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.
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 abishkey 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
This ready-to-eat serviced has changed its model and no longer delivers restaurant-made dishes.
Note, as of March 2025, Locale has ceased to exist as a service that delivers ready-to-heat meals produced by local restaurants. Instead, it’s moved to a new model of producing its own meals.
Old/outdated review
Locale is a new-to-me meal delivery service operating in several areas in California. Their hook is that the meals come from well known restaurants in the area and that at $11 each, plus $5 delivery fee, they are more affordable than actually getting take out. They are priced, however, to compete with other similar services like CookUnity and Shef. They only deliver on Mondays, but you are able to order up to the Friday before, which gives you far more flexibility than the other services. I first subscribed to Locale with a discount offer I found on Facebook and later got a discount for a second and third week. Since then, I’ve paid full price on the weeks when I’m subscribed. Due to their limited offerings, however, I don’t usually order from there every week and instead I alternate between them and Shef.
Some of the meals are the same that what you can get at restaurants, but others seem to be particularly prepared for Locale and may be smaller than the restaurant offerings. Most are perfectly portioned, however.
Locale’s website is sparse but it’s easy to use. You can only order one week in advance and you can decide how many meals you want to order each week. You can also pause the service quite easily.
Like the other services, meals come in an insulated bag, this one with cooling packs, and they will pick them up when they deliver your next order. They are very diligent about texting you with updates on delivery.
Each meal comes in a cardboard tray, sealed with a transparent plastic film. The meals are usually good for 5 to 6 days, which gives you some flexibility on when to eat them. Most can be microwaved, but some need more laborious heating.
You can’t really see how many restaurants Locale has available to you until you sign up, but I was disappointed both on how few there were for me in the East Bay – and how few dishes each restaurant offered. In all, they only had 23 restaurants available now (down from 29 when I first signed up) and several only offered 1 to 3 different dishes. Those who had more often presented different variations of the same dish (e.g. the same dish but offered with chicken or beef). They also have a very limited selection of vegetarian dishes – my vegetarian daughter could only find a couple she was interested in. All in all, Locale wouldn’t work as your weekly delivery service unless you always want to eat the same thing, or have very eclectic tastes and just like everything.
Locale asks you to tip drivers, but I haven’t felt compelled to do so as they are not offering a personalized service – drivers deliver to multiple people in a pre-set, optimized route.
These are the restaurants I ordered from and the dishes I got. Those dishes that I’d order again have a checkmark.
Asian Box is a small chain with seven restaurants in SF and Silicon Valley, including one at the airport, and one in LA. They specialize in “choose your ingredients” bowls (but in rectangular containers, thus called “boxes”), where you choose a base (e.g. rice or salad), a protein, toppers (e.g. peanuts or pickles) and a sauce. Boxes start at $14 and go up depending on your protein, they also have some “signature boxes” at varying prices. Locale offers 4 boxes from Asian box.
Chicken Curry Bowl with Potatoes and Jasmine Rice ✔
This dish was described as having comes rice, six-spice chicken, potatoes, carrots and yellow coconut curry and being topped with herbs, scallion oil, peanuts and shallots but instead of the “herbs and scallion oil” it came with a spicy red sauce which might have been the “fiery red curry”. The bowl was very good. The star of the show was the six-spice chicken, which did remind me of five-spice but also had a nice acidic flavor and tasted grilled. It was just very good. The yellow curry was a standard coconut curry, a bit on the spicy side and competent but not great. The portion give was just enough to moisten the chicken, rice and potato – so make sure to scrape it all off. The peanuts were chopped too finely to add much texture, but the occasional piece of shallot gave it a nice crunch. The portion made for a filling dinner. I’d certainly have it again. This same dish sells at the restaurant for $15.50
The Chef Curry Clutchtime Special with Six-Spice Chicken and Yellow Coconut Curry
The chicken was tasty enough, and the yellow curry was fine, but there was too little chicken and too much rice – the dish just wasn’t well balanced. I don’t think I’d get it again.
Burma Classic is a Burmese restaurant with locations in San Francisco and Santa Clara. Locale offers 7 dishes from this restaurant.
Chili Lamb over Wok Tossed Onionswith Jasmine Rice and Steamed Broccoli ✔
This dish was delicious but spicy! The lamb cubes had a great chili sauce/marinade, which enhanced the flavor of the lamb without masking it. Unfortunately it was too spicy for me, but perfect for my husband. Would definitely order again. This dish is $19 at the restaurant.
Mango Chicken over Jasmine Rice with Steamed Broccoli
This was a boring dish. The chicken was slightly sweet, but wasn’t otherwise bursting in flavor. The rice was just rice. There was nothing wrong with it, but it wasn’t something I’d crave.
Mint Chicken with Coconut Rice and Steamed Broccoli ✔
I had Burma Superstar’s version of this dish before, and while I think I preferred it, this was also quite good. Once again, the key is to eat the chicken and the rice together. The chicken is slightly sweet, doesn’t have a strong minty flavor, but works great with the sweet coconut rice. I’d order it again.
Burma Superstar opened its original location in San Francisco in the ’70’s and has since opened locations in Oakland, Alameda and other places in the Bay. They serve their own version of Burmese cuisine, with greater-than-usual influences of Thai, Chinese and other cuisines. They get fairly good reviews.
Mint Chicken with Coconut Rice and Steamed Broccoli ✔
I didn’t get this dish until I mixed the chicken with the coconut rice. The chicken itself is rather prosaic, it’s spicy, slightly sour and sweet with only a subtle minty flavor. The coconut rice, however, is delicious – not unlike the sweetened sticky rice you get when you order a “sticky rice with mango” dessert at a Thai restaurant. Together, the rice and chicken were very good. It was a good portion. It sells for $20.50 for takeout in SF and $25 at the Oakland and Alameda restaurants, so it’s a great deal.
La Palma is a small restaurant chain in Southern California which gained famed when the Michelin guide gave it its “Bibi Gourmand” designation in recognition of its Zacatecan style burritos, which seem to be tortillas rolled around meat and salsa, with no other additions. They’ve become famous enough to sell their burritos frozen through Goldbelly. Locale is now offering 4 different types of burritos.
2 Birria y Queso Burritos with Crema and Salsa Verde ✔
Despite the fact that I’m still unhappy that Locale has decreased the number of La Palma burritos you get from 3 to 2, I still ordered this again as it’s one of the few things my daughter will eat from here. She was happy with them and did like them with the sour cream. Alas, the second time I ordered them, they forgot to add the sour cream.
2 Burritos de Birria and Refried Beans with Guajillo Pepper Salsa
I didn’t look carefully when I made this order, and I thought I’d be getting 3 birria and refried beans burritos. Instead I only got 2 burritos and a small pot of refried beans and another of salsa. My daughter was disappointed, she wanted the refried beans in the burrito – so she had to spoon them in every couple of bites. She liked them, but not enough to order again – particularly given that there are just two of them. She didn’t try the salsa.
3 Birria y Queso Burritos
Two of the three burritos – delicious!
Quesobirria tacos are all the rage in California these days, and I can see why this burrito version has become so popular. I loved the softness and elasticity of the tortilla after microwaving it. The filling was tasty, and the cheese worked well to mellow the strong flavors of the birria. My daughter also really liked them, so much so that we’ve ordered them three times already. The burritos are $5 each at the restaurants, so you were getting a small discount ordering through here (plus you don’t have to go to LA to get them).
Alas, they are no longer offering the three burrito meal. They are now only offering two burritos, which makes it a much worse deal.
3 Tinga, Potato y Queso Burritos
We’ve ordered these twice and my daughter has liked them quite a bit, though not as much as the quesobirria ones. Alas, like with the quesobirria ones, Locale no longer offers three burritos, but only 2.
Green Chile and Cheese Tamales ✔
This portion came with two tamales, which was very little for the price, but I was actually quite pleased with them. The flavor was there, there was enough filling and while the salsa verde was spicy, it was fresh and tasty.
Tikka Masala over Birria Burritos with Pulled Birria ✔
I’ve already complained about how Locale has changed their offerings of burritos from La Palma from three to two, and I wouldn’t have ordered them again except that this version, which included tikka masala sauce, caught my eyes. The reviews were pretty positive – and I’m a fan. Not necessarily of the combination, but of the tikka masala sauce. It’s just perfect. It tastes exactly how restaurant-quality tikka masala sauce should taste. This begs the question of where Locale is getting their tikka masala sauce – it didn’t taste at all like the one of Zareen, the only Indian restaurant they have in this area.
The birria burritos worked quite well with the tikka masala sauce mostly because they did not compete against it. They provided the substance of the dish, while the sauce provided the flavor. I would order it again, but then again, I’d probably order anything that came with that sauce again.
Comal is a well known Mexican restaurant with locations in both Oakland and Berkeley. It’s a favorite place for events, and we’ve gone to a few there. I’ve very much enjoyed their tacos in the past. Locale offers 7 different meals from Comal, 3 bowls and 4 burritos.
Carnitas Burrito with Pinquito Beans, Rice and Salsa Verde ✔
My daughter enjoyed this burrito. The carnitas were flavorful and the whole combination worked well. It was a pretty substantial meal, which my daughter couldn’t finish. Burritos retail for $13.75 at Comal, but they didn’t list this particular one, so it might be a cheaper version than their normal semi-gourmet offerings.
Mexican Style Grilled Chicken Bowl with Pinquito Beans, Red Rice, and Crema ✔
My daughter was quite happy with this bowl and would have it again.
Dumpling Time has five locations in the Bay Area. They specialize in Chinese dumplings. They only offer one or two dishes through Locale. The one we got is no longer available.
