We tried an Ethiopian restaurant years ago on Las Vegas Blvd just north of the Stratosphere which we loved. It was our first foray into sponge bread. Today we brought our friend to a new place, the Merkato Ethiopian Cafe to introduce them to the cuisine.
We forgave the lack of décor & dark room & basic seating. We forgave the dirty and food splattered white curtains next to the booth we seated ourselves at. We forgave the 4 flies we killed while we waited for the sampler platter. We forgave the waitress for such poor English speaking skills that we had to explain we didn't want the tartar from the sampler and wanted just more of the other meats and veggies which came with, all with the HOPE the restaurant would live up to its rave reviews.
The sampler included a romaine lettuce and carrot salad straight out the premixed bag combined with Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing. Is this was Ethiopians eat in Ethiopia? Another meat dish, while tasty, was mixed with more sponge bread, as a filler perhaps? The rest was OK tasting but nothing to write home about or come back to. Our hopes for a nice dining experience were unfortunately not met. We simply cannot forgive it enough to go back.