Ethiopian House – it has been on my “To-Try list” forever. I think the first time I heard about this restaurant was from JK – when we worked together, sitting face to face. The good old days… It’s hard to find a co-worker whom you know you can rely on when needed. Finally, I tried this restaurant on the New Year’s Eve. I’d say it was a great experience.
Took some pictures of the inside. There are 7-8 tables on the first floor and some more on the second floor. For some reasons, I like the setting of the first floor better. Very exotic.
Ethiopian language with the reflection of the Ethiopian House logo.
Menu is the same as the one they put on their website.
What we ordered? Greedy us… wanna try as many as possible – So we ordered the Bayaaynatu [i.e. “Of Each Kind” small servings of “Tibs”, “Dry Tib”, “Kitfo Special” with Gomen (collard greens) and aib (cottage cheese)] as well as the Vegetarian Bayaaynatu [i.e. “Of Each Kind” small servings of all 8 kinds of vegetarian dishs.]
This big plate came – meat on the left and veggie on the right. We was like… errr, are these for us two? We then confirmed with the server and he said yah. The food doesn’t look that much at first but eventually after we’ve eaten bit by bit, we felt so full!! @_@
You see, this is the Injera (Ethiopian bread) that came with the meat & veggie. They are folded like a large napkin (that’s what they said on their website, but I totally forgot about that and the first glance I REALLY thought they were napkins -_-)
But you know what? These spongy breads are really cool – they absorb all the meat and veggie sauce and oh you gotta try it. Before I came to this restaurant I’ve heard about the veggie dishes, and I would agree that their veggie (e.g. spicy split peas, chick peas in garlic, lentils, collard geens, potatoes, etc.) tastes better than the meat from the selection that we have chosen.
Finally, of course we won’t miss the wellknown coffee ceremony. It cost $12 per order and each order can serve up to 6 people. We ordered it and it came w/ the incense for relaxation. Special.
Another thing is, on their website they say many Ethiopian drink it with a pinch of salt or clarified butter. When we had the coffee they gave us popcorn which is = salt + butter. Smart. I liked the coffee.
My visit to the Ethiopian House was great. I’m glad that I could try it with RL and with the movie Kite Runner, the night was really special and foreign to us. Yah, good to do something different once in awhile.
FYI: Ethiopian House
4 Irwin Avenue, Toronto, Ontario
Tel: 416-923-5438
I loved that place too when 4 of us tried it, it was good and very different.
The coffee was most memorable, thanks to the coffee grind at the bottom of the cup/jug. Also that you had to order coffee BEFOREHAND (aka: when you order food) as it takes at least 1 hour (?) to brew it
We had pictures of the coffee cups, with no coffee, but black thingy 🙂
Yes yes! Gotta order beforehand… that’s what we did as well. I was like… “also, we’d like to…” then the waitress already knew what I was gonna say… “Coffee”.
I had a horrible experience bringing some friends and my mom to Ethiopian House a couple of years ago on my birthday. It was busy, so even with reservation, it took a while for them to find us a table. We had to wait almost an hour for the food to come. And the injera was cold (like just out of a fridge cold) when it arrived. Unfortunately, it was the first & last for most of my friends on that day, before they get to experience how wonderful Ethiopian food can be.
I usually go to the Ethiopian restaurants around Bloor & Ossington. I think they have much more consistent quality, and much better value compared to Ethiopian House. It feels more authentic with many local Ethiopians eating there. My usual hang out is Lalibela (http://www.lalibelaethiopianrestaurant.com/). Try out the raw beef dish if you are into steak tartare type food.
Ethiopian food is frequently seasoned with clarified butter, which makes it quite filling to eat. There is a vegetarian Ethiopian restaurant called M&B Yummy (http://www.mbyummy.com/) that serves lighter food, for those occasions when I crave injera but not in the mood for heavy dishes.
Hi Margaret, That’s really good to know! I did hear something like that before… quality/service not very consistent. Thanks for sharing 🙂 Now we know that there are other places for Ethiopian food WAHAHHAA.