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| - Sure, I'll probably get a bunch of douchebag comments about how I'm not culturally sensitive or how I just "don't get it" when it comes to Ethiopian cuisine. So be it. Such is the life of a Yelper and I embrace it. Besides, it's not like I'm unhappy that the wife and I stopped in to Zoma. It was an interesting experience. It expanded the mind and built new synapses and all that. It's just that, well, it was kinda underwhelming and it gave me stinky fingers. Please allow me to explain.
First things first. They were burning incense in the restaurant. Seriously. It was so overwhelming that it was burning my nose and influencing the flavor of my food. It was like eating in a head shop or a stoner's armpit. I feel like I shouldn't have to tell a restaurant owner not to burn incense, but apparently they didn't get the memo.
We love to try out new ethnic food. As we've gotten older, we find ourselves wanting to expand out eater's education more and more. That's the main reason - along with all of the ravers on here - that we chose to make the drive to our old stomping grounds to see what all the fuss was about at Zome.
The space itself isn't really anything special. It has that slightly tacky, worn feeling of a storefront that used to be a bunch of other things. I think they're doing the best with what they've got to work with, but it needs some TLC. It's clean, the big windows bring in natural light, there's that going for it, but it's also pretty small, the coffee station up front takes up a lot of space, and the tables are undersized for the way they serve the food.
There wasn't another soul in the place when we arrived but by the time we left a huge part had essentially commandeered the entire place and it was getting a bit raucous. Our server was friendly and seemed eager to help, but not all that knowledgable about the menu. He had to go into the back to consult the wizard several times. Speaking of service, here's another ding. Our order was messed up twice. We were brought out a jalapeno instead of a green pepper and they doubled up on a dish for our sampler rather than bringing us the two we had asked for.
Another thing I just don't get is the eating with your fingers thing. Yeah, I know, it's how they do it in the old country. I'm just not all that into using my hands to shovel food into my face. It's not really all that sanitary and, as mentioned earlier, it leaves your hands smelling like middle eastern spices for hours after you're done eating. Just not my thing.
Second, the portion sizes are small given the prices and simple ingredients. You'll spend most of your meal filling up on the spongy, completely flavorless "bread" called injera. Go ahead, tell me how the injera is "just the vehicle" and that the food is where the flavor is, I'll wait. Speaking of food, the portions are only about 1/2-cup each and for nearly $20 for the meat/veggie combo platter, there needs to be more. I left hungry. [insert offensive Ethiopian joke here].
OK, I'll admit. The food was pretty damn tasty. We opted for 2 combo platters so we could try 8 different dishes (ended up being only 7, see above). Filled with spices, complex yet approachable flavors - I love Indian food and this was pretty reminiscent of it. The beef stews were my favorites and my wife really liked split yellow lentils. Just about everything we ate had some level of heat, especially the sambusas, so if spicy food isn't your thing, you probably won't like it here.
The drink selection is nearly non-existent. Save for bottled water or tap water they don't have much else. You can bring in your own wine but with a massive $10 corking fee who the hell'd want to? Two words people. Iced tea.
The bright spot were the sambusas. Crispy fried pockets of lentils and peppers. I should have just ordered 6 of these for my meal. Oh well. Hindsight and all.
Everyone on here seems to be loving their coffee service, but we didn't bother. As I mentioned above, the place was incredibly loud and crowded by the end of our meal and with the missteps and less-than-satisfying meal we weren't itching to stay any longer than necessary. Another for the "one and done" list, I'm afraid.
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