For my birthday, Chris took me to an Ethiopian restaurant near the airport. Actually this area has several ET restaurants and this one came recommended from an Ethiopian lady that Chris works with at the airport.
I have to say that it was definitely an authentic experience. ..so authentic that at times I found myself nearly panicking that I had eaten the ice cubes. Let me explain...when we travel to Ethiopia we will not be able to drink the water. It is not healthy to drink and obviously the ice cubes are not safe to crunch so you are highly encouraged NOT to eat the ice or drink the water. As we were eating yesterday, I sometimes would pause mid-crunch and had to re-establish that we were not in ACTUAL Ethiopia yet..we were still in the safe USA with plenty of safe drinking water to be had! I know it sounds a little crazy..but the environment, food, and staff were all 100% Ethiopian and we were totally enthralled. We felt like we were there...(almost!).
The food was exactly as I had been reading, stew-like and very rich in flavor. We enjoyed Doro Wat (chicken stew) and Awaze Tibs (beef tips). Of course, this was all served on one large platter with the bottom layer of Ethiopian Injera bread which is the actual 'utensil'. This style eating continues to exemplify the nature of Ethiopia....family. In this meal, you are all sharing one plate (albeit) huge. It kind of gives you that down home southern feel as everyone sits at a large table eating'family-style'. It did take me and Chris a little to get used to the spongey texture and room temp feel of the injera bread. Other than that, we enjoyed the authentic experience and look forward to trying out some of the other ET eateries.
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