The Gastronomical All Stars explore a world of Watt, Tibs and finger foodI always liked cousin Michael, but now I like him even more. That's because he picked Blue Nile Cafe for our January dinner club outing.
I've heard buzz about the restaurant for months, and am glad that now I can be the one raving about it. I ate the best food I've eaten in months, and I just didn't expect Ethiopian food to be so delectable.
Since I couldn't try the Kenyan beer, I ordered ginger juice, which is pineapple juice, water and lots of ginger. It was delicious and probably has so much Vitamin C and other healthy properties that I won't catch any colds this winter. Will report back on this theory.
For the entree I had the Misir Watt (red lentils) and my sides were Gomen (collard greens) and Shimbera Assa (chickpea stew with onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, mustard and nutmeg). As Michael mentions below, we were given no silverware: everything was to be eaten with Injera bread (which Becky was sure was not edible when our food was brought out!) using your fingers.
The truly amazing thing about Blue Nile's food is how complex it is--all those spices combine to make each dish so unique and flavorful. I think I described the food as "bold" although that sounds a little pretentious, now doesn't it? And for all that flavor, nothing I tasted, at least to my taste, was over the top. Just simple food cooked really well with truly delicious seasonings. What more could you want?
My rating was 4.5/5, putting it right up there with Grunauer as a top dinner club pick. I encourage you, even if you find yourself reading this post and doubting how tasty a meal of lentil stew can be, to give Blue Nile a try. You will not regret it.
No comments:
Post a Comment