Dim Sum and Garlicky Green Beans with Wakame Seaweed Salad ✔
This dish consisted of one pork bao (aka pork bun), 2 shrimp & pork siu mai and 2 shrimp har gow served with green beans and sea weed salad. Unfortunately, it’s no longer being offered by Locale (nor is this combo in he menu at Dumpling Time). My husband really liked this offering and would have liked it again but it’s no longer available.
El Farolito is a run of the mill taqueria in San Francisco, best known (in Yelp, at least) for its cheap burritos. They offer three quesadillas through Locale.
Mission Style Chicken Quesadilla with Crema and Salsa
This was an overall good quesadilla. It had a nice taste and it was more flavorful than I expected. The portion was probably the right size for lunch. However, I wouldn’t order it again. The first issue was the heating. It requires that you take out a pan, melt a tablespoon of butter and then heat up the quesadilla for a minute on both sides. This gives you a crispy tortilla, but the heat doesn’t go through enough to melt the cheese. I fixed this by microwaving for an extra 30 seconds. I didn’t like, however, that I had to dirty a saucepan to heat this up. I do take responsibility for not reading the heating instructions before I ordered it, they were right there on the page. I also didn’t like that it came with a green sauce instead of guacamole. Price was, it was a tad cheaper than what I can get at my local taquería for a similar size quesadilla, but I can choose steak and get guacamole if I order it there, which I prefer.
This is a soul food restaurant with two locations in San Francisco which seems to get mostly good reviews. Locale only offers this dish and mac & cheese from this restaurant.
Southern Style BBQ Pork Rib with Collard Greens and Mac and Cheese
This consisted of just one spare rib with BBQ sauce, mac & cheese and collard drinks. My daughter enjoyed both the rib and the mac & cheese, she felt they were very good – she didn’t try the greens. It was enough food for her, but she is a girl who can never finish any meal – it really should be two ribs to satisfy a normal appetite. She wouldn’t have it again, however, because most of the meal was the mac & cheese and it wasn’t good enough to be a whole meal. The dish is $21 at the restaurant, but it looks like they serve at least 3 ribs.
Hawaiian Drive Inn seems to be a 5-location Hawaiian BBQ chain in the Bay Area, serving standard Hawaiian BBQ fare.
Hawaiian Chicken Katsu with Steamed Rice and Green Beans
This was a pretty average Hawaiian BBQ chicken katsu, and there is nothing wrong with that. The green beans, however, lacked all seasoning. The heating instructions also had us using the oven for the chicken and the microwave for the beans which is too much trouble – we just heated the whole thing (minus the sauce) in the microwave. The portion size was similar to the mini-meal size at my local Hawaiian joint which is $12, so this is not a great deal.
Teriyaki Chicken over Garlic Noodles
Another very average Hawaiian meal. The chicken lacked flavor and it didn’t come with additional teriyaki sauce. The noodles were OK, but as flavorful as those by other restaurants. The broccolini was OK but it was cut into tiny bits that made it hard to eat. In all, not a dish I’d order again.
Homeroom is a restaurant, with locations in Berkeley and Oakland, which specializes in mac & cheese. I’ve never been as I don’t eat mac & cheese – but my husband has taken my oldest daughter many times. They serve vegan mac in addition to the regular kind. He is not a fan himself, however. Locale offers three flavors of non-vegan mac & cheese.
Homeroom’s Famous Classic Mac
I got this for my younger daughter and she liked it even better than Kraft’s – the first time she got it. The second time, she didn’t like it at all. She found the flavor too strong, almost as if t had blue cheese. My husband tried it and thought it was very rich. The portion isn’t huge, but she’s not a big eater so it worked well for her (the second time she abandoned it midway). Their classic mac & cheese is $12 at the restaurant.
Koi Palace is a local chain of restaurant serving Hong Kong style cuisine and specializing in dim sum, Canton-style seafood, roast meats and wok-fired dishes.
They offer five dishes through Locale, in different combinations of pork buns, siu mai, dumplings and noodles.
Chicken and Mushroom Buns
These were a dud. They had too much dough, the dough was tough and the filling had a very weird, chewy texture. It also wasn’t very tasty. My husband ate one, and gave me the other one as he didn’t like it.
Dim Sum and Noodles Bento Box with House-made Noodles and Wok-Tossed Green Beans ✔
Another winner from Koi Palace. This dish came with delicious garlic noodles and nice sauteed green beans. The dumplings were all good, including the siu mai which we hadn’t had before. My husband would definitely want this again.
Imperial Dim Sum Plate ✔
This consisted of two steamed BBQ pork buns and threepork Peking dumplingsserved with sweet potato glass noodles, mushrooms, and cabbage. The pork buns were pretty standard, nothing remarkable about them. My husband had the usual complaint that there was too much bun and not enough pork. He liked the Peking dumplings more. It was hard to tell what the filling was, but he enjoyed them. The noodles, however, were the star of the dish – though they felt quite heavy (not surprising given that they’re made of sweet potato). He’d have the whole dish again.
This dish is no longer available through Locale and they don’t have a similar combo on their online menu.
Lale is a “family owned Mediterranean-Turkish tapas bar” which serves brunch every day.
Turkish Style French Toast with Maple Syrup and Whipped Cream
I love French Toast but this one was just OK. Don’t get me wrong, “just OK” French toast is pretty good, but it wasn’t as good as the one my husband makes for me (his secret is mascarpone cheese and sourdough bread). The portion of three large pieces of French toast was generous, and they came with butter, whipped cream and maple syrup. The French toast had some savory hints, though nothing I could identify. It’s supposed to have ricotta inside, but I didn’t see it – it could have melted, though. I wouldn’t order it again, but I did enjoy it. The dish sells for $15.5 at restaurant
Mela Bistro prides itself on serving “Modern Ethiopian Food”. From its website, I can see that the restaurant forgoes the traditional art and trappings from many local Ethiopian restaurants and it has more sleek surroundings. The menu is short and filled with traditional items. That said, this is the one restaurant we are happy Locale introduced us to and the one we re-ordered from our second week.
Ethiopian Style Beef Tibs with Brown Rice and Green Split Peas ✔
This was a very good version of beef tibs. Flavor wise, it was pretty much on point for beef tibs but it felt less greasy than usual – quite an achievement for a dish cooked in ghee. It was medium spicy. It’s served with turmeric rice. This dish is $18 at the restaurant, so it’s actually quite a bargain to get it through Locale. The portion was enough for one meal without leftovers.
Ethiopian Beef Stir Fry with Spiced Turmeric Rice ✔
These seem to be just beef tibs, but served with turmeric rice instead of brown rice and split peas. Once again, they were very tasty, only a bit spicy, and less greasy that beef tibs usually are. Once again my husband was happy. It was a good sized portion. He thought the rice was fine, but would probably get it with the brown rice and peas next time for a somewhat healthier option.
NomNom Burger is a burger joint with locations in LA and San Francisco which specializes in smash burgers.
Smash Burger on a Brioche Bun ✔
I have been a latecomer to smash burgers. I don’t know if I had one at a restaurant before, but I did get one from Sumac on Locale a few weeks back. It was a failure. Still, I was still curious so I decided to order what is essentially the same dish from NomNom Burger when I saw it listed. It made me wonder if either burger was made by the restaurants listed.
This time, the smash burger was much better, however. I have to wonder if the difference came in different heating instructions – I’ll confess I don’t recall those from the earlier time. This time you had to heat the patty with cheese by itself in the microwave, toast the bun and then assemble the burger. The results were pretty good. The meat was very well seasoned, had a strong caramelized flavor and even reminded me of lamb. Mike liked it too.
The potato salad was just as plain – it tasted of dill and nothing else.
Noodle Belly was a Filipino restaurant in Fruitvale which opened during the pandemic and closed down a year later. They are now apparently doing pop ups and selling through Korner Kitchen, though it’s not clear exactly when or how. Locale has four of their dishes, consisting of a meat (chicken, shrimp or steak), garlic noodles and a veggie (green beans or broccolini). I’m sad to say that Locale no longer offers food from Noodle Belly.
Hoisin Chicken and Broccolini with Garlic Noodles ✔
The smell of the broccolini was a bit off putting but the whole dish was good, very tasty. My husband really wanted to avoid the carbs in the noodles, but they were so good he couldn’t resist them. He’d order this again.
While I couldn’t find a current price for this dish, it was selling for $20 in 2022-23, which makes it a very good deal now (but super expensive otherwise).
Steak and Garlic Noodles
My husband was disappointed on this dish. While it was flavorful, there were only five or so slices of meat. The garlic noodles were tasty, but they had a little bit too much soy sauce, making them a little bit too salty and a little bit too bitter, in other words, taste a little bit too much of soy sauce. We’d probably not get this dish again, so it’s just as well that Noodle Belly is no longer available through Locale.
Peaches Patties is a Jamaican restaurant operating from the Ferry Building in San Francisco. The owner previously ran a catering business. It specializes in Jamaican patties, which is their version of empanadas. They get great reviews from these, but they are not available on Locale. They have a few other dishes, including two new ones that don’t appear on their menu. Locale has four dishes from this restaurant.
Jamaican Rustic Mushroom Patty with Fried Plantains and Mixed Veggies
I was glad to see that Peaches Patties actually added a patty to their dishes available though Locale. I love mushrooms and overall liked this mushroom patty. Like the name implies, it is pretty rustic. The pastry dough is thick, soft and somewhat flaky. The sort of dough you’d use for a pot pie. It was slightly peppery, slightly salty (more baking soda than salt flavor), but it grew on me. The mushrooms were a tad overcooked – perhaps my fault in reheating. They did have a good flavor.
I was less fond of the fried plantains, which were too starchy (they are plantains after all), and not soft enough for my taste. The sweetish taste just didn’t go with the savory of the pie – but they weren’t sweet enough to constitute a dessert.
