Ethiopian: Queen of Sheba

Quick Tip: Call ahead of time to reserve the private dining room to get the full experience.

Yum For Your Buck:

The go-to order is probably the "Royal Feast for Four", a big plate with various stewed meats and vegetables surrounded by injera, a type of moist and fluffy flatbread made with sour fermented teff flour. The stewed meats and vegetables were strongly flavored and seasoned, ranging from mild to very spicy. The meats are quite tender, but I have to warn you that some of them are rather hot, which I really enjoy.

You eat it with hand. You use a piece of the injera to pick up any stew on the big metal plate (fun!). The injera is refillable for free (free refill is always a win!)

Lastly, you are not missing much by not ordering the sambusa. The lentil sambusa (same as samosa) are a little dry and lack of flavor though the meat ones taste better.

For the Royal Feast for Four and several sambusa, the total cost plus tips are about $30 per person (no drinks). It is a real hearty and flavorful meal with some Ethiopian dining experience. #WorthIt.

* I rate meals as "VeryWorthIt", "WorthIt", and "NotWorthIt".

The story.....

I was late to the dinner because of a prior date :) The restaurant was located at an unassuming Class-C strip center along Colfax Ave. But it was as if you were walking into someone's home. The wall was decorated with a lot Ethiopian art works and the furniture were pretty modest.

Towards the end of the dinner, we became closer to the owner, Zewditu, who was also the chef and server. She showed us the private dining room at the back. It had a two small round tables with short chairs around them, giving the the guests a chance to dine in a traditional way. It could probably fit up to 12 people between two of the tables. I made a note to remind myself to call ahead of time to reserve it next time.

I thought it was very good experiential dining place. The atmosphere (especially if dining in the private room) and food were pretty unique. They way that they served it forced you to eat with your hands, which made it a little more fun. As the Zewditu came to casually check on you and refill your injera, it felt like you were being served by a grandma. Good experiential dining.