Washington Post Magazine
By Tom Sietsema
''...
One of seemingly scores of Ethiopian restaurants in Washington, Addis Ababa is better than the sum of its parts. The small dining room isn't much to look at-its pink tablecloths and red carpet have seen plenty of traffic-and while the servers are nice enough, there might be only one to handle the lunch crowd. Of the a la carte choices, I'm partial to the kitfo, Ethiopia's nod to steak tartare, seasoned with herbed butter and blazing with red pepper, or the tamer doro wat, chicken simmered in a brick-red sauce of onions, chilies and clarified butter and served with a whole cooked egg. For the most variety, pick one of the combination plates, a sampling of four dishes, for $12.50 or less. These include rustic stews of chicken, lamb and beef, plus a vegetable (the best choices are the tangy collard greens and vibrant chopped tomato-and-onion salad). Lentil dishes tend to be blah, beef dishes tough. In typical Ethiopian fashion, everything gets served on injera, the pleasantly sour and spongy pancake that also functions as your eating utensil: Just tear a piece off, wrap it around a morsel of food and bring it to your mouth. Uncertain? Newbies have been known to get hand-fed instruction from the more attentive waitresses.
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WASHINGTONIAN
- By
Cynthia Hacinli
'' Addis Ababa (inexpensive). Goatskin rugs and handcrafted tables and chairs make for a stylish setting, and the food adds to the exotic feel. This is communal dining of the grazing kind, where you use bits of the spongy flat pancake known as injera to scoop up stews of meats and vegetables.
A good way to sample many tastes is with one of the combination platters served on a large round tray. On it you'll find such morsels as doro wat, chicken with hot peppers, ginger, and garlic; yebeg tibs, lamb with jalapeño and seasoned butter; kifto, minced meat served raw, medium, or well done with hot red pepper; tikil gomen, cabbage with onions and peppers; and yatakilt wat, green beans, carrots, and potatoes with turmeric. All are also available à la carte. The spicy fare goes well with sweet Ethiopian honey wine or the Ethiopian beer Harrar. If you're with friends, finish with the Ethiopian coffee ceremony..." >>more
The Hoya
Spice Up Dinner at Addis Ababa -
By Luis Ponce
''... The first time I tried Ethiopian food, my companion and I paid the check feeling like our stomachs were still hungry for some "real food." As we walked home, we shared the sentiment that we would never be big fans of Ethiopian food - but that opinion was short lived.
A month later we both returned to Addis Ababa. I went back with an article assignment this time (and planned to write a bad review). The same friend also came along (just to get off campus). After all, it's always fun to spend a Monday night in Adams Morgan, especially when the place you're visiting doesn't have utensils.
The dining room is a small space, with simple tables and photos of landscapes. But these things are truly in the background because when you enter Addis Ababa, the mixture of the aroma of foreign spices and Ethiopian music surround you, making you feel really far away from 37th and O Streets and even far beyond 18th Street.
We decided to order the Chef's Special, an array of three different meats and three other vegetable-based side dishes with the option for a bottle of red or honey Ethiopian wine. We chose the Yemar Tej honey wine. Yemar Tej is as sweet as any dessert wine, but we found it as the perfect drink for the medley of spices our dishes had. Another good bet is the house beer, Harar, a light, amazingly smooth beer with an exotic flavor...." >>more
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Lunch Buffet.