I was also not thrilled that to reheat this dish I had to bake the patty for 10 minute in a 350F oven – turning the oven in the summer is a big no-no for me. Instead, I reheated it for 8 minutes at 320F in the air fryer. I’m not sure if that messed up the consistency of either the dough or the mushrooms – which were a tad rubbery. The vegetables and plantains require reheating in the microwave.
In all, I’m not sure I’d order this again. This dish sells for $16.50 at their location in the Ferry building, so it’s a good deal here.
Ginger Tamarind Chicken with Fried Plantains, Kidney Beans and Jasmine Rice
This dish was described as featuring “tender chicken infused with bold ginger and tangy tamarind, served alongside crispy fried plantains and fragrant jasmine rice.” I can’t say it was a success. The chicken was tender, but the thigh meat felt dry. I usually like sweet-savory flavors, but the sweetness here felt out place, it fought, rather than blended with, the spiciness and the smokiness. My favorite part were the pieces of the chicken that tasted charred, unfortunately there were few of them. I usually don’t mind soggy chicken skins, but I felt this one could be crispier. The plantains were definitely not crispy either and they needed more sweetness. I don’t know, this just didn’t do it for me and I wouldn’t order it again. While this dish is not on Peaches Patties current menu, a similar jerk chicken meal that also includes veggies sells for $20.
Perilla is a casual Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco. It offers a couple of dishes through Locale, consisting of garlic noodles or rice, broccoli and a protein, recently pork, crab or five spice chicken. At the restaurant, these dishes are priced at $14.
Five Spice Chicken with Garlic Noodles and Broccoli ✔
This dish was pretty good, the boneless chicken was was sweet and savory with light soy sauce overtones, and the noodles were quite good, not too garlicky. My daughter, who had it, enjoyed it and would have it again. The portion was more than sufficient for dinner, though not quite enough to have much in the way of leftovers.
Pork Garlic Noodles with Steamed Broccoli ✔
Very similar to the chicken dish, it had nicely marinated pork strips and garlic noodles. The pork was tasty, with only a couple of fatty pieces. The noodles needed a bit more flavor this time, but they were satisfying. There was plenty of food and I’d eat it again.
Sumac describes itself as a “modern Mediterranean street food” restaurant and has locations in both LA and SF. They serve wraps, salads, rice bowls and hummus bowls with your choice of grilled chicken, meatballs, red lentil balls or felafel. Seven of these combinations are available at Locale.
Beef and Lamb Gyro Bowl ✔
I enjoyed this dish, though the parsley salad was a bit much. I understand and approve of a little bit of parsley, abut a whole salad with parsley as its main ingredient just does not make sense. The meat, however, was nicely spiced and it went well with the rice and the tzatziki sauce.
Chicken Hummus Bowl with Roasted Veggies ✔
Both my husband and I loved this bowl of grilled chicken, roasted veggies and hummus. – so much that we had it a second time. The chicken was tender and well seasoned, and worked well both by itself or dipped in the hummus. It was a little weird to eat warm hummus, though. Next time I might scoop it out before reheating. My husband was actually surprised at how much he liked the veggies, but we both skipped the pickled beets. The restaurant version sells for $21, but it also comes with an arugula salad.
Meatball Hummus Bowl with Roasted Potatoes ✔
This was a satisfying dish. The meatballs are nicely spiced, and while having warm hummus is a bit weird, it sort of works. I need to remember to only reheat the meatballs next time. The potatoes were fine.
Smash Burger on a Brioche Bun with Caramelized Onions and Potato Salad
I should have known better than to order a burger to reheat later – but I hadn’t had a burger in a while and I was in the mood for one. Not this one, though. When fresh, it might be good – though with a thin patty cooked medium, I wouldn’t guarantee it. Reheated in the microwave it tasted like every other frozen, microwave burger out there – which is not good, not good at all.
The potato “salad” consisted of boiled potatoes with something acidic (lemon juice) and enormous amounts of dill. I found it inedible – and so did the dog.
I’d definitely not get this again.
Turkish Kofte Bowl with Basmati Rice and Chickpea Salad ✔
These are lamb and beef shoulder meatballs served with rice, chickpea salad and a labneh sauce. The same bowl sells for $18 at the restaurant. This was a good, filling and satisfying meal. The meatballs had that chewy texture of kibbeh – I think it’s achieved by over grinding the meat -, which I’m not super fond of, but they were well seasoned and very tasty. The buttered basmati rice reminded me just how nice buttered basmati rice is on its own. The chickpea salad was fresh and piquant, and I enjoyed it even though I’m not a fan of chickpeas. And the yogurt sauce was thick and refreshing. Everything was slightly spicy, however, But overall a very good meal that I’d have again.
Turkish Red Lentil Wrap with Tabouli and Herb Labneh Sauce
I got this for my vegetarian daughter and she found it edible but unexciting. It was a good portion, at least (the photo shows just half a wrap). She probably wouldn’t order it again. It sells for $16.50 at the restaurant.
Tenderleaf (Ghost Kitchen)
Tenderleaf is described as a “a beloved Bay Area gem, is a cozy, locally-owned restaurant” located in San Francisco. As far as I can tell, that is a lie. A google search failed to find any restaurant with that name anywhere in the Bay Area, much less a “beloved one”. Instead, it seems that Tenderleaf is a ghost kitchen operated by the owners of Locale. To me, this seems extremely deceitful. I don’t have a problem with ghost kitchens myself, but I do have a problem with dishonesty.
The address that Google has for Tenderleaf is in the San Leandro industrial area, and I’ll probably drive by and check it out some time.
Tenderleaf offers 9 dishes through Locale, the most of any restaurants.
Mom’s Meatballs in Marinara Sauce with Italian Sausage and Parmesan
This dish consisted of four medium-size meatballs and 2 sausages, topped with tomato sauce and a little Parmesan cheese. I warmed it in the microwave. There was definitely plenty of food. I liked the meatballs. They tasted very much like the meatballs you can get at your average pizzeria – I’m thinking of Porky’s Pizza Palace in particular. They had a good texture, they weren’t too soft and not too gritty, and a nice flavor. I would imagine that these are not “homemade”, but it’s not like I can get meatballs that taste like that at the supermarket. The sauce was pretty standard marinara, a little on the acidic side. A bit more cheese would have been better, but you can always add your own. I also liked the sausages, which were pretty dense, and smooth, and tasted primarily – but mildly – of fennel. Obviously this would have been better over some pasta, and next time I might just boil some myself.
Mom’s Sunday Sauce Rigatoni with Fennel Sausage and Meatballs
This dish consisted on rigatoni pasta with the meatballs and sliced sausages above. Surprisingly enough, the pasta was a complete fail. It was tough – more undercooked than al dente – and it just didn’t have a pleasant flavor. Normally pasta has a pretty neutral non-flavor, but this one was actually sort of dusty and just not tasty. The pasta and sauce were also too salty. I did enjoy the pieces of sausages and the meatballs were fine, but everything together was too salty.
Steak and Potatoes Plate with Rainbow Carrots and Chimichurri ✔
I was surprised at how good this steak was – often cooked steak doesn’t microwave well. Perhaps the key is to have it undercooked – this one was somewhere between rare and medium rare. It was flavorful, tender, free of fat and grizzle and the chimichurri sauce was bright and summery. All in all a winner.
The abundant potatoes were undercooked – they were fine but not as exciting as the meat. We’d probably order this again.
Trisara is an affordable Indo-Nepalese restaurant that gets 5-stars on Yelp. Unfortunately Locale only offers three of their dishes, the momos below and two biryianis.
Nepalese Chicken Momos with Steamed Broccoli ✔
My husband thoroughly enjoyed these momos – Nepalese dumplings – which were served with a tasty tomato chutney. They were tasty and comforting. The broccoli was just steamed, and he would have preferred it with some seasoning. Still, he’d order this again. The portion of 8 momos sells for $14 at the restaurant, but here you only get 5 momos and the broccoli.
I couldn’t find anything about “Vida Verde” which suggests to me it might be another ghost kitchen like Tenderleaf.
Steak and Fajitas Plate with Bell Peppers, Onions, Button Mushrooms and Chipotle Sauce
This was an OK dish of food, though not a great one. The beef was underseasoned and tough, with some grizzle. I don’t know what cut it was, but it wasn’t flank or skirt. The pepper, onions and mushroom medley was much better, though also slightly undersalted. I particularly liked the flavor of the mushrooms, but the whole thing was good – and there was a lot of it. The chipotle sauce was fine, but I think probably unnecessary. I don’t think I’ll get this again, as I really didn’t enjoy the beef.
Vik’s Chaat is a very well known Berkeley Indian restaurant. It’s a casual eatery, meant for college students. It’s been there for decades and has always been very popular. I went there once, over a decade ago, and I don’t remember loving it, but I didn’t write a review. Locale offers 3 dishes from Vik’s Chaat.
Tandoori Chicken with Spiced Chickpeas and Basmati Rice
This dish consisted of a chicken leg – separated into thigh and drumstick – served with basmati rice and spiced chickpeas. I wasn’t super fond of it. It tasted like the sort of tandoori chicken you can make it at home, in your own over, with tandoori masala. The masala sauce, which was a bit spicy, clung to the chicken, which I don’t particularly like. I much prefer the tandoori chicken found at most restaurants where the chicken skin has been died and the flavor has been absorbed by the meat, rather than resting on a marinade outside. Still, it wasn’t bad, just not as good as the Americanized versions of tandoori chicken you usually get at restaurants. It did remind me of why I didn’t like Vik’s when I went. A similar tandoor chicken dish at the restaurant which is served with dal, instead of chickpeas, and with naan and raita, costs $18.
