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Category: Restaurants (Page 1 of 52)

Munching Around the Bay: Julia’s

April 20, 2025 / / 0 Comments

The restaurant of the Berkeley City Club was designed by and named after Julia Morgan, but does the food match the architecture?

Another trip around the sun, another anniversary, another quest for a restaurant to visit. Mike wanted French. I wanted to stay in the East Bay. I came upon Julia’s. Again. I’ve considered dining there so many times, that I couldn’t actually recall whether we had been there before. I resorted to looking through emails and old photos to see if we had. We hadn’t. So I made a reservation.

During my freshman year in college, many decades ago by now, I lived in a dorm a mere half a block away from the Berkeley City Club. I was curious about it then, and remained though the decades, but never had an opportunity or a reason to go inside. The building, designed in a medieval style, not unlike that of Heart castle, Julia Morgan‘s most famous building, is beautiful. Being ignorant of architectural terms, I can’t quite describe it but anyone interested can surely find many pictures online. It has an indoor pool that while lacking the magnificence of the ones in San Simeon, still evokes them. I’m considering spending a night at the hotel just to be able to swim in it.

Julia’s is located in the second floor (stairs and elevators available), in a rather small room with a beautiful fireplace and medieval tapestries hanging around it. There are windows on both sides of the room, though we didn’t quite manage to seat by one of them. The clientele seems to be mostly older people – though that includes us now. I remember how, in my earliest reviews back in the 90’s, I used to feel conspicuous for being young.

Dinner started with bread and butter (quite good), and we then shared the Country Style Pork Cognac Pâté ($19), which came with a small undressed salad, fig jam and mustard. The paté was really good. It didn’t really worked very well with the fig jam, the flavors didn’t quite vibe together, but the fig jam was good on its own. We both remarked at how much we enjoyed this appetizer – and I think it was probably the highlight of the evening. I can’t imagine they make the paté in house, and I wish I knew where they got it.

I had the Duck à l’Orange ($37), and this was a big disappointment. It was beautifully presented, mind you, but it failed in all levels. The duck itself consisted of two thick slices of duck breast, served on the rare side. It was on the tough side and had very little flavor of its own. The orange sauce could have been anything, it didn’t particularly taste of oranges, and while it gave the duck very needed moisture and seasoning, it wasn’t what I’d call “yummy”. The fondant potatoes it came with were tasteless, dry, dense and crumbly. There wasn’t enough sauce to eat them with, and by themselves they were a waist of time. I did enjoy the single piece of leek I found, but I’m not a fan of endives, and this one did not change my mind. In all, this dish was a failure.

Mike fared better with his Grilled Veal Chop ($39). It was well cooked and tasty, flavorful and tender. He appreciated it wasn’t incumbered by any sauces – the red wine sauce on the side was very light and didn’t overwhelm the meat. He also liked the veggies it was served with, a mixture of De Ciccio broccoli, trumpet mushrooms, baby carrots and zucchini. He appreciated the variety of textures they brought to the meal, and that their light taste didn’t compete with that of the veal. Finally, he really liked the little potato grain muffin he got, he found it very tasty – as did I.

For dessert, I had the Orange Cake ($13), which came with a tiny amount of poached oranges, crème fraîche and a bit of caramel. I actually enjoyed it. This was another very adult (read, old person’s) dessert. There wasn’t much sweetness to it, which I wouldn’t have been able to deal with, but it did have the orange flavor I missed in the sauce for the duck. The cake itself was very crumbly, it fell apart in each bite, and on the dry side but it worked. The crème fraîche added moisture while further taming the sweetness. I was happy.

Service was quite attentive, and despite my duck, we had a very good time. Our reservation was at 6:30 PM midweek, and I’d recommend this time for both commuting north into Berkeley and for finding a parking spot close to the restaurant.

