ethiopian food

Some of it is spicy, but it will tell you on the menu which items are. In general, Ethiopian food is just exceptionally well seasoned and the flavors are amazing and beautifully balanced, but not overtly spicy.

Yes, you will eat with your hands. You will be served pieces of a large, flat, cold, slightly sour bread called injera (or enjera) that you will tear small pieces of it off and use it to pick up the food. The food will also be served on a full piece of injera on a platter that you can also eat if you run out of the bread they brought you.

No worries about tastiness, everything will be tasty. They will likely have a number of vegetarian options on the menu that my husband and I typically get at least one of, usually the Miser Wot (red lentils in a slightly spicy sauce) or the Shiro Wot (chickpeas in sauce).

For the mains, know that anything that says wot (or wat) will be in a sauce and tibs (or tebs) will be strips of meat sauceless, but have been cooked in purified butter. Since it's you're first time I'd recommend trying at least on tibs style (chose which meat and flavor combo sounds most appealing to you) as well as wot in a different meat choice from what you chose for the tibs.

And there are lots of other options, like Gored Gored which is a seasoned, seared cubed beef dish that's amazingly delicious and flavorful. Kitfo is a ground beef option and can be found raw some places, but if that isn't your style, you can typically also get it rare or medium rare.

I'd recommend getting at least three options for two people. If you are feeling a bit hungrier, then go for four items. But the hubby and I are usually pretty good with three since the injera is a natural part of it and helps fill you up as well.

Overall, Ethiopian is one of my favorite cuisines and was a common meal for us to head to for dinner on my long run days when I was training for my half marathons. Depending on choices made, workout for the day, (and how much injera I down), I've logged meals from about 600 calories up to 1200.

Lucky you. Have not tried it yet but plan to soon. Make sure to tell us what you thought of the whole experience afterwards, I will be curious

Some of it is spicy, some not. I found it similar to Indian food with lots of curry type mixes (but again, not all spicy). Where I went, you ate with your hands and used flat bread. The best warning I received, the bread is a little like soggy pancakes. I was prepared, so it didn't gross me out. And it's super tasty. Love Ethiopian food.

I didn't think too much of it. But then I am an Indian and have a whole different view of what "spicy" means.I did like their INJERA. bread.

I like Ethiopian food a lot even though I have not had it too many times. It is spicy in that it is heavily spiced, but most dishes I've had were not really hot spicy (unless the menu indicates otherwise of course.) The inerja is a little different, soggy slightly-sour pancake is a good way to put it. Sounds terrible but it is good, just give it a go. I would reccomend trying a few different things to share. Some restaurants have combo plates where you get a little bit of several dishes served on a big inerja sheet. Have fun with it!

Mmmm I LOVE Ethiopian food! I used to live in DC, which has lots of Ethiopian restaurants, and everywhere I went, I found that I always liked the vegetarian dishes better than those with meat, some of which were also difficult to eat without making a complete mess of yourself (like chicken drumsticks). Enjoy!!

My daughter is Ethiopian, so we eat Ethiopian food often and love it!

My suggestion would be to order a combo platter (either vegetarian or meat or 1 of each if there are enough of you to eat that much). That way you can sample lots of different dishes and find your favorite.

The primary spice mixture in Ethiopian food is berbere, which has quite a lot of ground red chili in it. Almost any "wat" (stew) will use berbere and my rule of thumb is "the redder it is, the spicier it is". Doro wat (chicken stew) is considered the national dish of Ethiopia and is delicious.

My daughter doesn't like spicy food yet so her favorites are kik alicha (yellow lentils), gomen (greens), and tibs (meat cooked without the berbere).

Medeset ye erat! (Enjoy your dinner!)

I used to go to Zed's Ethiopian Cuisine in Georgetown fairly often. Fantastic food - was never disappointed. Highly recommended for anyone in the DC area.