Okay, so tonight I decided to take matters into my own hands and visit Ras Dashen, in order to determine if Ethiopian Diamond is worthy of a GNR. G Wiv insists that it doesn't matter if another place is better, what matters is that somebody nominated a place that's good and resonates for them, always with the resonating. In other words, it's all about the place in and of itself. A GNR is an island.

Yeah, but every restaurant exists in the context of its ethnic grouping or genre, too. We can defend our list of Thai restaurants, our list of Chinese restaurants, our list of hot dog joints as genuinely representing a list of the best such places in town. I wanted to make sure we could say the same for Ethiopian Diamond.

We went and sat at one of the lounge chairs around a big basket, which delighted the kids, and I, African food neophyte still, ordered as best I could, following this JamPhil post among other things.

The verdict? The two things that we'd had closely similar items to at Ethiopian Diamond-- collard greens and a garbanzo stew (which, incidentally, my younger son loved)-- I had to give the prize to Ethiopian Diamond. The collard greens didn't compare to E.D.'s tart-lemony version.

However, other things we had were striking in their own. The komodoro fetfet, a bread salad, seems redundant when all you have to eat it with is more bread, but was spicy and tart in the best middle-eastern salad way. A chicken dish had a nicely flavorful Indian curry-like sauce. A potato and green bean side was oddly but very likably sweet, like a chutney.

Overall, I'd say Ras Dashen had about the same ratio of some things being bright and flavorful, others being mushy and long-stewed-tasting, as Ethiopian Diamond. Service was very friendly and reasonably speedy. The boys, who'd sort of tolerated the Ethiopian Diamond meal, really got into it this time, showing Mom how to eat with injera; Liam even said he wanted to have his birthday party either here, or at Wrigley Field. (There's no higher praise from him.)

So based on my one meal at each, I'd have a hard time picking out one or the other as noticeably the better of the two. Which means, why not. Ethiopian Diamond for a GNR.

My experience with Ethiopian food not all that deep, however, I prefer E/Diamond's injera to Ras Dashen's -- and I wish I would have ordered coffee ... given my jones for the bean

I met up with a group of old friends last night at Ethiopian Diamond and we ordered a large amount of food and beer.

One of the things that I've found about Ethiopian Diamond is that I find myself drawn to their vegetarian choices much more than their meats. Lentils, cabbage, beans, and greens are all excellent and addictive. While we had a number of dishes (including a whole fried fish), I kept finding my injera drawn to the to lentils.

If you haven't been there in a while, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Overall, an excellent meal (although more expensive than I expected). Ethiopian Diamond has moved higher on my list of "places to take vegetarian friends" (of which I have quite a few).

Best,
Michael

I ate at Ethiopian Diamond for the first time last night. While the atmosphere was fun (especially on a dreary Monday night) and the service was good, the food was disappointing.

The many veggie dishes were bland, with no bright flavors and nothing to distinguish one pile from another. Everything tasted tired and underseasoned. The lamb was too chewy/gristly and was not delivered spicy, as we requested and emphasized. Injera, while sufficiently sour, fell apart too easily - - the texture was off.

I've now been to four Chicago Ethiopian places - - Ethiopian Diamond, Ras Dashen, Demera, and Lalibela. Ras Dashen is the only one I'd consider returning to. It wasn't great, but it satisfied a craving for Ethiopian food.

There are many cuisines that shine in Chicago. Ethiopian isn't one of them.

Ronna