Julia's
2315 Durant Ave
Berkeley, CA
510.848.7800

Munching Around the Bay: The Gurkha Kitchen

March 29, 2025 / / 0 Comments

This Hayward Himalayan restaurant has very good food

Last night, my friends group got together for our periodic “girls night out” – which now includes “boys” from time to time – and we decided to try The Gurkha Kitchen in Hayward. It had reviews, the prices were reasonable, and it’s relatively close. I’m glad we did, we were all very happy with the food, the service and the experience. I didn’t take photos, however, as I didn’t want to impose my hobby on my friends.

The Gurkha Kitchen serves Himalayan and Indian cuisine and has four locations in the Bay Area. The restaurant in Hayward is relatively small and pretty informal but pleasant enough for a casual dinner. They seem to have an outdoor space but it was a chilly night.

We started by sharing the fish pakora ($12) and buffalo momos ($16) appetizers. They were both served from the kitchen pipping hot. The fish pakora came in two-bite chunks. It had the right amount of breading and the fish was nicely seasoned. It was, however, pretty spicy – it left my mouth numb, though I have quite a low tolerance for heat. I’d order it again. I was quite impressed by the buffalo momos. These were larger and a different shape than the momos I’ve usually had and had a good amount of very tasty filling. The dough was chewy and thin, perhaps made with rice flower?, and it came with a bright and creamy “momo chutney” that we all enjoyed.

I hesitated between ordering the gurkha chicken ($18) and the Kashmiri lamb ($20). I was intrigued by the former as I don’t think I’ve had it before. However, I’m not a fan of bones in my curries and this included bone-in chicken. The Kashmiri lamb, however, was boneless so I ordered that – as did my friend Donovan. The Kashmiri lamb had a tomato based curry and omitted dairy. It was quite tasty, with the right amount of spiciness for me. It wasn’t quite as good as my yougurt-based rogan josh, however. The curries are served with plain rice.

Parker ordered the Thakali Thali Goat ($21) which came with small servings of goat curry, raayo ko saag (mustard greens), kalo dal (split black lentils), vegetable, rice, and achar (a condiment made with pickled veggies). She was very pleased with all the food and couldn’t finish it.

Aamani had the Aloo Bodi Tama ($15), I believe. She also quite enjoyed it.

We didn’t get drinks, but they have complimentary unsweetened chai which two in our party enjoyed.

We also got some butter and garlic nan. The butter nan didn’t seem to have any butter on it – not that I minded – and it was thinner than most nans I’ve had.

Service was very friendly and we enjoyed our time there. They also have a lunch buffet for $15, which includes momos on weekends. I’m sure we’ll try it. 

The Gurkha Kitchen
855 B St
Hayward, CA 
(510)-963-5568

San Leandro Bites: Fieldwork Brewing

March 27, 2025 / / 0 Comments

A second visit to this popular San Leandro brewery

Last week, we met our friend William at Fieldwork Brewing in downtown San Leandro for a long awaited catch up. It’s amazing how time flies.

William suggested Fieldwork as he frequents its Berkeley location and we were game. Mike and I tried it a year or two ago, with our friend Elektra, and while we weren’t impressed by its expensive pizzas, we did appreciate the patio-like atmosphere.

Fieldwork is a small but expanding chain of tap rooms situated in the Bay Area and surrounding counties. They offer a wide variety of beer as well as pizza and other bites. The San Leandro location is at the Washington Plaza, in front of the downtown Safeway. It features a large enclosed patio, with both picnic-style tables and benches and lounge-type chairs around gas fire pits. It’s open air, though they have a retractable roof they can close down when it rains. They also have some indoor table and bar seating.

We were there before dinner time, so we just got some beers and appetizers. William had a tasting of 3 beers, and I went for a 1/2 glass of Hills & Valleys American pilsner ($5), which I enjoyed very much. It was a bright, easy to drink but balanced and flavorful pilsner, without the bitter tones often found in this style of beer.

