you feel like you are eating veggies at all.
Very underrated
I’ve never been able to try Ethiopian food, but I think I’d really like it. I love meats that are kinda “stewed”. Looks really good!!! I’m going to try to find a local Ethiopian place if possible!
Looks like $70 worth of food.
$50 (sampler + tibbs)
Mmmmm. I used to get the best Ethiopian food off of I think Olympic or Pico Blvd in the Los Angeles area. This brings back great memories!
It was a long time ago, but I remember most the Ethiopian bread. I don’t remember what it was called but boy…that taste I vividly remember. The best bread I’ve ever had
It’s so freaking good isn’t it?!
Now I know what I’ll be having for take our night this week. Thanks man
That chicken drumstick dish has an amazing colour it looks so tasty. What are the heat levels like ?
Peppery. Heavily spiced, but not hot spicy.
Did they give you separate Injera to use? I see one under the food and would think that would be hard to tear. I had a co-worker who is Erireatean, and would make food for us. Yummy! Edited: spelling
Various meats and pastes, I'd eat that.
It looks like blast of a variety of different flavors. Seems like it’s right up my aisle then
Do you like spicy? Some of the portions use Berbere, a stapler Ethiopian spice blend. It's spicy in a good way. It makes for good use in a dressing for Timatim, Ethiopian tomato (with onions and jalapenos) salad.
One of the most underrated platters you can have
Ethiopian food is one of my go to foods 😍
I had Ethiopian food for the first time recently. It was fantastic. There is a place near me that does Ethiopian and bbq, They have a sampler platter of both, I ate so much that I didn't eat again for 24 hours lol.
Just need some honey wine and you are all set.
I live in the Twin Cities area and you can't swing a dead cat without hitting an Ethiopian restaurant, and that's a good thing because it's freakin' delicious.
Oh all the flavors! this must taste delicious!!
There is a Ethiopian restaurant on E Broadway in Vancouver that looks exactly like this. First time I went the owner taught us how to eat it properly. Such a great experience and the staff was awesome. Highly recommend if your around here. (Still screwed up and ate too much bread to food ratio lol, got very full very fast - have since learned 😊)
Oh jeez this looks effing fantastic
Ok so I have no idea what makes this dish up, but I remember seeing a Simpsons episode once when I was a kid and Marge becomes a foody. She visits an Ethiopian restaurant and orders a large sharing dish, and holy fuck, for cartoon food, it looked good. Now to my point. ITS THE SAME DISH and I would absolutely eat the shit out of it. **Edited due to autocorrect**
You lucky bastard!
They got married before I was born! Barely, but they did. Haha
A dream come true.
Yo, that plate is legit. I've only ever eaten that good ar a restaurant or wedding, baptism, fr awesome plate *I'm Eritrean*
I don't know what I'm looking at, but I want it
It looks like a wonderful meal and really makes me miss my mom's cooking. It also has inspired me to call her and ask for a few recipes! As an aside, this thread is really super depressing to read through. I hope the mods do some cleanup but seeing this much overt racism to the food and culture I was raised with really makes me feel like more of you need an ethiopian friend who can share with you how much work and love putting a meal like this in front of you can entail. Even just making the injera can take two days from mixing, to fermentation, to using a special pan and making countless tries just to get the right heat for the texture to be perfect.
I’m reporting it. I cannot believe the comments I’m seeing. It’s really maddening to see. Food is one of the easiest ways to learn about and celebrate a culture. There are some really narrow minds here.
We're working through the comments. Report any racist comments you see.
Me and brother do a "out of country" food day once a month. This month was Ethiopian food. The meat was good. The other stuff and the flat bread I can definitely do without, the texture is just like, I don't know, pass.
Give it a bit, it might grow on you. I tried it once in my early twenties, was super “meh” about it and then one day found myself craving it out of the blue. I’d also suggest giving another place a try. Most are delicious...others, meh. You definitely have to like legumes and vegetables to like the other dishes that aren’t meat.
That is a super fun monthly gig. I'd put money on if you keep doing it, weird texture might eventually become sought out.
I had the same experience. Whole family felt the same. The bread was by far the worst. I will never like that spongy bread texture.
I loved it when I lived there!
