My Observations:
Fasica 3808 S. Edmunds (Columbia City) 723-1971
The current addiction. Friendly staff, huge portions (the vegetarian platter is almost too much food for two). Every time I eat there I try to decide which of the three varieties of lentils is my favorite, and I can never make up my mind. Very good salad. Good greens. My fave thing on the platter is the greenbeans and carrots dish, where they have been cooked to the point of being slightly blackened and wilted. Great flavor, and it's a dish I haven't seen at any of the other Ethiopian places. You can skip their tomato fitfit (pieces of injera are too big so not flavored enough).
Mesob 14th & Jefferson 860-0403
Faster than most, very friendly. Smallest portions observed thus far (the vegetarian platter was not enough food for two). Lentils (both varieties) were pointedly unremarkable. However, the tomato fitfit was the best I've ever had--they dice the injera bread small enough so that it absorbs the dressing, and yet it didn't get mushy. Exceptionally good salad (order the one with "greens" -lettuce- otherwise you get the tomato-only version). Very good flavorful collard/mustard (?) greens. Something I've never seen at any other Ethiopian places: "mushroom wot" (not on the menu, and only available during mushroom season- order in summertime). Phenomenally yummy, with lots of mushrooms and eggplant. I will happily go back to this place just to order that and the fitfit. But not to order the vegetarian platter. UPDATE: Holy cow, the lamb tibs is wonderful. Made with lots of rosemary, the flavor of which takes a couple of seconds to register, and then it just *hits* your tastebuds. Mmm. UPDATE 2002: They've moved from 23rd (see new location above) and the new space is not nearly so welcoming. So far the jury is out in terms of whether or not this will permanently affect their overall performance. The lamb tibs were tough last time I was there, and not as strongly infused with rosemary, either.
Addis Ethiopian Café 1224 E Jefferson 325-7805
Was addicted for awhile, then had more than one mediocre meal there (you know, when you take your friends to this place you've been raving about and then the food makes you all shrug). Also unbelievably slow service, which I do not say as a criticism so much as an observation. I really liked their tomato fitfit (but I've had better since at Mesob). I still want to go there to try an Ethiopian breakfast.
Lalibela 2800 E Cherry 322-8565
Had a good but unremarkable lunch and dinner here. Has the most conventionally pleasing atmosphere of all the Ethiopian spots that I've tried so far. But in my eyes that doesn't count for much.
Kokeb 926 12th Avenue 322-0485
I went here several times back when I didn't know where else to go for Ethiopian food, but it never registered on the yummy-enough-to-be-memorable scale.
Assimba Ethiopian Cuisine 2722 E Cherry (206) 322-1019
Wow, did we ever not enjoy this place. We ordered the vegetarian platter: red lentils, yellow lentils, cabbage/carrot dish, collards, and salad. Not one item made our mouths happy, either in terms of flavor or texture. The Stranger sang Assimba's praises, but we won't be going back.
Enat Deli 11730 Pinehurst Way NE 362-4901
A friend of ours went and did not like it at all. Boring with barely a hint of spice, non-dressed lettuce/tomato/onion used more like a garnish than a dish, and he complained that there were no chicken dishes on the menu. Based on his review, there are many others to try without bothering with this one.
Asmara on 15th NE &
Marwa (Somalian) 15035 Pacific Highway S. Tukwila. 248-3104.
I asked a Kenyan taxi driver where he went out to eat, and these two places were his favorites. Want to try! UPDATE FOR 2002: I've heard a rumor that Asmara is closed. Please confirm or deny if you know anything about it.
Overall List with other peoples' reviews:
Addis Ethiopian Cafe
1224 E Jefferson (206) 325-7805
Afrikando 2904 1st Ave 374-9714
When we think "African food" in Seattle, we inevitably think Ethiopian. I did. Until I met Jacques Sarr - the chief cook and bottle washer at Afrikando. Sarr, with a lilting accent and wickedly wonderful sense of humor, is a man from Senegal who introduced the flavors of West Africa to a city that had no idea it was starved for them. (See my mini review back on my Restaurants page)
Arrat Killo Ethiopian Deli, 302-A 14th Ave. S 206-328-7320
Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday, 1 to 9 p.m.
