CHOW NOW: Ethio Café and Carry Out

As the semester began to wind down last December, I found myself frantically scrambling to check off a few more restaurants from my embarrassingly long “must-try” list. And with less than two weeks left before my self-imposed banishment to the land of ethnic monotony (a.k.a. the Midwest), I decided to take a stab at one kind of cuisine I had never tried before—Ethiopian food from Ethio Cafe.

I ordered the “Taste of Ethiopia”—a combination platter that promised to take my taste buds on a gastronomic journey. The food arrived artfully spread on a layer of injera—a spongy Ethiopian flatbread used in lieu of silverware—and was accompanied by a full pitcher of water (apparently some people can’t handle the heat). I couldn’t pronounce the name of anything I ate, but that didn’t matter because my mouth was too full of the delicious meat and vegetable combinations to allow any intelligible words to come out anyway.

First up on the food safari was the Doro Wot—spicy braised chicken simmered in a red pepper, garlic, and ginger mix and absolutely packed with flavor. The meat was incredibly tender and slid right off the bone (good news for my sauce-covered fingers). This dish also came with a hard-boiled egg buried deep within the bowl of extra sauce. Trust me—digging through the fragrant extras was one of the tastiest parts of the meal.

Stop two on the tour was a lightly cooked beef blend called Kitfo. Texture played a big role in this meal, and while this meat was soft on the tongue, it had a pleasing grainy texture when you scooped it up with your hand. Paired with the soft injera, the Kitfo really stood out from the crowd.

Next up was my favorite of the evening—the Mizir Wot. Simple, but fragrant and packed with flavor, these lentils were smooth, satisfying, and went well paired with everything else on the platter.

The third meat dish was the beef tibs—spicy and sautéed with onions and rosemary. These slivers of meat contrasted nicely with the other less solid foods, plus the onions that were mixed in were soft and juicy.

Finally the tour ended with the salad portioned at the bottom of the flatbread. While at first glance it looked like your standard, iceberg lettuce-filled pile of greens, a quick taste revealed an incredible dressing. Spicy, but not overpowering, it had been drizzled with a hot jalapeno vinaigrette that pulled all the vegetables together.

So CHOW NOW at Ethio Café! And don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty.

-Chase Matecun