We shared some Honey Calabrian Wings ($16), which were very spicy and quite messy. They probably weren’t sweet enough, but they weren’t bad. the portion was quite generous (or we weren’t that hungry).

We also got the Brussel sprouts ($13) and they were a hit at the table. They were nicely caramelized.

We had the pizzas once before and we also felt they were OK but overpriced – their small pizzas are $19 to $25. They are now offering all their pizzas in “Detroit style,” with a thicker crust, so I might enjoy them more. I’m usually not a fan of “Neapolitan style” thin crust pizza, their other choice.

What annoys me most about Fieldwork is their ordering system. You have to scan a code and order and pay online. You can also go into the restaurant and order at the bar, but of course that means waiting in line (if there is one). Waiters bring your food and drinks, but if you need anything you need to go inside the restaurant to get it.

Fieldwork Brewing
100 West Juana Avenue,
San Leandro, CA
(510) 564-4298

San Leandro Bites: Mai Thai

March 11, 2025 / / 0 Comments

For fifteen years, this has been our default Thai restaurant

For the last fifteen years, since it opened, Mai Thai has been our “default” Thai restaurant in San Leandro. The food is good standard Thai-restaurant-in-America faire, the prices are reasonable and it’s close enough to our house. Since the pandemic, we usually get take out from there but last Sunday night we decided to go there for a quick date before watching White Lotus on TV – this season the series is based in Thailand.

Mai Thai has been remodeled since our last visit, and I can’t say I like the new format. It now has a long bar, which I guess allows for alcohol sales and more casual dining, but the restaurant altogether has a more casual look.

The decore now looks pretty generic and not really Thai, though I did like having flowers at the table.

I also liked the table setting, even if came with paper napkins.

Still, I’m not sure I feel a compelling reason to go to eat there versus getting take out.

Though we have explored much of Mai Thai’s menu, we tend to go back to our usuals, and we did so this time as well. To start with, we shared the roti with yellow curry ($13). I discovered this dish at Mai Thai and the restaurant continues to have my favorite version of it. Roti is a multi-layered flat bread, rich with oil, that is absolutely delicious – dipped in a good yellow curry, it’s just heavenly. I don’t really understand why this dish is so expensive, but it’s invariably so no matter where you order it. On the plus side, it’s so rich that you can’t eat that much of it.

I had the massaman curry with beef ($19) and, unfortunately, this recipe has changed a little. It was spicier than usual and I could taste the bitter flavor of the pepper. The curry also didn’t feel as deep and delicious as usual. It did continue to suffer from having undercooked potatoes, but this is a problem with every massaman curry I’ve had everywhere.

Mai Thai uses sliced beef which I think they add at to the curry after cooking it, rather than cubed beef cooked in the curry itself. This makes sense practically, as they can then offer your choice of multiple proteins with each curry, but it means that the meats are tougher and less flavorful.

Mike had the panang chicken ($19), which we both felt was better. It tasted just as it usually does, though it was less spicy than usual. Still, he enjoyed it. Like with the massaman curry, the sliced chicken seems to be cooked separately and is therefore not as succulent and tasty as it otherwise could be.

Rice was an additional $3.50 for a single but generous portion and a soda was $3. Service was friendly and competent.

Read my original reviews of Mai Thai.

Mai Thai
13700 Doolittle Dr #110
San Leandro, CA 
510-351-9898

San Leandro Bites: Roti Indian Cuisine

March 2, 2025 / / 0 Comments

A new Indian restaurant takes over Kismat’s space

San Leandro has a new Indian restaurant. Sort of. In reality, Kismat, an Indian restaurant that had opened near Bayfair Mall during the pandemic, has rebranded as Roti Indian Cuisine. I’m not sure whether it’s also under new ownership or management, but I can tell that it has a new chef. I personally liked Kismat’s food the couple of times I got take out from there – but my family had found the dishes too sweet. The new chef seems to be sinning in the opposite direction.