After working two years as an accountant, chef/owner Wube Worku did what she'd always wanted to do - start her own business, the deli. Chili peppers, garlic, ginger and cardamom are the basics, but onion, cloves and many others may enter in. Worku especially likes to add rosemary. Result: a rich blend of flavors, with just a hint of heat. Among the menu items: missr-watt (red lentils cooked with berbere and onion sauce) and timatim fit fit (injera marinated in diced tomato, onion and jalapeno). Serving more than food at her restaurant, Worku also dishes out help. For fellow immigrants, she may volunteer as an interpreter or steer someone to a social-service agency. Most of all, she tries to promote harmony among Ethiopians from different tribal groups, to prevent conflicts of the kind seen in her homeland. Worku says she loves her life and the opportunities in America but greatly misses Ethiopia, especially the people and their warm ways. She plans her first visit soon.
Condensed from: Seattle Times review
Assimba Ethiopian Cuisine
2722 E Cherry (206) 322-1019
Asmara (Eritrean) 11546 15th Ave NE 364-4888
(Recommended by Kenyan taxi driver.)
Formerly an Indian restaurant (Delhi Darbar), it still retains the lighted sign in the front and Indian art on the walls inside. The veggie combo tastes like Ethiopian food, but what do I know about the differences between Eritrean and Ethiopian cuisine? Come and taste for yourself and let me know what YOU think!
Condensed from: Ms. Emenke's Seattle Ethiopian Restaurant Reviews
Blue Nile Restaurant
456 12th (206) 320-8501
Cafe Soleil 1400 34th Ave at Union St (Madrona), 325-1126
B-fast & lunch Wed-Fri 11 am-3 pm, Sat-Sun 9 am-2 pm; dinner Wed-Sat 5-9 pm.
Upscale Ethiopian by night, classic brunch by day. Frittatas here are not really frittatas, just omelets laden with pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, portobello mushrooms, fresh parmesan, olives, etc. Ethiopia was once occupied by Italy, and this influence extends to Soleil's pastas and mozzarella sandwiches. At night it's strictly Ethiopian, with a better quality than you'll find at more traditional places nearby: Ethiopian-style shrimp, salmon, and lamb won't be found elsewhere. The vegetarian combination ($21) is about twice the price of other Ethiopian places, but it feeds three, and the flavors are fresh and sophisticated, ultimately making it a very good deal.
Condensed from: The Stranger review
Country Fisher Abyssinia Ethiopian & American Restaurant
112 12th Ave (206) 323-9336
Enat Deli 11730 Pinehurst Way NE 362-4901
*personal favorite* Hey what can I say, except that it is the closest Ethiopian restaurant in relation to where I happen to live. Staff are very nice too. Took my brother here for his very first Ethiopian food experience, he relished in making a mess of himself while pigging out. Guess you had to be there, but glad you weren't at the same time.
Condensed from: Ms. Emenke's Seattle Ethiopian Restaurant Reviews
Fasica
3808 S. Edmunds (Columbia City) 723-1971
Ghion Restaurant
7821 Rainier Ave S (206) 723-5306
Kokeb Ethiopian Restaurant
926 12th Avenue WA (206) 322-0485
Lalibela Ethiopian Restaurant
2800 E Cherry (206) 322-8565
Marwa Restaurant (Somalian: this one was recommended by the Kenyan taxi driver)
