Good Ethiopian in Calgary?

[mcglutton]

Hi there does anyone know of good Ethiopian in Calgary? Somewhere that makes a good goat dish preferably

[ilovealbertabeets]

Er, I haven't been to Marathon since we arrived just before it opened one night, and realized that an exterminator from Orkin was also waiting to get in. EEEEEEEWWW. That was two years ago. Too bad because Ethiopian is amazing, esp. for vegetarians.

[neverland]

After taking a year off from eating at Marathon because of poor quality, I tried it again tonight. For $60, my husband and I got arguably the most disgusting meal I've ever had. We ordered take-out. The food was cold, unseasoned, greasy, and sweet. Several of the dishes were unrecognizable to me (I lived in Ethiopia for several years and have eaten it in restaurants for 10 years.) The cold injera that had obviously spent its fair amount of time in the refrigerator was completely bland, and void of any hint of a sour taste that injera should have. The cabbage dish had been seasoned with sugar or something sweet and was inedible. The rest of the sauces were unseasoned and watery. To me, it tasted like food that had been thawed from the freezer or had been in the fridge for too long of a time; Ethiopian food should be rich with spice and flavor. I can pretty much eat anything, but this was inedible. I was upset enough about it that I called the restaurant to complain and and then subsequently returned the entire meal to them. To the credit of the restaurant, our money was returned in full. I will happily overlook any cleanliness suspicions I have at the Blue Nile or the long drive to Fassils after this experience.

[marcopolo]

I've been to both Fassil and Marathon, and both are quite good. Don't be in a rush at either though, because service is very, very relaxed. Personally, I prefer Marathon in Kensington.

Perhaps I have a different idea of what constitutes good value, but I disagree with Jetgirly that Marathon's portions are tiny and that they are significantly overpriced. A vegetarian platter goes for ~$15-18 IIRC, depending on the amount of dishes, and is usually more than enough food for me.

I haven't had the goat there in some time though, so I won't comment (But in a completely different vein, the goat curry filled rotis at joycee's caribbean are decent for calgary).

[John Manzo]

Joycee's has goat roti? I had no idea.

Also amazing goat are the goat chops from Mirchi. The sauce is worth the price.

[Jetgirly]

When my friends and I went to Marathon, we were probably served half as much food as we received at Fassil, and a quarter of what we'd get at Blue Nile. I also thought it was really weird that one of the dishes served atop the injera was salad of romaine lettuce and creamy dressing. Picking up crunchy, creamy lettuce with the injera was really strange; I've eaten at a few Ethiopian places in other cities, as well as in Calgary, and never had raw lettuce served atop injera. It was actually rather unpleasant.

I posted about Ibex a while ago- anyone tried it? (I can't remember.) I don't see any goat on the menu but there's lots o' lamb! http://www.ibexrestaurantcalgary.com