Zareen’s, along with Burma Superstar, are the only restaurants Locale mentions on their Facebook ads and comments. This seems to be because they were listed in the 2020 Michelin guide. It’s an Indian/Pakistani restaurant with locations in Palo Alto, Redwood City and Mountain View. Locale offers 7 dishes from this restaurant, though two are tikka masalas and three spinach curries.
Chicken Tikka Masala with Basmati Rice ✔
I was underwhelmed by this dish the first time I had it. It consisted of shredded chicken tikka in a masala curry and yellow rice. The chicken was tender and had a nice smoky flavor but was otherwise very underseasoned. The sauce lacked the complexity you look for in a tikka masala sauce. It wasn’t bad, but it was underdeveloped. The second time I got it, it was much better. The sauce was just yummier and your typical tikka masala sauce.
This curry is $16.25 at the Zareen’s restaurant, though I’m not sure if the portion is the same size.
Grilled Chicken Boti ✔
I enjoyed this dish which is very similar to the chicken tikka masala. The chicken boti consisted of a grilled thigh torn into large pieces. It came with the masala sauce on the side, but you pour it on the chicken before heating it up. The sauce was pretty typical, the chicken was moist and it was overall an enjoyable meal. The portion was fine for one person without leftovers.
Paneer Tikka Masala with Basmati Rice ✔
I got this for my vegetarian daughter but ended up eating it myself. I liked it more than the chicken tikka masala. The paneer was spongy and slightly sweet and combined perfectly with the sauce and the rice. The sauce was pretty standard, but I think better than last time. The portion was substantial enough to leave me full. I’d get this again.
The tastiest ready-to-heat meal service I’ve found so far.
Updated in January, 2025. Scroll down for a review of my local shefs and dishes.
If you are on Facebook, chances are that you’ve seen ads for Shef*. It’s a ready-to-heat meal delivery system, where the catch is that the meals are individually made by home cooks in their own homes, rather than in large industrial facilities. That can have both pros and cons, but it’s quickly become my favorite of the ready-to-heat meal services (I’ve also tried Locale, CookUnity, Thistle and Freshly) .
How it works
Shef allows you to order meals individually or subscribe to a weekly service. Their website, however, is very clunky – though they are improving it. In order to use it, you need to enter your zip code. You are them prompted to create your personal profile by choosing the type of cuisines you prefer (I recommend you select “all cuisines”) and how many meals you want to get a week (between 3 and 10). You then choose your delivery date, at which point you can create an account or (now) browse the offerings available for that date from shefs in your area. You can then select as many meals as you signed up for, from as many shefs (home cooks) as you want. The website allows you to look at the profile of each shef, including a photo and some biographical information. After you choose your meals you are prompted to select side dishes, limited to rice and Indian breads (at least for me).
You can also order meals without subscribing to a weekly plan, which each meal priced independently.
Cost
Meals cost around $10-11 per meal, depending on how many you order. Side dishes – rice or Indian breads – are $3. There is also a shipping fee which seems to average $7-8. A typical order of 8 meals and 1 side is about $93, or about $11.50 per meal. That is equivalent to what Locale charges and what the regular discounted price of meals at CookUnity are. They also prompt you for a tip.
Packaging & Delivery
One of the things I love about Shef is that the food is delivered in reusable cold bags with frozen water bottles instead of freezer packs – I always end up throwing away the latter in the garbage as disposing of them is such a pain. As far as I can tell, the bottles are sealed so you can drink them. Dishes do come in plastic containers (the same type used for take out food), though one of my shefs uses compostable containers (but plastic lids). Of all the services I’ve used, I’d say this is the greenest one.
You will get e-mails and texts the day your order will be delivered mentioning the time period (something like 3 hours) where the meals will arrive. So far, all of mine have arrived within the promised time.
Type of food available
Shefs are local to you, and what they offer will thus depend on where you live – and also, for which day you schedule your delivery. Below, you can see my reviews of the shefs and dishes that were available to me in San Leandro – a small city in the San Francisco East Bay. Shef has made a particular effort to recruit immigrant cooks – and originally, immigrant women cooks, thus the name . They have been particularly successful with Indian and other Asian cooks. If you love Indian and/or Asian cuisine, Shef is definitely the service for you. If you don’t, this is your opportunity to learn to love it. There are a few other cuisines represented, though not many, at least in my area.
How long the food keeps
While dishes from other subscription services are cooked in commercial kitchens and professionally packaged, the ones from Shef are cooked in home kitchens and cooled down in home refrigerators. This means you should treat them as leftovers and consume them within 2-3 days at most. I have frozen dishes I wasn’t going to consume in time in the containers they came in – just popped them in the freezer – with no issues whatsoever, however. I just defrosted them before microwaving them.
Making changes & cancelling
Unfortunately, once you subscribe, Shef does not offer you much flexibility for subsequent orders. You can change what dishes you will get in subsequent weeks and you can skip a delivery, but that’s about it. If you want to change the delivery day (e.g. from a Monday to a Wednesday), the number of dishes you order or even the number of side dishes you want for the week, you have to cancel your subscription and then re-subscribe. Fortunately, cancelling and re-subscribing is painless. Shef saves all your information so you don’t have to re-enter it. I’ve now done it multiple times – practically very week, really, as my needs change from week to week.
Problems and Customer Service
Shef’s main issue is its very clunky website, which makes it hard to search for what shefs are available on which days without having to re-enter all your preferences, and makes it impossible to make changes to your subscription. But I’ve also had some other annoying problems.
I’ve had a few orders had missing meals, though this hasn’t happened for a while. I contacted customer service and they said they’d give me a refund. They did the first time, but not the second time so you need to keep track of whether they do in your credit card statement.
Twice, one of my meals had a missing item – and a key one. Customer service gave me a discount code for a future purchase, but those don’t work for subscriptions, so they are sort of useless. In a couple of occasions, a meal wasn’t properly sealed – while the food didn’t spill, I’m concerned about contamination.
More problematically, one week I was charged five times for my order – Shef has indicated they are refunding the duplicate charges, but if I was operating close to my credit card limit having an extra $400 charge would have been quite problematic.
Another issue is that Shef seems to have an issue keeping home cooks. Five or six of the shefs I ordered from, including the one non-vegetarian Ethiopian shef they had locally, whose food is amazing, are no longer working for them.
Reviews
The Shef website now allows you to review individual dishes. Before, you could only review your whole order at once.
The following are my reviews of most of the dishes we’ve had from Shef so far. They are organized by the shef who makes them. I’ve boldened the names of active shefs whose dishes we’ve liked most.
I was very disappointed on this dish. I love bulgogi. I make bulgogi frequently (at least, when I’m cooking). It’s a pain to cut the meat (though you can buy shaved beef, and this is clearly what Shef Aejung has done), but it’s otherwise not too laborious to make. You let it marinade and can pan fry it as you go – or just cook it all at once and then reheat it. But the secret, the basis of bulgogi is the marinade – and this marinade just wasn’t there. The beef barely had any flavor. It also had barely any veggies – some shredded carrots but maybe a couple of onion strips. It wouldn’t take much to improve things, as either the marinade he used was flavorless or, more likely, they were not marinated for very long. The portion had a fair amount of meat and it came with white rice, but without any sauce, there was little point to it. I wouldn’t order it again and neither should you – just your make your own bulgogi or buy the amazing frozen bulgogi at Trader Joe’s.
Shef AMIT R. – Indian · Himalayan · Indo-Chinese · Southeast Asian · North Indian · Chinese ✔
Shef Amit provides a great introduction to Himalayan/Pahadi food. Most of what we’ve had has been delicious.
Pahadi Chicken Curry ✔
This was a nice curry. It tasted like your regular Indian curry – made from spices, not curry powder. It didn’t have any sweet notes, so given a choice, I’d go for a korma or a tikka masala (or a pasanda!). But as far as regular curries goes, this is a good as you can get in a restaurant. It was very mildly spiced.
Pahadi Fried Chicken ✔
My husband loved this dish and would “absolutely” want it again. I had a couple of piece and thought it was nice, the chicken was extremely moist and soft. The flavor was unusual, with some hints of sweetness and of peanuts (!), and some spiciness. I think it could become addictive.
One problem: the container wasn’t fully sealed and it leaked a little bit in the bag and over the other containers. Just in case, it was the first dish we heated.
Pahadi Fried Chicken Momo ✔
These were delicious. The filling of the momos was fragrant, with strong notes of cumin. The dumpling dough was on point, moist and chewy. I wasn’t a super fan of the sauce they came with, but it wasn’t needed.
Pahadi Grilled Chicken
This dish was OK, though we wouldn’t order it again. The chicken itself felt like was marinated in a wet, ground masala. It came with a sauce which was rather good, but there wasn’t enough of it.
Shef ANAND A. – Indian · Tandoori · BBQ · Clean · Low Carb · Low Sodium · Contemporary
Kadi Murgh Karachi Wala (Chicken Curry) ✔
My husband ate this dish and he enjoyed it a lot. He still prefers Thai curries, but he’d have it again.
Mutton Rogan Josh (Goat Curry)
I think this was a good curry. I say I think because it was so spicy that I couldn’t really taste it. My tongue and lips were burning too much to taste anything at all. Underneath the burn, I think the flavors were good and balanced. The meat was quite tender. And I did manage to eat the small amount I had served myself. But clearly, this is not for me. It was advertised as being non-spicy, btw (and rogan josh doesn’t need to be), which makes me reluctant to order anything else from this shef. My husband didn’t find it as spicy and he liked it, except for the bones.