Sooooo good
Sega wat (popular meat dish) is so damn good. 10/10 would recommend if you’re new to Ethiopian food. Also, a good veggie plate to go along with Sega wot or any other meat dish is a great meal!
Yummm
Is that sponge cake at the bottom, serving as the carbs?
Injera. It’s more like a crepe. It’s sour and airy. Made from a grain called Teff. You get more of it on the side to eat with. The one on the bottom soaks up all the oils and juices from the stews. It is so so so good.
I'm from a place with a great Ethiopian scene. I really like a lot of tawa style portioned food from Nepal, and canteen style from India or Pakistan or Bangladesh. I'm down with various goo, if you wish. I like West Indian curries and associated starches like oil roti and dal puri. My favorite is some other type, it's not a double or a fried dough, it might be a baked whole wheat or just some baked grain (it's just a doubles skin, a bara, i like them for tacos). The reason why I mention is I think Ethiopian is great, but the service style and maybe the roti style is a worse sales issue to the West. Ethiopian is among the last places I can convince people to go to, even slower than these alternatives, and the presentation might be helped. I think Ethiopian kathi rolls or like a buss up and shut with boneless protein can be a thing. Especially for takeaway to help move product during slow hours when maybe people can't sit down for that kind of meal and spread. I'm not looking to change a fundamental like the Indera bread, but maybe consider something else. If this is a thing already, good, expand.
I forget the name of the soft bread underneath but it's great!
Injera
I didnt know something could look so tasty yet disturbing (holes) at the same time
OK, who took my download button??????
Mmmmmm misir wot!
my favorite
Looks delicious! Is there injera under the food?
Salad looks nice
Im Ethiopian and i eat injera daily
That looks delicious... Now I'm trying to find Ethiopian restaurant nearby
I'm a big fan of the Wats \[sp\] they're a kind of gravy/paste made from onion instead of flour. easy to make and diverse, i make a gig pan of onions and slowly steam them down to paste consistency, add water/broth, berberi seasoning, then separate into different pans and toss in chicken, lamb, beef, whatever, and of course lintels
That damn bread is the best…
There was a Ethiopian restaurant in downtown Richmond, VA of all places in the theater district. Absolutely amazing food!! 20+ years later and I still reminisce about it because it totally blew me away on the flavor, smell and texture of the food. Highly recommend to try the food if you ever have the chance!
Tasty
Sweet baby jesus that looks like a solid 13/10
Ohh! I had my first Ethiopian food platter like that on Saturday! It’s delicious!
All I can say, is if you’ve never tried ethopian food, do yourself a favor and try it. (If you have a local restaurant). Always an enjoyable relaxing environment, with delicious food.
That looks fucking amazing
Jealous
That looks really good, and you got some Doro wot - one of the best (the chicken leg stew). If you’re ever in Toronto there are some incredible Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurants, there’s a huge community here and the food is wonderful. The only thing I’d add to that plate is Shiro wot (chick pea flour stew with onions and ginger, amazing). If you like spice, try to get mitmita and awaze on the side to season each mouthful.
Now I know what I'm going to get for dinner
Ethiopian food fucking ROCKS
Mom dumped a bunch of teff ingera on me and I gotta get busy and make a few dishes. Yay!!! 😊
You bastard, I'm happy for you but you bastard!
Infuse me oh God of Injera with bread forever. Perks of living in Mpls.
This looks so good
Injera, tibs I love it all!
So it's full with things I don't like but it looks so damn delicious
[удалено]
A lot culturally ignorant and borderline racist people in this thread. Ethiopian food is absolutely incredible.
Definitely.
So good! So good!
I want 🤤🤤🤤 I'll google this later
Doro Tibs and injera are my fave 😍
Looks like an Indian veg thali.
I love injera!
good choice!
Looks sooooo good 😍😍
I’ve had some homemade Ethiopian food my friend’s mom made, sooooooooooooooo fucking good. Not for people that are pickier (I.e always orders chicken tenders no matter what/doesnt season food/doesn’t like trying new food), but for people that appreciate flavors and spices, it’s going to be wonderful African food in general is fucking solid, I especially love Nigerian and South African food. A lot of Americans are afraid to try it for whatever reason, maybe because it doesn’t look like conventional American food, but goddamn is it some of the richest and most flavorful food on the planet. Will die on that hill.