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| - This restaurant is not the place it once was. Sure, the food is still great, but the service, the building and the bread are not as great as they used to be.
I love Ethiopian food, and this place really delivers. I don't know the official names for everything, but my favorites are the chicken in spicy sauce and the spicy ground beef stew. The lentils are fantastic, too. Everything has subtle and complex spices and a tender texture. Spicy here means just enough spice to give it a bit of zing, but not hot . Add to this the fun of eating with your hands and you have an enjoyable meal...
...if and when you get it. It took the waitress about 15 minutes to come over and offer us drinks, then about 20 minutes until someone actually got theirs. A few of us ordered cocktails, but most of us ordered wine and bottled beer. Then, after a while, the servers took our orders. Most of us got the meat and veg combo plate. That is the most enjoyable way to get a taste of everything.
About an hour later some of us got our food. Another 15 minutes later, some more of us got our food, then another 10 minutes later the rest of us were served. this might not be so bad if the chef was making the food on the spot, but Ethiopian food is stewed for a very long time. It has to be prepared hours in advance. Therefore it took over an hour to warm up some stews.
Sadly the bread (injera) was not freshly made. The usually wonderfully spongy, stretchy, crepe like bread was really cold, as if it had been pulled from the refrigerator. Not great for picking up bits of warm stew.
The portions of stew were also rather small. When the place first opened, you would get your plate, taste a little of everything, then the waitress would bring you more of what dishes you liked best. Now, you only get the small tasting.
The place itself, while still decorated with beautiful murals and traditional tables and canopies, is in dire need of some TLC. There were holes in the wall and a really scary bathroom.
So perhaps you should get take out of a single dish. The food is worth braving E61st street.
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