Shef Anu’s butter chicken curry was all you want it to be: perfectly balanced, only slightly spicy, brimming with umami and absolutely delicious. It’s definitely restaurant quality. The chicken itself, however, left much to be desired. It was a little bit tough, a bit under-seasoned, and mostly it tasted like it had been cooked by itself, shredded, and only then incorporated into the curry. I understand that can be a time saving method, but it really fails here. Still, the curry was sooooo good, that I imagine I’ll order it again.
Shef AYSHA S.– Indian · Kerala · South Indian · Halal
This shef doesn’t seem to be active in the platform anymore
Kerala Style Chicken Stew ✔
My husband found this pretty tasty, but once again he disliked that the it consisted of chopped up bone-in chicken, which forces you to pick up the small pieces and eat them with your hands. The sauce was tasty and not at all spicy. He’d probably have this again.
We’ve gotten three dishes from this shef so far and they all showed a very sophisticated use of whole spices in his cooking. He is now one of my favorite shefs.
Butter Chicken (Boneless) ✔
This butter chicken was a bit different from others, but still very yummy. It was on the spicy side, and mostly lacked sweetness, but the spices, tasted fresh and were very forward. It felt like a mixture between a butter chicken and a chicken curry, but very well balanced. My one complaint was that the chicken cubes were dry. The bowl was enough as a meal without rice, but could have been extended with it. My husband would definitely want it again.
Punjabi Style Kadai Chicken ✔
This is the third winner from shef Balihar S. This was a rich, complex, deep, wonderful curry. It was perfectly seasoned, and had achieved that perfect umami state that you so much want from a curry. The small pieces of bone-in chicken were a pain to eat, but it was worth it. And this is another curry in which you can taste Kadai’s mastery of cooking with fresh spices. It’s definitely restaurant quality. The curry was so thick that it does not need rice.
Tari Wala Chicken
I haven’t had this Punjabi chicken curry before, so I can’t make any comparisons, but it tastes like a pretty generic Indian curry. It’s clearly made with whole spices, rather than garam masala or another such mix, and I appreciated the balance and fresh flavor of the sauce. I’m less fond of the bone-in chicken. It was on the lower side of medium spicy, which meant that it had some heat but I could deal with it. Still, I wouldn’t order it again, simply because I prefer sweeter, creamier curries. But this one is perfectly well made.
Shef D C. – Mediterranean · Italian · American · Comfort · Baked Goods · Vegetarian · Irish ✔ ✔
This is an awesome shef who understands his craft, I just wish he would expand his repertoire.
Beef Osso Buco ✔
Another winner from Shef D C. The osso buco meat was extremely tender and the dish was very flavorful. It was, perhaps, too intense, but I had frozen it previously and was heating it up from a semi-frozen stage and overheated it a bit. The sauce really needs a starch to absorb it, so plan on eating this with something.
Chicken Cacciatora ✔
This chicken cacciatora tasted exactly what you expect chicken cacciatora to taste. It came with both a chicken thigh and a leg, but I was still a bit hungry after eating these and needed something to soak up the sauce – I heated up some frozen naan and it worked well. I was afraid the chicken would be dry – often the case with chicken stews – but this one was pretty moist. It needed some extra seasoning, but it brightened up after I added salt. All in all, it was what I expected and I enjoyed it. I’d have it again.
Irish Guinness Beef Stew ✔
This was a good, basic beef stew. Not as good as a tomato based stew, but that’s not the chef’s fault. The meat was tender but a little chalky (typical for beef stews). I’d order it again.
Pollo Al Ajillo – Spanish Garlic Chicken ✔✔
This was a delicious, homey dish. It consisted of three drumsticks, deliciously garlicy, in what I think was a sauce that was thickened with flour, giving it a smooth texture. Not that there is much of a sauce, but whatever remains from it. I ordered it again and enjoyed it just as much.
Shef Dmitriy L. – Korean · Central Asian · Comfort
Combo Beef Pigodi With Carrot-Cha And Cabbage-Cha
I’d never even heard of “pigodis” before I ordered this dish, but I was curious. Basically, they are like a steamed Chinese pork bun but with a ground beef filling. I found the breading a little too dense and heavy for my taste, and I wasn’t too thrilled with the beef filling either. The cabbage flavor was a little overwhelming. I didn’t actually eat the sides. I wouldn’t order it again, but I’m glad I tried it.
Shef ERENDIRA E R. – Mediterranean · Californian · Italian ✔
This shef mostly serves pastas, including handmade ones. Her food is very good and authentic.
Almond Pesto With Fresh Garganelli Pasta
My daughter had this dish and she liked it overall, the pasa was well cooked and the almost pesto was very tasty. However, there was an overwhelming amount of peas – more than shown in this photo. None of us are huge fans of peas, so we probably wouldn’t get this again. Great pesto, though.
Baked Penne
My daughter wasn’t a great fan of this dish, again because it had corn and peas. They were less abundant than in other of Erendira’s dishes, but she wouldn’t want it again.
Bolognese Fresh Pappardelle Pasta ✔
This was a pretty tasty Bolognese. The thick noodles were soft and the Bolognese sauce tasted exactly like you expect Bolognese sauce to taste. The portion was sufficient for a meal. My daughter, who ate it, wouldn’t want it again – but she’s not that great a fan of bolognese. I, however, would order it for myself. Update: my daughter has had this dish again, and she now enjoys it.
Bolognese Penne Pasta ✔
Similar to the dish above but with penne instead of thick noodles. My daughter actually liked this a lot and would want it again. I guess the noodles made a difference.
Cheese Orecchiette Pasta ✔
This was another winner. I missed the suppleness of the homemade pasta, but the cheese sauce was very good. The bacon bread crumbs were too salty, however. Next time I’ll try to brush some off before heating it up. But I’d definitely order it again.
Lasagna ✔
My daughter had it. At first she thought it was just OK – not quite meeting her Stouffers frozen pizza standards – but she appreciated the fresh ingredients the more she ate of it and concluded she’d had it again. I had what she didn’t eat and I thought it was great. It tasted fresh and home made. The pasta was soft – though apparently the sides had gotten crispy – and chewy, the cheese melty and the sauce light enough to allow the other flavors to shine. Basically, a very good, home made tasting lasagna. I’ll order it again for myself.
Orecchiette Italian Sausage
I didn’t really like this dish. First, I’ve realized that orecchiette is not a particularly successful pasta. It’s thicker than other shapes and it can feel heavier. But the real problem was the sauce. It was just blah. It tasted a lot of tomato paste, was too acidic, thick and heavy. The only thing that livened it a little were the olives, but I’m not a huge fan of them. Adding Parmesan cheese helped a little with flavor, but not enough. I did like the small pieces of Italian sausage, but there were really very few of them. I would not order it again.
Vegetarian Fresh Fettuccine Pasta
This was a dish of fresh pasta with a tomato sauce and a lot of veggies. My daughter liked it overall, particularly after we added extra Parmesan, but she felt there was too much corn. She probably wouldn’t want it again.
Francisco sells mostly empanadas. The portion has only two, but they are larger than usual and overfilled. After trying two of his offerings, I think he’s good enough to open an empanada shop in Argentina. I’ll keep trying his other varieties.
Cheese Empanada Saltena✔
These empanadas include a variety of cheeses, egg, potatoes and green onions. I, personally, liked them quite a bit. I appreciated the brightness of the onion and the mixture of cheeses – I didn’t even notice the egg. My daughter, however, didn’t like how onion-forward it was and prefers my cheese empanadas (I use Monterey Jack cheese and sprinkle them with sugar before baking).
Chicken Empanada Salteña ✔
These empanadas were good, but probably my least favorite of all of Francisco’s empanadas. That’s because the chicken was ultimately dry. The flavor was great, for chicken. I would get them again, because they were good, but I’d prioritize the other ones. These ones are slightly spicy. I also think these might be less filling than the other empanadas. Or maybe I’m just really hungry.
Mushroom Empanda ✔
These were two very large and overfilled empanadas, with a very tasty mushroom filling. The mushrooms were only slightly gummy after I reheated them in the microwave (it’s recommended that you reheat them in the oven), but the flavor was there. Another winner by Shef Francisco.
Sausage Empanada ✔
The steak empanadas were so good that I decided to give the sausage empanadas a try. Once again, the portion consisted of only two empanadas, but they were on the larger side. The empanadas had Argentinian pork sausage (no idea where he gets it), provolone and mozzarella cheeses, hard boiled eggs and raisins. They were super cheesy and the sausage was also very tasty. There wasn’t much in the way of eggs and raisins which was great, as I don’t like eggs and my husband doesn’t like raisins. We’d both order them again.
Steak Empanada Salteña ✔
Empanadas salteñas refer to the type of empanadas typical of the Argentinian province of Salta, in the northwest of the country. They are considered among the best in Argentina and differ from standard beef empanadas because they contain knife-chopped beef (instead of machine ground), potatoes and green onions.
Francisco also only includes two empanadas in the meal, but I decided to get them because I thought they might be somewhat larger than usual – and because while I can easily make empanadas myself, knife-cutting beef and chopping potatoes is a pain. This ended up being a good decision. These empanadas are delicious – as good as mine, but without my trick of adding spaghetti sauce to make them seem moister. There was a perfect combination of ingredients and they were well seasoned. They came with a little pot of chimichurri, and while it’s not traditional to dip your empanadas in chimichurri and these one definitely didn’t need it, the chimichurri itself was also delicious.
The only issue is that empanadas need to be reheated in the oven for the empanada shell to keep its crispness. It’s the middle of the summer, so I was not going to do that and I reheated them in the microwave (30 seconds for 1). That, of course, softened the shell, which is not ideal but c’est la vie.
I liked them enough that I’d order them again, and I do think they’re larger than the standard.
