I'm glad to hear that others enjoyed themselves. Perhaps I was being too critical?

GAF wrote:I found the beet and potato salad to be excellent, and unlike any other Ethiopian dish I have had.

Beets are on the top of my list of foods that I would like to love, but just don't. I appreciate them, but never order them. Glad that you found them to be a highlight.

GAF wrote:It has been a long time since I ate Ethiopian food in DC, but I found the dishes fairly comparable to other Ethiopian restaurants in Chicago: some dishes better, some not so good.

D.C. certainly has many mediocre Ethiopian restaurants. In fact, RAB and I for years had felt lukewarm about Ethiopian food, likely because we'd only had the Adams Morgan and Georgetown versions, which largely cater to non-Ethiopians. When we moved to the Shaw neighborhood, near the Ethiopian restaurant hub, we started visiting the places frequented by the large Ethiopian community in D.C. We found dishes that were superior to anything we'd tried previously, and we started actually craving Ethiopian food. Our favorite spot was also a cab driver favorite - - in addition to some of the best Ethiopian food in D.C., they sold batteries and DVDs, and doubled as a butcher shop. RAB and I would enjoy a huge meat and veggie feast for no more than $18.

I suppose it's difficult to explain the difference between the best in D.C. and what I've tasted in Chicago (perhaps RAB, whose palette is superior to mine, can weigh in). Without question, the meat was of better quality (heck, our favorite spot was also a butcher). After that, I think it's a difference in quality of cooking/seasoning.

Ronnie says that he's never been blown away by Ethiopian food. I felt the same way before frequenting the Shaw Ethiopian spots in D.C. Unlike in Chicago, the Ethiopian restaurants in Shaw cater to Ethiopians - - at our favorite spot in D.C., RAB and I were almost always the only diners who weren't Ethiopian. And, we always found that we were welcome in restaurants frequented by Ethiopians - - and almost never felt that the food had been changed to what they thought we'd prefer.

GAF wrote:But any restaurant that can provoke such an outpouring of LTH love between Gary and Ronnie deserves some kind of award. It must have been something in the air.

There was some LTH love going on, for sure, but also references to an unhappy English muffin experience and child strangling. So, despite appearances, it wasn't all peaches and cream in the middle of the table.

And, last but certainly not least, thanks to Ronnie for his "Rookies of the Year" suggestion. Honestly, we're just happy to have been so warmly welcomed into the LTH community. What's better than getting together with a bunch of wonderful people and sharing a meal?

Thanks to RAB and REB for organizing the event!

I thought the food was tasty but I'm not really sure that I could distinguish between good Ethiopian and excellent Ethiopian. I've never been blown away by this cuisine

I'll echo Ronnie's statement. Although I've often found Ethiopian to be a good option for a diverse vegetarian meal (I hadn't tried any of the meat dishes before last night.), it's never been a "go-to" cuisine for me. The meal at Lalibela didn't change that. Some of the items I found to be very tasty, including the beet-potato-carrot salad, the sambusa, the various lentil dishes, the collard greens and the saucy lamb dish. REB and I both agreed that we would have liked more sauce on the dishes.

If you RAB & REB ever find a restaurant that meets their high expectations, I'd love to be invited along to see if Ethiopian can become a new favorite of mine as well (of course, I may just have to visit DC).

Alright, I guess I'll weigh in. I agree with most of what REB said, so I'll try not to repeat her general criticisms. I will stress, however, that the owners were very, very excited to have us and certainly tried hard to please. It saddens me that I can't rave about the food at this obviously struggling restaurant. That said, I've gotta call it like I see it.

In general, I fear that Lalibela was understaffed, even though our group were the only diners present last night. My guess is that with only one person in the kitchen, all of the entrees were made well in advance of our meal, and suffered for it. My other overarching problem is that the food did not seem to be "homestyle." That is, I think Lalibela's choice of ingredients and spicing are geared to what they perceive to be American tastes. More on this below...

Some specifics on what we ate (in particular, about the meat dishes), in roughly the order they were served:

1. Awaze Tibs and Zilzil Tibs (beef) - I thought these were tough, gristly, and generally indistinguishable from each other. As others have pointed out, these dishes are better when they soak the underlying injera in a combination of spices and meat juices. These kinda just sat on top. Also, awaze is a fiery red sauce. To my taste, both of these dishes should have been far spicier.

