Ethiopian

[shanefink]

If you love Ethiopian like I do, the new little place on Magazine is excellent. It's not much on atmosphere, but what Ethiopian restaurant is? I ate there for lunch and had the vegetarian sampler and a sambrussa. The portions were huge, too much for 1 person. All five of the samples were perfectly cooked and seasoned well. The engira was just right. This was better than Cafe Ethiopia in San Fran and on par with the little place on Buford Hwy. in Atlanta. I was really impressed and can't wait to go back.

[bornie]

Tried this rest out last wk for lunch and had the beef tibs and lentils. The tibs were tasteless. I could have sautéed flank steak at home and not added seasoning and it would have taste the same. The small side of lentils and injera saved the day, but for $13+, I'll not be returning.

[N.O.Food]

Which one are you talking about? Abyssinia or Nile?

[bornie]

I'm spk'ing of Abyssinia on magazine. It's next to a shoe repair shop. Was deserted at the lunch hour, as I was the only one there. That would be a sign, I ignored.

[shanefink]

I only get the vegetarian combo and it’s so good, but somewhat inconsistent. It’s a good place for take out every couple of weeks.

[erikschwarz]

The name of the restaurant is Cafe Abyssinia, and the address is 3511 Magazine. It is competitive with the best of Washington DC, which is known for its Ethiopian restaurants. Some of them have fancier rooms - e.g. Etete and Meskerem - but their food is no better than Abyssinia. In fact, it beats Meskerem hands down. As noted elsewhere in this thread, the injera is superb.

[shanefink]

Glad you got to try it. I was really surprised and impressed myself. There was an Ethipian place on Earhart before the storm that was nowhere near as good as Cafe Abyssinia. Love the history lesson as well. Now if I can only get my three kids to like it, I'll be eating there once or twice a week.

[erikschwarz]

Maybe soften them up with some Ethiopian honey wine? Or, if they are younger kids, promise them milkshakes afterwards at Camellia Grill?

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Camellia Grill
626 S Carrollton Ave, New Orleans, LA 70118

[lenwood]

The spinach sambrussa was the best thing I had- well flavored and spicy. The vegetarian sampler was ok and interesting. Had a "roasted beet salad"- that used what had to be canned beets.

[shanefink]

Funny, I just ate the beet salad for the first time tonight and I liked it. I didn't think the beets were canned at all. But I could be wrong. It didn't bother me one way or the other. I love the veggie sampler. I did notice that if you take it to go, the portion sizes are much smaller.

[swampsue]

Went for lunch with a friend last wednesday, and we thought it was great. Agreed on the atmosphere and also the huge portions. Two of us split the veg sampler and an order of sambrussa (if I'm remembering right and those are the samosa like apps. (they very graciously allowed us to try one spinach and one potato as there wer 2 per order, we preferred the potato) Everything was delicious and we had loads leftover to take with us. And so inexpensive. Very excited about this new addition to our dining scene.

[erikschwarz]

Thank you for posting. I hail from Washington DC, which is something of a mecca for Ethiopian food, and I am delighted to know of a good source here.

[feastneworleans]

We ate here yesterday for lunch. It's byob but Martins is across the street. We had the Ethiopian Salad, Kitfo, a red lentil dish and the chicken with the boiled egg. It was all good! Their injera is tasty. And it's cheap. Our bill was $44 for 3 mains and one app. We'll definitely return!

[collardman]

I just came from there and had a good lunch. For lunch think about ordering one dish. If you order two you will have leftovers. We saw a retrurning couple who came in with their own plastic storage containers and a spoon for diviying up the dishes and putting them in the containers. Or, you can be like us and sort of dump things in the standard foam take out tray.

We had Gored Gored, rare beef chunks, and Yemisr Wot, the red lentil dish, and the sides that came with them, collards, tikel Gomen (cabbage and carrots) and Kik Alicha (split peas)

The Gored Gored was spicy, of the slow burn variety, and the red lentils fantastic. They, being the main entree, were the leftovers and I had planned a great lunch tomorrow with a layer of rice covered by the lentils with a few chunks of beef. But my wife want's to sample it when I get home so I don't know if there will be leftovers.

The place has seven 4-tops and 6 were in use while we were there. It is worth returning there to try the chickedn, lamb and salads. I don't know how it compares to other Ethiopian restaurants but I thought it was good food and a nice shift from some somewhat similar Indian dishes.

Eating with your fingers takes a little practice but I've seen it in some Indian restaurants that have a good number of native Indian customers

[uptownlibrarian]

I'm really excited to check it out. I've never had Ethiopian before - is the vegetarian sampler a good intro?

[Hungry4Good]

You'll love Ethiopian. Think the most comforting home-style stews, greens & veggies picked up with wonderful, slightly sweet, thick-crepe-like injera.

[shanefink]

I've actually never had the meat because I was introduced to it during my vegetarian days. I can tell you that the veggie stuff is definitely a good intro. I'd like to try the meat so if anyone has a rec on that, let us know.

[erikschwarz]

You may be interested to know about the sacred roots of Ethiopia's vegetarian cuisine. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which preserves a version of the faith that dates back to Late Antiquity, observes some 250 fast days during which eating meat and animal products is discouraged. There are probably anthropologically functional reasons for this, as for Hindu/Jain vegetarianism, but the cultural explanation is religious. And the result - in addition to the propitiation of the Almighty - is some terrific vegetarian cuisine.

[collardman]

Thanks. i drove by last Sunday morn but wasn't sure when it was to open. I'll try to plan a lunch there is they are open Monday. Is there a web site?

[shanefink]

Doubt they have website. It's a real mom and pop place. I think mom is in the back cooking. I know he told me that they were open 11-10, but not sure if it was 7 days. Doubt it, unless they want to work every day. I would also guess that it would be very slow if they start getting busy. They rolled my sambrussa to order.

[dandy_warhol]

Happy to hear it is open and good. Where on Magazine is it located?

[shanefink]

Directly across from Martin's Wine Cellar, I think it's the 3600 block of Magazine.