Restaurant Review - Etete

Why, oh why, am I surrounded by people who detest Ethiopian food? DC is loaded with great Ethiopian restaurants, but I have the hardest time getting anyone to go with me. The common complaint seems to be about injera, which I guess one of those things you either love or hate.

Whenever I can manage to drag someone along, I go to Etete. I've been meaning to try out other places, especially Queen Makeda and Dukem, but it's hard to pass up a chance for Etete's vegetarian sampler. It's all vegan, so no fancy ordering required, and it's all delicious. It comes with a whole bunch of yummy things, my favorites being the yeataklit wat and the yemisir wat. The yeataklit is like Ethiopian comfort food; it's a vegetable stew with delicious but mild flavors. The yemisir is spicy lentils. The combo plate is tons of food, so I like to devour the yemisir and yeataklit plus all of the salad and gomen (collard greens) in the interest of healthy-ness, and take the rest home.

It's a tiny place and it can get very crowded, so don't try and go here with a big group. But the service is always wonderful, and if you're among the sane people who appreciate the wonderfulness that is Ethiopian food, you won't be disappointed.

I've tried making a couple of Ethiopian dishes on my own, posts on that to follow.