2. Doro Tibs (chicken) - While admitting a bias against chicken breast meat, I thought this dish was dangerously close to inedible. The flavor was fine, but I couldn't manage more than a bite of the rubbery chicken strips. In fact, when settling up, I expressed my disappointment with this dish and asked why they didn't use dark meat. (The only kind of chicken that I've ever had at Ethiopian places has been bone-in dark meat.) The owners were shocked. "Americans like white meat! This is one of our most popular dishes." They admitted that they, themselves, prefer this dish using dark meat, but insisted that they are catering to their market. As much as I disagree with this logic, I gave up the fight pretty quickly because they were sure that they are right.

3. Kifto (beef tartare) - This was a fairly good (if a bit underseasoned) rendition of the Ethiopian classic. I liked the house-made herby cheese.

4. Lalibela Special Tibs - These were the chunks of barely cooked lamb. This was a new dish for me, and I liked it. But I like raw meat. Enough said.

5. Yesega Wat - This was the braised lamb dish that unfortunately came out last, after most of us were already full. It was very good. I was stuffed, but I ate it anyway. The key here, I think, was that a braised dish did not suffer from being made in advance.

The bottom line here is that the food was meh, at best. The company however, was terrific. It was great to have such a large crowd come out on a school night, and I can't imagine a dinner for 20 going much more smoothly. As the new kids in town, I really appreciate the warm welcome that Ronna and I have received from the community.

RAB wrote:My guess is that with only one person in the kitchen, all of the entrees were made well in advance of our meal, and suffered for it.

I was surprised that a number of dishes had meat verging on tough - especially when the sambusas came out hot and freshly fried, a necessarily a la minute preparation. I also had it in my head that because most Ethiopian dishes were well-sauced that they were braised dishes that might hold up well as the night wears on. If that's true in general, it seemed less so last night.

That being said, I did enjoy many of the vegetable offerings. The beet salad was good albeit spicier than any Ethiopian dish I had had to that point. The mustardy lentil dish as well as the acidic collards were also very good (I like acid). The brisket at the end was saucy and tasty, but like RAB, I was full at that point. There may have been something to jesteinf's meat meitosis delusions, because I didn't feel like I could make much of a dent in the kitfo either.

The special tibs described by RAB above were a new experience for me. I think I'll take my lightly cooked meat in smaller, less chewy pieces, thanks.

But, if I were going again, I would try the place again in a smaller group where things were made to order (to give Lalibela a fair shot). But if I don't leave with a saucy stain, then they have some 'splainin to do

As others have mentioned, the company made the meal. Thanks to Rich and Ronna for getting folks together and everyone who made the evening such a convivial experience.

RAB wrote:3. Kifto (beef tartare) - This was a fairly good (if a bit underseasoned) rendition of the Ethiopian classic. I liked the house-made herby cheese.

4. Lalibela Special Tibs - These were the chunks of barely cooked lamb. This was a new dish for me, and I liked it. But I like raw meat. Enough said.

RAB, REB, Germuska,

Thanks for setting up a very enjoyable evening, interesting food, terrific company and a couple of dishes hit a high note. In particular I liked raw beef Kifto and the lightly seared rare inside lamb chunks. As with much of the food I found my two favorites underseasoned, kifto needing berbere (chili powder) which our host brought to the table upon request, and the dead-rare lamb needing salt.

Kifto (beef tartare)



Lalibela Special Tibs



Ellen commented both at dinner and the next morning how she liked the mushrooms, which I understand to not be common, at least as a stand alone.



Surprisingly good turnout for mid week, a very enjoyable evening on all counts.



REB, RAB, Hirut Ayele, Germuska



Enjoy,
Gary

I feel like I need to add a bit to my brief thanks post ...

I thought the food was fine, but maybe a bit dumbed-down for the gringos, and I guess reading the comments above, that may be the restaurant's intention. Gary's idea of asking for additional berbere to sprinkle on the raw lamb was inspired; it added a great spark to what was already one of the better dishes.

As far as the style, I'll be the first to admit that I know nothing about the regional styles of Ethiopean cuisine (other than the primer I read in the April 2008 issue of Saveur), but I did think that most offerings were a little dry, and missed the sauces sinking into the injera.

My favorite Ethiopean restaurant in the area is still Addis Abbeba, although that's probably heavily influenced by the fact that it's just around the corner for my house. Still, our Evanston Lunch Group™ had a good meal there a couple of years ago, and, although judging from the neighborhood, they're clearly not trying to appeal to an exclusively native Ethiopean population, I don't think what they offer is quite as Americanized as at Lalibela.