This shef seems to no longer be cooking for Shef, which is unfortunate as her Ethiopian food was awesome.
Beef Stew (kay Sega Wot) ✔✔
After getting the combo twice, I decided to go for the kay sega wot by itself. It was delicious, but spicier than the meat combo. I actually think I prefer it mixed in with the chicken. This one did remind me far more to the Ethiopian food you get at restaurants. It was sooo good
Meat Combo ✔✔
This plate of food was absolutely delicious. It didn’t taste that much like the Ethiopian food I’ve had at restaurants or cooked myself, perhaps because I asked for “mild” (and yes, everything was mild) – but it was very, very good and addictive. So much so that I had it again the next week.
Shef GEETWANI R. – Fusion · Indo-Chinese · Indian · Comfort · East Indian · Hakka ✔
Butter Chicken ✔
Our second attempt at butter chicken was more successful than the first. This was a spicy dish, what one would normally call “medium” at a restaurant. Mike ate it and liked it, though he didn’t think it was restaurant quality but he’d have it again.
Pompano Curry In Mustard Sauce ✔
I didn’t actually order this dish, but I’m glad I got it. The pompano was well cooked and the sauce was quite good, vibrant with the flavors from the chilis but only lightly spiced. My husband liked it, sans the bones. I’ve made this dish before, so I was happy to see it measured up against the real thing.
Shef GRACHIK P. – Mediterranean · Middle Eastern · Ukrainian · Armenian · Georgian · Russian · Belarussian
I’m a big fan of Caucasian and Eastern European food, so I was excited to try Shef Grachik’s dishes. Unfortunately I didn’t like any of the three I tried, so I think I’m done ordering from him. It’s a pity because he is often the only shef cooking these cuisines in my area.
Beef Meatballs In Tomato Sauce ☹
This was once of the worse dishes I’ve gotten from Shef. The meatballs has an OK, though perhaps overly soft, consistency but they managed to be both bland and somewhat spicy, and taste completely of some green – bell pepper, according to the ingredients listed. There was no beef flavor whatsoever. The sauce tasted exactly the same. The portion was generous, four meatballs plus rice, but so unappetizing.
Pan-Fried Chicken Cutlets With Creamy Mashed Potatoes
My youngest daughter loves milanesas, and this was the closest thing I could find in Shef. It was OK, but she wouldn’t have it again. The flavor was a little strange, I think it has a spice that is not disclosed in the description. I couldn’t quite identify it – maybe dill? In any case, she wouldn’t order it again. She did like the mashed potatoes and there were a lot of them, one could say, too much of them.
Scrambled Eggs With Tomato Sauce (Shakshuka)
The description of this dish as “scrambled eggs with tomato sauce” is far more accurate than that of shakshuka. This basically was an omelet with some tomato sauce added to it. My daughter thought it was fine, but she didn’t like that it had bell peppers and wouldn’t get it again.
Massaman curry is my favorite Thai curry, pretty much the only thing I order at Thai restaurants. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed with this one. It just lacked flavor. It came with a lot of sauce, so maybe reducing it would help, but I couldn’t even start to tasting hints of spices. On the plus side, combined with an extra side of rice (and there was plenty of sauce for it), this was a large meal. It includes a full chicken leg as well as a few pieces of potato and some occasional peanut.
Panang Curry Pork With Rice ✔
My husband liked this dish. It was an average panang, which is not a bad thing. The portion of pork was fine, but there was way too much rice. Still, he’d have it again.
This beef stew tasted exactly what you expect beef stew to taste. It was meaty and rich and very homey. The meat was a little chalky, but I have the same results when I make stew, so I’m not going to blame the cook for this. The portion was fine, though it could have used a couple more pieces of meat. There was a lot of sauce, so get some rice to soak it up. I’d order this again.
Shef JOINA L. – Latin American · Asian · Fusion · Brazilian · Korean · Chinese ✔
This is another amazing shef. As a Taiwanese-Brazilian she grew up exposed to a lot of diverse cuisines and knows how to make both traditional and fusion dishes. Unfortunately, her portions are skimpy.
Arroz Con Pollo ✔
We’ve gotten this dish twice. It consists of a chicken thigh and Spanish rice. The chicken was bursting with flavor, was slightly spicy and yet still very much chicken. It was quite moist. The rice was also nicely spiced, though it could have used a tad more flavor. I did like the tomato and sausage. Definitely had a homemade taste. The portion is on the small side, so it’s probably best for lunch or those with smaller appetites.
Beef Steak With Onions And Tomatoes ✔
When I was a young teen, I spent a year living with a maiden aunt who suddenly found herself in the role of substitute mother – a role that involved cooking for a picky teenager. I had gotten tired of eating plain steak and my aunt had devised a piquant tomato sauce to put on it that I became quite devoted to. It’s of that dish that I thought when I saw Shef Joina’s beef steak with onions and tomato. It wasn’t quite what my aunt prepared – really nothing like it at all – but it was quite good. The sweet onions and the tomatoes merged beautifully, achieving that umami sensation, and the beef went well with it. The beef was a tad in the chalky side – but you really don’t want to ruin good meat with a sauce anyway. It was an adequate portion, though I wish I’d had some rice or bread to soak up the remaining sauce (the rice side dish I had ordered was missing this week).
Brazilian Chicken Pie ✔✔
My husband thought this was delicious and enough for two servings for himself (but he tends to only eat half a meal at the time). The crust didn’t maintain too well, it got sort of mushy, but the flavor was amazing.
Brazilian Chicken Stew Galinhada
I had high hopes for this chicken stew but I liked it less than I hoped. It was just underseasoned, and while I added salt to it, it really needed it during the cooking process to bring up the umami in the sauce and get into the chicken. On the plus side, it was a large portion, which included both a plump drumstick and thigh as well as a couple of large pieces of potatoes and carrots.
Cilantro Chicken
I got this dish thinking I was getting the Roasted chicken with cilantro garlic crema reviewed below – my mistake. I thought it was pretty tasty, but my daughter liked it far less than the aforementioned one. She wouldn’t want it again. The sauce in this one was very watery and it seemed more like a soup.
Roasted Chicken With Cilantro Garlic Crema ✔
This was another very tasty dish. The chicken was moist and nicely seasoned, and the accompanying crema was absolutely delicious. Alas, the portion was also skimpy and not enough to fill you up for dinner. They really need to add an extra chicken piece.
I ordered this chicken again, but it came without the cilantro crema. The chicken was very good. The chicken had a garlicky/cinnamon flavor. My daughter liked it but missed the crema.
Shef KELLY L – Greek · Mediterranean · Street Food · Comfort · American
This shef seems to no longer be cooking for Shef.
Salmon Caesar Salad
My husband overall liked this salad. It wasn’t made with iceberg lettuce but with another leaf, and he was a bit iffy about it, and it had tomatoes he doesn’t like, but otherwise it was just a Caesar’s salad. The very top of the salmon was sort of crusty and it seemed dried out, but when you got past that, it was fine. He’d have it again, but it might be better to just buy a Caesar salad at the supermarket and add some salmon – it’s not like grilling some salmon takes any time.
Shef MAK M. – Chinese · Hong Kong · Asian · Fusion · Low Carb · Comfort
This shef seems to no longer be cooking for Shef.
Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice Bowl ✔
This was really a very simple dish, just ground (or maybe chopped) pork on a bed of white rice, but boy, was it delicious. The pork had been braised in a delicious sauce (though none of it was in the dish), and it had a very intense, well balanced flavor. I couldn’t really distinguish any of the flavors (soy? five spice?), but it was just good. The flavor was intense enough that it married very well with the plain rice. I’d order this again.
Shef MANDIRA D. – Bangladeshi · North Indian · East Indian · Bengali · Halal ✔
Shef Mandira makes amazing, flavorful and new-to-me curries, but she uses bone-in meats which make them annoying to eat.
Bengali Duck Egg Curry
I got this for Mike – as I don’t like eggs – and he was a bit disappointed. It came in an 8-oz container and included just two duck eggs, two pieces of potatoes and the curry. The eggs were eggs – I mean, they are eggs, I’m not sure what else one can expect from them – and the curry itself was a good, solid curry. But there was nothing out of this world to it. He’d have it again, but wouldn’t seek it out. He did feel it needed something else, maybe some some sliced meat?
Chicken Malai Curry ✔
As a curry, this was delicious. Made with a combination of malai – a thick Bengali cream – and coconut cream, it’s basically an Indian curry with hints of coconut. The flavors do work very well together. The problem was the chicken. It was bone-in chicken cut into pieces. That made it super difficult to eat, as you basically have to use your hands if you want to get the meat off the bones, or transfer it to a plate, wipe away the curry, and try to cut it off. Now, having traveled throughout India I know that this standard for curries in the subcontinent, but it’s still annoying. We’re not sure if we’d have this again, though I’m giving it a tentative check mark. The curry was delicious but it’s soooo annoying to have to deal with the bones.
Murgir Mangsher Jhol (Bengali Chicken Curry)
I was very disappointed on this curry. It had the mildest of flavors, almost none at all. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t. Granted, I had frozen and then defrosted this dish, but that shouldn’t have interfered with the flavor radically. In all, I wouldn’t order it again though I might try Bengali chicken curry from another shef.
Rui Macher Kalia (Rohu Fish Curry)
My husband loved he taste of the curry, it was delicious. However, the fish had too many bones, making it vey difficult to eat. For that reason, he probably wouldn’t get it again.
Shef MANIDA T. – Thai · Southeast Asian · Korean ✔✔
Chicken Kaho Soi (Northern Thai Curry)✔✔
Wow. This was a “new to me” dish and an absolute winner. The light, creamy curry seems to exist at the mid-point between Indian and Thai curries, with a flavorful that is not unlike curry powder but still bright, delicious and complex. It’s a little bit spicy and a little bit sweet and I ended up licking my fingers. My husband also loved it.
