Addis Ethiopian Restaurant

Addis Ethiopian Restaurant
Style: Ethiopian
Website: Addis Restaurant

My Rating: 3/5 Stars

Likes: Vocabulary dictionary on the menu, food was tasty and not too spicy, not stingy with the injera (scooping bread), decent beer selection, cumin vinaigrette

Dislikes: It was just like Ethiopia- I had a fly in my beer! (seriously), meat portion could be more 



The Fleenor-Thomas dinner club strikes again when we have a Groupon for something different! This time I was the only person who had eaten Ethiopian food prior to our excursion. However, it had been nearly ten years since I had eaten it last!

The restaurant had a menu with a glossary attached to it. This was very helpful because the items are written in Amharic. Here are some of the words I learned and thought was helpful:

The Table's Spread

Injera- The spongy bread that is used to scoop the food

Tibs- Usually beef, unless otherwise noted

Wat or Wot- Stew

Berbere- Red chili seasoning used in hot stews

Awaze- Red chili powder mixed with spices like tumeric

Once we were seated, we joined the Thomas family and ordered some water and I ordered an Allagash Wit to go with dinner. I originally wanted a Dogfish Head 60 minute, but they were out. I got over it. 

They gave us the option of placing the orders on a separate plate or putting all of the entrees on a large plate in the middle. We chose to do separate plates. They brought out a plate of injera rolled into logs. This is the bread that we used to scoop up the food. We then noticed that there were napkins on the table... and no silverware.

There were a lot of distractions in the restaurant. They had a projector and a large screen with contemporary  Ethiopian music and dancing. It was cool to see, but they bobbled around SO MUCH. I think I got whiplash just from watching them. There were also little gnats everywhere. They buzzed around the food and in your face as you ate. I also had one in my beer. I  was almost done so I wasn't too upset, but I felt like perhaps that was a little too much culture bending for one evening.

Overall, the food tasted roughly the same because of the spices used. There were differences of course because some had peppers, others had onions. They all had a various level of spices. Each plate was served with lettuce and tomatoes that were covered in a vinaigrette dressing that had a thick cumin taste. At first I thought this was odd, but it was very tasty when it was paired with the meat. Each meat and lettuce pairing was served atop a large circle of injera.

Whitney ordered  a chicken dish:

Brent ordered a lamb dish:

Brad ordered a beef awaze dish. It was not as spicy as it looked, but it had a lot of sauce which soaked through the bottom shell of injera. It was difficult for him to sop up the awaze with the bread because it was so saucy.

I ordered the special Addis beef tibs. It came on a sizzling plate with onions and peppers. It oddly had a lot of jalapenos in it. Brad and I have had a few conversations on how Ethiopians found jalapenos in Africa. We believe this may have been an American addition... and by the way, this was really good. It tasted like fajitas in a way.