We got take out from Roti Indian Cuisine last week and overall we liked the food – it’s pretty solid. However, I didn’t enjoy it as much as that from other nearby Indian restaurants. On the other hand, it was cheaper.

I got the lamb korma ($17), my usual. It was pretty good, the lamb was tender and not too fatty and he curry was developed, but it lacked the slight sweetness I want to taste in this dish. I probably wouldn’t get it again, but wouldn’t mind eating it.

Mike got the butter chicken ($16) and this was probably the biggest disappointment. Once again, the sauce did taste developed, but it just wasn’t as compelling as butter chicken usually is. The chicken itself was fine, but the sauce was ultimately flat. We’d definitely skip this one.

Much better was the paneer tikka masala ($15). This sauce was everything the butter chicken sauce was not. Bright, intense and just yummy.

The curries come with rice, which was also disappointing. It was a low quality white rice which tasted boiled.

Fortunately, we also got nan which was much better. We shared plain nan ($2.50), onion nan ($3), garlic nan ($3) and kabuli nan ($4) and they were all pretty standard – nothing to write home about, but nothing to complain about either.

Though we were doing take out, service was an issue. The restaurant was completely empty when my husband went to pick up the food. There was a server behind the counter looking at her phone and she did not lift up her eyes once to acknowledge my husband – until, of course, he spoke to her.

In all, I don’t think we’ll be rushing back here. 

Roti Indian Cuisine
15099 Hesperian Blvd Suite A
San Leandro, CA 
(510) 460-9280

Dining in DC: The Original Pancake House

February 21, 2025 / / 0 Comments 
Dining in DC: Notes from a Week in the Capital

The pancake choices are endless at this Falls Church pancake house.

For our last meal in the DC area, our friend Lavinia took us to The Original Pancake House (hereafter TOPH) for breakfast. This had been a favorite breakfast spot for her family for years, though they hadn’t been back for a while. Apparently, the same was true of many people. Once a very busy spot, it was half empty that Sunday morning. In an area home to federal workers and a time when these are being decimated by the Trump administration, perhaps that’s to be expected.

TOPH is a casual, old fashioned sort of place. It’s part of a small chain with locations in Bethesda and Rockville, MD, as well. Its main attraction are the endless variations of pancakes and other breakfast goodies it offers. Choosing among so many great sounding options was very hard.

I decided on the Croissant Cinnamon Nut French Toast ($14), which consisted of two croissants, sliced in half, dipped in egg batter and grilled. I came with sliced almonds and cinnamon sugar. There was corn syrup at the table, which wasn’t bad, but obviously not nearly as good as maple syrup would have been. The French toast itself was good, but nothing special. I think I actually prefer the texture of regular bread to that of the croissant. I’m not a big breakfast eater, so one croissant was plenty for me – fortunately Mike finished the rest.

Mike ordered the Two by Two by Two ($12.5) from the Senior Menu. It came with 2 eggs, 2 slices of bacon and 2 buttermilk pancakes. He found it unexceptional but satisfying.

My daughter had the carrot cake pancakes ($13.5), which came with six regular size pancakes (I was expecting them to be smaller!) with cream cheese frosting. She felt they tasted like carrot cake and were very good.

We also had a side of hash browns ($5), which were pretty average and of the raspberry filled beignets ($4.50 for 2). My daughter had never had beignets before, and she was curious due to multiple viewings of the Princess and the Frog when she was little. She was disappointed. She found the beignets to be heavy, and compared them to a denser, unglazed jelly doughnut. I’d learned during our trip to New Orleans the previous year that I wasn’t fond of beignets either, and these didn’t change my mind.

I don’t remember what Lavinia and her son had, but I think they were satisfied. i had a cup of pretty average coffee ($4.5).

In all, I’d go back because I’d be curious to explore more of the many, many options in the menu – and the prices seemed pretty reasonable.