Lychee Red Curry Chicken ✔✔
Another winner from Shef Manida, this is another delicious Thai curry and one I hadn’t tried before. I loved the curry itself, with was fragrant, and the lychees in it. The thinly sliced chicken was a bit dry, but it served as a conduit for the chicken as anything else. I’ll order it again and my husband thinks this is his favorite so far.
Massaman Braised Beef Stew Curry ✔
Massaman curry is my favorite Thai curry. This was a competent version of it, though not as good as that of my favorite restaurants. I can’t quite tell what was missing. Maybe more intense flavor? Though it was saltier than many. One welcome surprise is that it had small pieces of pineapple. The portion was very large, with lots of beef and potatoes. I’ll get this again.
Red BBQ Chicken
This was an interesting dish, though not one I’m sure I’d order again. The boneless chicken was tender and supple. It was dusted with a rub based on red pepper, that was a bit too salty and only slightly sweet. It had a peppery flavor as well. It wasn’t bad, and all in all I enjoyed it, but I wasn’t completely won by it.
Roasted Duck Curry (Kaeng Phed Ped Yang) ✔✔
This was another winner by Shef Manida. The curry was light and rich, very fragrant (abundant with kaffir lime leaves), somewhere between mild and medium spicy and full of flavor. The portion is generous, if you add rice it should be enough for two people for lunch. There are only a few pieces of duck, but it’s abundant in veggies. I’d definitely get this again.
Yellow Curry ✔
My husband loved this dish of boneless chicken, potatoes, carrots and onions in a very thin yellow curry. I liked it too, but I felt the curry was too thin, it would have benefited from boiling it off some and concentrating the flavors. Still, there was plenty of chicken and plenty of curry for rice. We’ll order it again.
Spicy Smoky Pork✔
This was another winner. It had a crisp, delicious and unusual flavor. My husband loved it, but it was too spicy for me.
Ganesha Chicken Katsu Curry With Rice- Japanese Curry With Chicken Cutlet
This dish was just OK. The chicken katsu was tender, as one would expect, but it wasn’t very flavorful. The Japanese curry tasted just like Japanese curry, but unfortunately Japanese curries while tasty, are very heavy, so dipping the chicken in the curry helped, but it soon made the dish too heavy. I don’t think I’ll order it again.
Karaage Don – Japanese Fried Chicken Over Rice ☹
This was the fourth time I ordered this dish from Shef Masanori – and the first time I got it. I really shouldn’t have tried so hard, but I was curious about what Japanese fried chicken would be like. The answer, not great. It consisted of boneless strips of chicken in a very soggy breading. Extremely soggy. When you have nightmares about soggy friend chicken, it’s about this dish. Now, I realize that I microwaved it, but I microwave fried chicken all the time without this issue. The breading softens but it doesn’t disintegrate into mush as it did here.
The flavor was OK – though the white rice was sort of a waste who wants to eat white rice without a sauce? I definitely wouldnt order it again and I’m left with the doubt if this is how karaage don is all the time, or just how this shef cooked it.
Garlic Honey Glazed Grilled Chicken And Garlic Rice ✔
This was a pretty basic dish, but very homey and tasty. The flavors were not gourmet, but they were pleasant, and garlic rice is addictive. I’d have it again.
This was a very homey dish, just kofta and large chunks of potatoes in a thin tomato based sauce. It was good and very satisfying. Not something you’d have at a restaurant, but that’s the point of Shef – homefood. I’d get it again.
This Argentine couple makes good empanadas, but the meal consists of only two, which is not sufficient and makes them more expensive than those at local empanada restaurants.
Mushroom & Gorgonzola Empanadas
As an Argentinian who loves to make empanadas myself, I’m particularly picky about empanadas, so you shouldn’t be surprised about how critical I am of these ones. The main problem was how small the portion was. You only get 2 empanadas, which is fine as a snack, but not enough for lunch, much less dinner. As a child, I used to get 3 empanadas for lunch – you need at least 3 or 4 for an adult, particularly when they have a light filling such as mushrooms and gorgonzola. The filling was actually pretty good, not great, but good enough. The shells, however, needed more salt. They came with a little tub of chimichurri, which was good by itself, but didn’t compliment the flavor of the empanadas. I wouldn’t get them again.
Traditional Beef Empanadas
I had the same issue with these empanadas than the ones above. Two empanadas are just not enough and the shells are not that great. I did like the knife-cut beef, which was nicely flavored. It had that briny undertone of olives and a note of sweetness – though I didn’t see any raisins. I also loved that it didn’t have any hardboiled egg. But I wouldn’t order them again, mostly because they are a poor value.
Shef RUMEE S. – North Indian · Lucknowi · Delhi · Mumbai
Chicken Malai ✔
Chicken Mali is quickly becoming one of our favorite curries. My husband had it this time and enjoyed it a lot. It was well balanced, flavorful and just tasty. However, this curry suffered from the same issue as the last one we got (from a different Shef): bone-in cut up chicken. It’s impossible to get the meat from the small pieces of chicken using a fork and knife, so you have to pick it up with your hands, which is a mess given that the chicken is in the curry.
As usual, I understand that it’s authentic, but using boneless chicken – or even full thighs and legs – would be much more convenient.
Shef SARJO B. – Senegalese · African · Gambian · West African ✔ ✔
Another excellent Shef, her dishes are little more spicy than I like, but all very flavorful.
Jollof Rice With Beef ✔
This is another winner by Shef Sarjo. Both the beef and the rice were great, though a little more beef would have been better. They were very nicely spiced and better than any jollof rice I’ve had.
Jollof Rice With Chicken ✔
Another good meal. Loved the rice, the chicken was flavorful. I’ll definitely order again for myself. My daughter didn’t like it, which I’m noting to remind myself.
Peanut Butter Stew (Domoda) ✔
Mike liked it. He thought the sauce was very peanut buttery and the meat was tender and moist. He’d have it again. I just tasted the sauce and I felt the one I’d made was better, this one was missing some umami flavor.
Yassa Bone-in Chicken ✔
This dish was absolutely delicious. Yassa is one of my favorite dishes, and I have made it many, many times since I first started cooking over three decades ago – but this one was far better than any of mine. I don’t know what the secret is, though I did think I distinguished some mustard notes, and when I make it again I’ll see about adding some mustard. In any case, I really enjoyed it. There were a few problems, however.
First, as you can see from the photo, the chicken wasn’t cooked through. While chickens today are safer than in the past, there is always the risk of salmonella, and home cooks, as well as professional ones, should make sure the chicken is fully cooked. Second, the portion only came with one chicken drumstick – that was definitely not enough protein for a meal, even a lunch. The cook should add a second drumstick or a thigh. Third, the dish was too spicy for my taste. At an Indian, Thai or BBQ restaurant, this dish would be characterized as “medium spicy” and it’s just at the edge of what I can stand. To eat the onions – and boy, were the onions delicious – I had to add some rice. So when I order it again (and I will, despite these caveats), I’ll have to make sure I either order a side of rice or that one of the other meals comes with some.
I got this for my daughter who enjoyed many kosharis in Egypt. She liked the dish, but wasn’t fond of the sauce. I wouldn’t order it again.
Shef SHILPA P. – West Indian · Maharashtrian · Malvani · Marathi
This shef seems to no longer be cooking for Shef.
Kolhapuri Sukka Chicken
This was a very garam masala forward dish, slightly spicy – in the way garam masala is – but not particularly complex. The chicken was tender but also very bony, so a pain to eat. I’ve made Kolhapuri lamb before, and this dish reminded me of that. Mike liked it, though he also wished the chicken was boneless. I’m not huge on garam masala, so I wouldn’t order it again. Mike probably wouldn’t either.
Shef STACY L.– Southern · Soul Food · American · Comfort · Asian · Fusion
Fried Bbq Chicken Plate
I was intrigued by the idea of both frying and bbq’ing chicken. As it turned out, the extra step of frying was unnecessary. The chicken was moist, so there is that, and it had a nice flavor – but nothing to write home about. It was just a little bit spicy. It came with overly salted mash potatoes and corn. I don’t think we’d order it again.
Southern Fried Chicken
Shef screwed up for me this week and sent me two dishes I didn’t order instead of two I did. One of these was what I presume is Shef Stacy L.’s Crispy Southern Fried Chicken. It came with mashed potatoes and corn.
The dish didn’t work for me. I found the chicken was nice and crispy but the piece of chicken I ate had a disconcerting sour taste. I’m not sure if it’d gone bad (I didn’t have intestinal problems later, so I’m going to guess it didn’t), or if it’s something in the ingredients. In any case, I wouldn’t want to eat it again. My husband had the other piece and didn’t find it sour.
I was hoping that the mashed potatoes would be the saving grace, but they were impossibly salty. My husband agreed. The corn was just corn. I would definitely not order this again, as you can get better fried chicken at the supermarket for less.
Shef SUKHDEEP K.– North Indian · Punjabi · Clean · Desserts · Comfort · Vegetarian ✔
Butter Chicken ✔
Our third Shef butter chicken was the winner among those Shef has sent us. While the sauce was on the thin side and the dish could have used a little more chicken, it was very tasty – almost restaurant quality. It was mildly spiced. You definitely need rice to eat this with. Most importantly, my daughter liked it and would want it again
This was a fairly generic meat and potatoes stew. I wouldn’t call it a “curry” per se, in the sense of the spices and flavor profile that the word “curry” usually alludes to. However, according to my notes from when I cooked this dish myself years ago, this is precisely what it’s supposed to taste like: homey. As someone who likes meat and potato stews, I was pretty happy with it. The portion was generous.
