Ethiopian Food

Okay, so Ryan and I are really lovers of ethnic cuisine. We adore Indian, Moroccan, Vietnamese, German, Italian, Mexican, Chinese and Japanese (sushi!). We had a near death experience with some Korean, but survived. We actually will eat just about anything. So we decided to drag the kids out pretty late one night for some Ethiopian food in downtown Denver. We ate at a really nice little restaurant called Arada. The atmosphere was great and I was so excited to be surrounded with some Ethiopian people and culture. It was a little hairy, scary at first when we discovered just how intimate the restaurant really was. Not really for children, although many people had said on the Internet that it was. There were couples out on dates, obviously hoping to enjoy a quite night out with some ethnic food. So when Rowan decided to throw a huge fit about having to sit in the high chair, we got a bit concerned and a little red faced. However, after a good talking to in the bathroom he finally settled down, sort of. Fortunately, I had packed some pretzels and we ordered some sprite so he was relatively happy for a while. The big kids were told that they should try all the foods and if they didn't like it, they didn't have to eat it. And they were game! Even maybe a little excited.

So we ordered, not having a clue what to get. I'm sorry that I have to report that Ethiopian food was not what we expected. Injera, a staple of most Ethiopians is a bread that is used almost like silverware to scoop up meat and vegetables that have been cooked into stews or sauces. Injera is sort of like the inside of a pancake. It is spongy and cold! It is has a strong soda taste and doesn't do much to mask the spiciness of the sauces. Most of the dishes were heavily spiced, but had no other identifiable flavor. Unlike Indian food, they are not balanced with sweetness or saltiness. They are just spicy. We also sampled some Honey wine, which is just fermented honey with some seltzer added for fizz. The taste of the wine was not unpleasant, but the odor was very earthy. Okay it smelled like dirt or dirty socks.

Oh well, maybe we just didn't order the right dishes. Thankfully a little later in the night another family with children came in, so we didn't feel completely out of place. Time will tell if we will ever enjoy Ethiopian cuisine. All the same it was a fun and interesting experience.