The Original Pancake House
7395 Lee Highway
Falls Church, VA 
703-698-6292

Dining in DC: JD Bar & Restaurant

February 19, 2025 / / 0 Comments 
Dining in DC: Notes from a Week in the Capital

You won’t get a more authentic Ethiopian dining experience outside of Addis Ababa.

JD Bar & Restaurant is my friend Lavinia’s favorite Ethiopian restaurant, and it’s there where we headed for a very late lunch/very early dinner on the Saturday we were visiting her at home. We had visited a museum during the morning, had been delayed after an incident with law enforcement – it turns out the NSA does not take kindly to people photographing the surveillance equipment on their police cars -, and Mike had headed off to another museum while the rest of us sought to satisfy our hunger. We figured that at that midafternoon hour, the restaurant would be empty. Boy, were we in for a surprise.

It turns out that, for whatever reason, 3 PM on a Saturday is the preferred time for Ethiopians in Virginia to go out for a meal. JD Bar & Restaurant’s parking lot was packed when we got there – and the restaurant had nary an empty seat. Or almost. There was one table that could accommodate us, and the host quickly took us to it even as we suggested that we might do take out instead. As the only obviously non-Ethiopians in the place, he could have easily turned as away, but he was extremely accommodating. Indeed, everyone in the restaurant was very nice, though we did get some stares (friendly ones), and we got check upon by the chef and the manager in addition to our waiter. We felt welcomed.

So crowded was the restaurant that it was difficult to appreciate any decore it might have, though I think I remember some paintings of daily life on the walls. They have a small stage set up with microphones, though fortunately (given that we were seated right next to it) there wasn’t a show while we were there.

We ordered quite a bit of food, which was surprisingly affordable for the price and quantity given. I had the meat combo (~$20), which included key sega wot, alecha sega wot, menchet alecha, menchet key, and lega tibse. They were all delicious, none too spicy and while I ate until I couldn’t fit another morsel in my stomach, it probably amounted to little more than a third of the foot in the plate.

Lavinia ordered the JD Special 3 (~$60), which consisted of a HUGE platter with layers of ferrari tibs (chicken), derek tibs (beef) and kitfo topped with aybe (cheese). It was really a monumental platter, that which legends are made of and I’m sad I didn’t take a photo (I hadn’t brought my phone with me). Obviously it’s for many people to share. All the meats were very good, but the derek tibs, in particular, where out of this world. It’s a dry dish, but the pieces of beef were very tender and really nicely seasoned.

Lavinia also ordered a veggie combo ($20), but I didn’t try any of the dishes. My vegetarian ate all the kik alecha from it plus ordered another side of it ($4). She loves this dish, but feels it tastes pretty much the same at every restaurant. This was true here as well.

We had, as you can imagine, enormous amounts of food to take home. The waitress transferred each combo into a take home container, but of course, everything got mixed up there.

In all, this was a great experience and if I visit Lavinia again, I’d definitely want to go back.

JD Bar & Restaurant 
6669 Little River Turnpike 
Annandale, VA
703-333-2819

Dining in DC: Curry Mantra

February 18, 2025 / / 0 Comments 
Dining in DC: Notes from a Week in the Capital

Great Indian food at this Fairfax restaurant

We spent the last part of our trip to Washington DC visiting my friend Lavinia in the DC suburbs in Virginia. Curry Mantra is her favorite Indian restaurant in the area and that’s where we headed that Friday evening in February.

It was a bit late, and the restaurant wasn’t very busy. It’s nicely and only a bit garishly decorated with red tones. Service was good, though our waitress had problems understanding and remembering our order and we had to suggest she write it down. I’m in awe of very experienced waiters who are able to remember everything, but it’s not something that most wait staff should attempt to do.

As there were six of us for dinner, we tried a variety of dishes. I didn’t take any photos as the evening was about seeing an old friend and didn’t want to be too intrusive.