15035 Pacific Highway S, Tukwila. All week, 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. 206-248-3104.
A hidden haven for those following the strict Islamic diet: American-style meals flavored by spices reminiscent of home. For breakfast, lunch and dinner, Marwa provides a menu of exclusively halaal dishes specially prepared according to the Koran's specifications. For African Muslims, who take meals here, the food bears the marks of their native Somalia, where culinary proclivities were influenced by European colonists. If you are offered, accept a cup of the traditional spiced tea, headily sweetened with lots of sugar, aromatic with cinnamon and cardamom. Steak Tenderloin: This halaal beef dish comes pounded thin, very well done, adorned with a few green peppers, and paired with a small iceberg-lettuce salad drizzled with vinaigrette. Italian food was still popular in the coastal nation before the war, thus the unexpected appearance of spaghetti as a side dish: cooked al dente with a tomato base, but with an exotically spiced flavor that no Italian would imagine. Chicken Suqaar: Think of a Somali stir-fry/stew, heady with cardamom, cumin and coriander, and available with either chicken and beef. In the dinner version of the dish (which is available all day), small bits of fowl are sauteed with slices of pepper and onion and spooned atop a large plate of rice pilaf. Pickled onions, some stewed potatoes and a green salad round out the meal.
Condensed from: Seattle Times review
Meskel Ethiopian
1223 E Cherry 860-1724
Mesob Restaurant
705 23d (206) 860-0403
Mt. Kenya Safari Café
9415 Rainier Ave S 723-6624
Queen of Sheba (formerly Zula Eritrean & Ethiopian Restaurant)
916 E John (206) 322-0852
Saba Cuisine
112 12th Ave (206) 323-9336
Somali Café
roughly Rainier & Kenyon (a few doors south of Ghion Restaurant)
Tegest Cafe (listed in phone book under African restaurants)
2926 E Cherry (206) 328-9780
Wazobia
170 S. Washington St. 624-9154
Tues-Thurs 11:30am-11pm; Fri 11:30am-2am; Sat 2pm-4am; Sun 3-10pm
1-year-old Wazobia near Pioneer Square, where owner/chef Jerry Emmatrice cooks from the heart of his Nigerian homeland. Eager for a taste of such exotic-sounding fare as fufu and moy-moy, an equally curious pal and I drop by Wazobia for the lunch buffet one Tuesday, heaping our plates high - not once, but twice - with fried fish, chicken, two kinds of rice and numerous warm vegetable sides. This array of homey, comfort foods would fit right in at a neighborhood potluck. Whole tilapia makes compulsive eating when cut horizontally into steaks, well-seasoned and deep-fried. Pick it up with your fingers and watch the small bones. Chicken drumsticks are simmered in a red pepper-spiked tomato sauce, the same sauce that lends oomph to black-eyed peas. We ladled extra sauce over Jollof rice, much like Spanish rice with diced vegetables added. Other sides include fried slices of plantain, collard greens, corn cooked with slivered cabbage, and a mélange of steamed vegetables that include broccoli, green beans and huge coins of yellow carrot. Go for dinner to sample moy-moy, a mash made with black-eyed peas ($3.50), or Egusi soup, made from African Egusi melon seeds, greens, tomato and fish ($12). Fufu turns out to be pounded yam tubers mixed with palm oil and it comes with several of the "soups" that are really more like sauces moistening chicken, fish or goat. The hot and spicy pepper soup ($6.50) may be the Nigerian equivalent of the Bloody Mary. "Reputed to help ease the pains of the morning after the night before" according to the menu.
Condensed from: Seattle Times review
The Western Grocery just south of Pike Place Market appears no different than any other brightly lit convenience store. But inside, someone knows how to make extremely adequate Ethiopian akilte alitcha (cabbage and carrot stew). This, served with berbere flavored red and green lentils, is dished up all day with injera to the tune of $3.99. You can sit down and eat healthy fare while staring at the store's rack of potato chips. Western also sells sandwiches, "mecoroni salad," orange-spice flavored Ethiopian tea, and coffee beans in bulk, including the pungent Sidamo variety ($4/lb.).
Condensed from: Stranger review
R. I. P.
Wanza was the one on Roosevelt that closed.
Harrambee Coffee House was the one downtown on 2nd that closed.
Axum was the one at 4142 Brooklyn in the U-District that closed.
Taste of Addis 4106 Brooklyn Ave NE (CLOSED as of 3/15/01)
Related Links:
1997 Seattle Times article 1998 Seattle Times article