This dish was OK. I enjoyed eating it, though I don’t see myself craving it. I think it might be better at a different time of year when basil is brighter/fresher – as it had a slightly bitter taste. It could have used a tad more sweetness, but the spiciness level was good, medium-mild, I’d say. It was an adequate portion. I might order this again.
Shef VANITA YADAV M.– Indian
This shef doesn’t seem to be listed anymore.
Andhra Chicken Curry (Kodi Kura) ✔
I gave this curry the old college try, but after a few bites, I just had to abandon it. It was way, way too spicy for me. In a restaurant, it would probably be described as somewhere between medium and hot. This is a pity, because the curry was very good. The chicken was so moist and tender that I actually thought it was lamb, and there were lots of it. I tend to prefer sweeter curries, this definitely was not that, but the flavor was complex and developed. It did not taste of curry powder, garam masala or anything of the sort. In all, a very successful dish even if I couldn’t eat it.
Chicken Adobo With Pickled Leeks With Jasmine Rice ✔
My husband really liked the chicken, it was very tasty and it didn’t have the skin on, which is a plus for him.
Chinese Cured Pork Belly And Sausage With Jasmine Rice
This dish was OK. Half of the tray was cabbage, which is not my thing. The sausage and pork belly were fine, not exciting, and there was something crunchy, brown and weird that neither I nor the dog liked. I wouldn’t order it again.
Shef VICTORIA S. – International · Southeast Asian · Vietnamese ✔
Caramelized Spare Ribs ✔
This dish came in several containers, and I didn’t realize that I was supposed to put them together into one until after I had eaten the actual spare ribs and looked at the picture of the dish online. Basically, it comes with a tub of spare ribs, one of sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, another with two hard boiled eggs and a final one of rice (white, not seasoned as in the website photo), and you are supposed to put it together into a plate. Together, they form a substantial plate of food – the ribs alone might be too little for a meal, though they are so rich, that I wouldn’t have been able to eat any more of them.
The ribs were very tender and tasty, but only slightly sweet and they had a tad too much fish sauce. Each bite is mostly bones or tendons which makes it a bit difficult to eat. But the flavor was there. Mike, in particular, really liked them and would want to order them again.
Shef WAYNE F. – North Indian · Indo-Chinese · Fusion · Indian
Butter Chicken ☹
This plate came in a 16 oz container, which is the container size you get at most local Indian restaurants when you order take out. The dish, however, contained relatively little chicken – it was mostly sauce. The chicken came in large chunks, but was tender enough that it came apart when cut with the fork. Unfortunately, the chicken itself lacked seasoning.
The sauce was just OK – somewhat better than jarred butter chicken sauce or the ones that come in frozen entrees, but not nearly as good as the best butter chicken sauces from our favorite Indian restaurants. It had some disconcerting bitter notes, that I couldn’t quite place, and it was a bit too acidic. It was only slightly spicy, which was to my taste. I wouldn’t order it again, but I didn’t mind eating it.
While I’d say there is only enough chicken for one meal, there is enough sauce for another half-meal if you eat it with rice or naan bread. For the price, I think I’d order it at a restaurant instead. —
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My daughter was home for the weekend from college and she wanted Ethiopian for dinner. I decided to give Awazi Kitchen a try because it was rather new and got great reviews on Yelp. It was fine, though not special enough to make me eager to come back.
The restaurant is located in downtown Oakland, next to what used to be Le Cheval. It has a large square room, with socially distanced tables. It was completely empty at 5 PM on a Saturday. This would be a good place to go with a crowd, as it has the space and at least at that time, you wouldn’t have to worry about sharing air with customers outside your group (I’m writing this review during the pandemic).
Their menu is pretty straightforward and serves the usual Ethiopian dishes you can get at most Ethiopian restaurants. You can order online and you can specify how you want your dishes made – I asked for two to be made mild and they complied.
Kik Alicha
We ordered the Kik Alicha (yellow split peas in a mild sauce, $13.3), the Gored Gored (beef cubes in sauce – $16.6) and the Meat Combo ($18), which included Doro Wot, Yebeg Alicha & Beef Wot. All the meals came with cooked vegetable sides and plenty of injera. I’d bought another portion of injera just in case, but it was completely unnecessary.
Both my husband and daughter were happy enough with their dishes – which tasted pretty much like you would expect. The wots were far less spicy than at other Ethiopian restaurants, however. The portions were generous and they both had leftovers.
I was less happy with my gored gored. Now, this is usually a raw meat dish, but in the menu description at Awazi Kitchen it said you could have it rare or medium-rare. I chose medium-rare but what I got was raw meat. I don’t necessarily have a problem with raw meat, but the beef cubes were too tough and chewy to be able to be eaten raw. If you are going to do a raw dish, you really need to use very tender meat – this wasn’t it. Fortunately, I was able to solve this problem by transferring the meat to a pot, adding some water and simmering it for about 10 minutes. It was pretty good then, but I would not order this dish again at Awazi Kitchen.
Los Angeles has several Ethiopian/Eritrean restaurants. Unfortunately, they are all on the same street, South Fairfax Avenue near downtown. That means that if you live in the San Fernando Valley, as does my family, you have to trek all the way to Los Angeles if you want to have some of this delicious and very unique food.
So that’s exactly what we did last month when I went to visit my family down south. My sister read of bunch of reviews and decided on Little Ethiopia (also the name of the neighborhood) – all in all, it was a good choice.
We were a large group, as quite a few of my family members went, including two babies. Fortunately, the restaurant was rather empty. We made a lot of noise! The staff was extremely accommodating and friendly. It’s definitely as family friendly a restaurant as you are likely to get.
The menu is pretty typical for an Ethiopan restaurant. We shared both the meat and the lentil sambusas as an appetizer ($8 for 3) and they were very tasty – though a bit too spicy for some of us (to be expected, this is Ethiopian food, after all). The 2-year old in our party really liked them, spice and all.
As an entree, I shared the $40 Ethiopian feast (pictured above) with my husband and daughter. It was probably not enough food for 3, but my daughter is a light eater and there was more food at the table. It comes with doro wat, alicha wat and tibs. They were all very tasty.
My vegan daughter shared the vegetarian combo ($15), which is vegan, and thought it was pretty good. She particularly liked the kik alicha (a split pea stew) and also ordered it as a side ($6).
Meanwhile, the spaghetti with tomato sauce ($11) satisfied the picky older child in our party, it was a large portion with plenty of leftovers.
While the restaurant is comfortable and very affordable, it’s probably not the most elegant restaurant on the street. If you’re in a date, one of the other ones may be better. But if you’re after good Ethiopian food in a familiar atmosphere, this will do it.
Last week my 16-yo daughter actually got a craving for Ethiopian food. We don’t eat Ethiopian food very frequently – maybe once or twice a year now -, so it was a surprising craving in her part. And as she said, how privileged is she that she gets to have a craving for Ethiopian food and have it satisfied.
We decided on Ethiopia Restaurant in Berkeley because they have a great Groupon deal: two appetizers, four entrees, two desserts and four glasses of wine for just $40. You need to add tax and tip, but I can’t imagine anywhere else you can get a deal anywhere as good as this (if you know of one, let me know!).
We had been to Ethiopia Restaurant before, and this time it didn’t disappoint either: the food was just delicious. We started with the sambousas, the Arab/African version of Indian samosas: triangles of phillo-dough style pastry, filled with either lentils or meat, fried and served with a red sauce. They were pretty good.
My 16-yo ordered the nene’wee, a sampler of 5 vegetarian dishes you pick from 12 choices. She absolutely loved the yekik alicha, a yellow split pea dish that they also serve as a side for other dishes. Next time, she may just order this. She was happy enough with the kinche (bulgur), but the other three dishes she chose were too spicy for her. The engudai we’t, a mushroom “stew” (actually mushrooms cooked in a butter or oil based sauce), tasted very much like t’ibs wet, its beef version. The sauce was exactly the same. The yemisier we’t (red lentils) and shiro we’t (garbazo beans) seemed to have different sauces, but they were equally spicy.
The meat-eaters among us ordered the yebeg alicha (lamb “stew”), yebeg t’ibs (sauteed lamb) and the meat combo which comes with doro we’t (chicken “stew”), t’ibs wet and yebeg alicha. They brought the first two dishes in a huge tray, on top of injera, but they forgot to add the third – so the tray looked very empty. It wasn’t until we were finished with the food that we were able to reach out to call the waitress and have her bring the meat combination (we were still hungry, so we needed it). I got the distinct impression that you get more food by ordering your meal individually rather than family style, so next time we’ll do that.
All of us really liked the yebeg dishes, though one of us had to be told it was beef for her to try it (here is hoping she doesn’t read this review). We particularly liked the sauteed lamb dish. The t’ibs and doro wet dishes were both spicy, though my husband enjoyed them. The rest of us are wimps.
Whether individual or family style, dishes are served with the split pea stew outlined above and a simple salad of lettuce, tomatoes and onions. We ordered a bowl of rice which my daughter didn’t like (my husband tasted it and said it had butter in it), but which they didn’t charge us for. The injera is made with teff and was cold, but otherwise good.
For dessert, one of my daughters had the baklava, which was a pretty small piece, and the other the chocolate mousse pie. They both seemed happy.
I had a glass of the chardonay, which was sweet but good. My daughter had a sparkling apple cider – they didn’t charge us for that either, but we declined the 3 other glasses of wine.
Service was good and friendly, but the two waitresses were overwhelmed with the full dining room – that’s why it was very difficult to get their attention during the meal.
Groupon says you can buy a voucher for this deal every 30 days, so I’m planning to go again next month.
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