The samosas ($7) had your regular vegan potato and pea filling, but were much larger than usual. Everyone liked them quite a bit but they were on the spicy side. The chicken tikka ($18) was moist and flavorful, and I enjoyed it very much.

I ordered the lamb shashi korma ($20), and was quite pleased with the mild, sweet and fruity curry. That is, until I tried the butter chicken ($18), which was absolutely delicious. One of the best butter chickens I’ve had. Lavinia also ordered the Chicken 65 ($18), one of her favorites, but I don’t remember if I tried it or what I thought of it. I am not sure if we ordered another meat dish – but in any case, we had more than enough food to feed the five meat eaters in our party.

The vegetarian among us ordered the tadka dal ($15) and she thought it was fine, though not remarkable. She wouldn’t order it again.

I ordered a sweet lassi ($5), not on printed the menu, and while the server had some problems understanding what I wanted, I eventually got it and it was pretty good. We ordered both garlic nan ($4) and shahi nan ($4) and enjoyed both of them.

In all, if I’m ever in the area visiting Lavinia again, I’ll definitely make sure we go there.

Curry Mantra
9984 Main St 
Fairfax, VA
(703) 218-8128

Dining in DC: Brookside Restaurant

February 17, 2025 / / 0 Comments 
Dining in DC: Notes from a Week in the Capital

This unpretentious restaurant in rural Virginia reminded us we were in the South

After several days of enjoying the sights of Washington DC, it was time to explore the surroundings. Most specifically, of visiting Shenandoah National Park. Alas, winter is definitely not the time to do so. The trees were bare, the birds were hiding and the scenery was monolithic and boring – though there was the occasional road side waterfall and family of deer to bring momentary joy.

After hours of driving and sight seeing, we were pretty hungry so when we came about signs for Brookside Restaurant on the road, we headed there for some fuel. The restaurant is located in a resort of sorts, where they rent cabins year round for those wanting to venture into the nearby Luray caverns or visit Shenandoah. It serves standard American cuisine at quite reasonable prices. The restaurant itself is pretty cute, and the lone waitress that day seemed to be an institution – we heard her say she’d been working there fore decades.

I had a cheeseburger with chips ($9.50). I was a bit apprehensive about it because of the price and because they didn’t ask me how I wanted it, though I did ask for it to be medium-rare. As expected, it was served well done and while it wasn’t particularly juicy, it tasted fine. Still, I didn’t really fancy it so I exchanged with Mike for his sandwich.

Mike had a bowl of “Bob’s best chili” ($9) and a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon ($5). The sandwich was just white bread, American cheese and bacon, but the bacon was pretty tasty and while the sandwich was a bit too bready, it was good enough. Mike likes the chili well enough.

My daughter had a basic grilled cheese sandwich ($5). It was a very basic sandwich, bread and American cheese, but she isn’t picky.

While the food was pretty basic, Mike mentioned that, being a country restaurant in the South, it was likely in the desserts that it would shine through – and he was right! They had a variety of pies, cobblers and cakes, but we all decided on the cobblers. I’ve been on a cobbler kick lately, and I much prefer them to pies.

Mike and I ordered the peach cobbler a la móde ($7.25) and it was delicious, though a tad too sweet (which I expected). It was served warm, the portion was generous and the fruit shined through.

Betty still was the berry cobbler a la mode ($7.25) which my daughter ordered. The biscuit was just as good and the berries were less sweet.

In all, we had a fine lunch and really enjoyed the desserts.

Brookside Restaurant
2978 US Highway 211 East
Luray, VA
540-743-5698

Dining in DC: Ethiopic

February 17, 2025 / / 0 Comments 
Dining in DC: Notes from a Week in the Capital

Accessible and tasty Ethiopian food in stylish surroundings

Washington DC is not known for any particular dish or cuisine. As a city that attracts people from all over the US and the world, its strengths are in the variety of food found here, rather than on any particular manifestation of it. However, it has gained a reputation for its Ethiopian food offerings, as it homes the largest population of Ethiopians outside Ethiopia itself.

