I like all the restaurants I have posted on my blog thus far but I think some of them are more mainstream, so I decided it was time to travel off the beaten path. I have never eaten Ethiopian food before and as I have mentioned in a previous post, I have always wanted to try out Addis Red Sea. So, one Saturday evening I got a few friends together and took the green line to the Arlington stop and then walked several blocks to Tremont Street where the restaurant was located.
My first impression was that the outside of the restaurant was really cute with its glowing yellow sign, small gated rose garden, and downward steps leading to the entrance of the restaurant. Unfortunately, Saturday is one of their busier nights and we waited outside for half an hour until we were called inside by one of the waiters. This was all good and fine by us, because it was an unusually warm fall evening and none of us had ever really spent much time on that part of Tremont Street before.
Finally we were ushered into the restaurant where we sat down on carved wooden chairs around a brightly colored round weaved basket table. Addis Red Sea had a beautiful interior, so I began taking a few pictures of the paintings on leather skins hanging on the walls near our table, while we waited for our waitress. The prices seemed reasonable so my friend and I decided to order two appetizers and split them. After much consideration we finally decided on Sambusa and Ye-Awaze Dabo.
According to the menu, the particular type of Sambusa we ordered was a "pastry filled with spiced ground beef flavored with cumin, garlic, onions, with a touch of nutmeg." And Ye-Awaze Dabo is a "thick Ethiopian bread with a dip of red pepper sauce, spiced with Ginger root and berbere (hot pepper sauce)." For our main meals my friend choose a lamb dish and I ordered Doro Wot, a "tender chicken marinated in lemon sautéed in seasoned butter and stewed in a red pepper sauce, flavored with onions, garlic and ginger root with a pinch of cardamoms and nutmeg."
We assumed we would receive our appetizers shortly, and relaxed into our chairs as we waited. Forty-five minutes later, after we had exhausted several conversation topics, we began to get very impatient for our food. An hour had passed, and we still did not even have our appetizers and our waitress was nowhere to be seen. Finally, we began to ask other waiters and the bus boys where our food and waitress had gone. It was not until an hour and a half after we had ordered our food that we finally got our appetizers. But still, our main course was MIA.
It became almost comical as we were forced to ask different attendants for water refills, napkins, and our main meal. Eventually our waitress came out with our meals. She laid out three pieces of bread on the round table and then placed the contents of the bowls on top of the bread. My friends and I had never eaten Ethiopian food before, so we did not realize that there are no plates or silverware involved, and when we asked the waitress about the eating customs of Ethiopians, she just smiled at us blankly. I am sympathetic to people that do not understand English, but I thought it was a little bit ridiculous that she was a waiter in a Boston restaurant and did not speak a word of English, especially considering that Ethiopian food is not traditional fare for the average American and people are bound to have questions about the food and the restaurant.
Then we played a game of musical chairs as we switched places once we realized that she had not given us the correct meals. By the time we were finished with our food the restaurant was empty and they were closing the place down. When our waitress returned with dessert menus we promptly turned them down.
Apparently other people have had a good experiences with this restaurant, but after waiting for our food for two hours I don't think I will ever go back. The cuisine had an interesting flavor, but in my opinion was not as good as food I have eaten from other cultures. Still, I am glad that I have at least had the opportunity to try Ethiopian food.
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