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| - Marathon ticks many of the boxes for a Calgarian on the lookout for an Ethiopian food experience: plenty of different meat and vegetarian stews available individually or as shareable platters, an abundance of injera (spongy flatbread) that makes utensils optional, a distinctive, spicy coffee ($3/person) that follows dinner, and a sparsity of service that adds - not detracts - to the pleasant laid-back atmosphere of the restaurant. And if that's all you're looking for, Marathon will not disappoint.
If you're like me, however, and expect good, African flavour for your money, I suggest you look elsewhere. The stews - I had their staple beef, chicken, lamb, and chickpea stews - are all fairly uninteresting, many of them rich in the flavour of their tomato base and little else. If it hadn't been for the somewhat smokey lamb, I'd liken the experience to eating pasta with tomato sauce at a cheap Italian chain restaurant. For what you are paying - e.g.: $18/person if you do the dinner combo platter - the serving sizes are quite small and though the injera is plentiful, it is too bland to eat on its own.
It's unfortunate because there are not many options for Ethiopian/Eritrean food in the city. Perhaps the demand just isn't there. But I can't help but wonder if Marathon's lack-luster (and expensive!) execution of the genre may be partly to blame.
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