Now, I happen to live next to Oakland, California, which is another mecca for Ethiopian and Eritrean food. Ethiopian food was one of the first I tried my hands on – back at a time where I had to make my own berbere and injera -, and thus it’s not a cuisine I’d have sought out but for the fact that I was pretty sure my Argentinian cousin Adriana and her family would not have tried it. As common as Ethiopian food may be in DC and in the Bay Area, it’s still pretty niche in most of the US (you literally have to go to Little Ethiopia to find an Ethiopian restaurant in Los Angeles county) and I was sure it was totally inexistent in Argentina. Adriana was game for trying it, so I made a reservation at Ethiopic for our last night together in Washington DC.

Ethiopic is an upscale, stylish and popular restaurant in the H Street Corridor, The soft yellow walls are decorated with modern Ethiopian art, which was cool to see after our visit to the African Art Museum. Its clear that the restaurant caters to an international audience, as they were very friendly and patient with our not-fully English speaking party.

The menu offers traditional Ethiopian dishes and what is the largest variety of honey wines I have ever seen. Usually, Ethiopian restaurants in the Bay Area offer just a couple of options, if that – Ethiopic has about seven! Mike and my daughter both ordered the Mama’s Honey Tej ($12 per glass), a pretty sweet version that feels almost like a dessert wine. They both really liked it. I had the smooth bethel tej ($12), which was less sweet but bubbly and a lot of fun. I’ll try to find it locally.

As appetizers, we got both the beef and lentil sambusas ($8 per order of 3). These cousins to Indian samosas are popular throughout Eastern Africa and consist of fried, flaky dough with seasoned fillings. Neither were spicy but they were both very tasty.

We ordered several dishes, but they weren’t actually served family style as we expected. That was probably better, as it would have been a bit hard to reach given our rectangular table for six.

The Beef & Chicken Wot Sampler ($40), which is meant to serve two people, was a delight. It includes minchet abish key wot and minchet abish aletcha wot as well as doro key wot and doro aletcha wot. The doro dishes are chicken, while the minchet abish are ground beef based. The aletcha offerings are basically the mild versions of the wots, cooked without berbere. They were all delicious, and the wots weren’t very spicy, no one in Adriana’s family had a problem with them. My favorite, by far, was the minchet abish aletcha wot – it was sooooo good, I’m still dreaming about it.

We also got an order of beef tibs ($22). These was a dry dish, but the beef cubes were nicely spiced and not terribly spicy. Everyone liked them.

The Yebeg Aletcha Be Dinich ($18) was good but I didn’t like as much as the other dishes. the lamb was tender, however, and not terribly fatty.

My nephew, Lito, who has not yet reached his teenage years, surprised us all by saying he wanted to get the asa tib ($16) – a marinated and fried fish. The fish came with the skin on, which was a novelty for him, and it wasn’t the easiest thing to eat without silverware, but he was a champ and dug right in. So did the rest of us, and we all found the fish to be absolutely delicious. It was crispy, flavorful and perfectly cooked.

My daughter, a vegetarian, had the kik alicha ($17), a favorite of hers. This is a mild dish of split peas. She felt that it tasted just like it was supposed to and liked it.

She also had the honey nut baklava ($7). She didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as it was very syrupy and she prefers drier versions.

We must have been pretty hungry, as while the portions seemed generous we ended up eating everything and had no leftovers to take with us.

In all, we had a very nice meal and I was very happy that Adriana and her family liked the food so much. I think it’s a little bit Americanized, and it definitely does not have the level of spice that I expected – but I feel that Ethiopian food has been getting milder over the years (or, more likely, I’ve adjusted to spicier flavors). 

Ethiopic
401 H St NE,
Washington, DC 20002
202-675-2066

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