Ras Dashen Going Downhill?

I used to swear by Ras Dashen restaurant, considering it one of the best Ethiopians in the country, but after the last couple of visits, I'm not so sure. The food seemed indifferent, the injera cold and actually <i>stale</i>, and the usually inept but friendly service even worse. What's going on here? Has there been a change of ownership, a new chef, or some other change?

The kids and I tried the new Addis Abeba restaurant in Evanston a few weeks ago (I assume this is the new location as the old Addis down in Wrigleyville), and were pretty favorably impressed. I didn't consider the food as good as the old Ras Dashen (but better than the current), and the service was friendly and reasonably prompt.

Anybody else have any thoughts on the subject?

Thanks for posting! Addis Abeba was our favorite Ethiopian in Chicago and I am excited to hear that they are back! Their website implies that they are a new reincarnation of another place with its announcement that they "are back", and a source called dinesite.com also suggests that the wrigley owners were moving to a new location in Evanston.

It's a bit of a haul for us, but I look forward to finding a reason to be in Evanston soon! Our favorites at the old location were both the zilzil tips and the spicy lamb yebeg wat.


New location:
1322 Chicago Avenue
Evanston, IL 60201
http://www.addis-abeba.net/

We'll also have to give Ras Dashen a try soon too -- not sure how, but looking at the pictures on their own page, we don't think we've tried it!

We haven't noticed any change in Ras Dashen. Ate there most recently a few weeks ago and we average once or twice every month or so. Doro alicha, yebeg tibs, timatim fitfit, kik alicha, diblik atkilt and injera, all good as usual. Under the same ownership and chef as far as I know. We've had a few off meals there over the years but overall it remains our favorite Ethiopian restaurant in Chicago.

Perhaps I spoke too soon.

Our last couple of visits to Ras Dashen, in the last 2or 3 weeks, have been marked by across the board overly-peppered dishes. Not to the point of ruin or anything, but dishes that for years have been pretty consistent have been off. Capsaicin burn after kik alicha has never been a problem in the past, but we've run into it lately.

Has anyone else had similar experiences? Or have we just caught them on a couple of pepper-heavy nights?

Note: We both like spicy food, but it just wasn't working in certain dishes that have never been that way before.

I was there a month or so ago and both The Wife and I very much enjoyed it. However, that was my first trip there, so I didn't have a benchmark.

We did like it enough to schedule another visit with some first-timers in about two weeks, so I'll report back.

I did not notice, as John Beadle reports, stale injera -- the night we were there, it was very moist, pliable and slightly-sour delicious. I would trust his judgment, though, so maybe we lucked out.

Hammond

We had a pretty average lunch at Ras Dashen two weekends ago. I have never been a huge fan, although I hadn't any specific issues with other meals. Our meal for four included yemisir wat, kik alitcha, some kind of fish tibs, yebeg alitcha, can't remember all the other sides. Nothing was superlative, and several things were a bit heavy on the vinegar (or whatever ingredient adds sourness). I would have preferred pepper-heavy, as nothing was all that spicy either. We ate everything we were served, so it wasn't that bad! One of our sides whose name I forget was pretty good. It reminded me of tabbouleh without the bulgar.

I will admit that every time I go to Ras Dashen, I am comparing it aggressively to Ethiopian Diamond, which has been my go-to spot for years, and it always comes up that I decide I'd rather my next trip be back to E.D. (or to a new Ethiopian spot) instead of back to R.D.

MrsF and I went to Addis Abeba in Evanston last night, and were favorably impressed.

I've eaten in that storefront years ago when it was New Japan in the mid 80's. I have no idea how many restaurants it's been since, but the Japanese screens are still on the windows.

We went with one Meat combo, one Veg-Meat combo, giving the two of us three veggie and three carnie entrees to split (plus two salad portions -- lots of garlic and lemon juice on pretty ordinary salad ingredients):

• Yeater kik Alitcha: Yellow split peas in garlic and ginger
• Inquotdai: Mushrooms and yellow split peas. Rather unimpressive, with few mushrooms, and not distinctly different from YKA above.
• Mitin Shiro: decribed as "Roasted, powdered chick peas simmered in spiced butter with cinnamon and cloves, served in spicy wot", it resembled a thick mole -- nutty and rich with brown spices. It'd make a great party dip with pita chips. One of the best items of the night
• Doro tibs: Chicken stir-fried with onions and peppers. nicely spicy, and very flavorful. Another hit
• Yebeg Alitcha: Lamb slow cooked with onion, garlic and turmeric. Very tasty
• Yesiga wot: spicy beef stew, but not really much spicier than the alitcha

Service was attentive and friendlly. Compared to Ras Dashen, there's some pros and cons: Everything (at least of what we ordered) at AA was boneless, which is a lot easier to deal with in a dinner with no plates. RD had a bigger tray for initial serving, meaning not everything got mixed together quite as much (although I think the portion sizes were similar). RD also had a very nice fresh cheese on their menu whch MrsF was hoping to find at AA.

I'd go back to either one.

I quite like the Queen of Sheba Cafe, if you need a new Ethiopian place to eat. Everything is made from scratch, which can mean a substantial wait for dinner, but either an appetizer or chatting over cocktails easily fills the time. Every meal I've had there has been great. It's a little hole-in-the-wall sort of place, but the cuisine is top notch. And as a bonus, it's only about half a block from a great Asian grocery store, so after stuffing yourself with Beg Wat, Siga Tibs, and Injera, you can walk it off cruising the aisles of the Asian store.

Queen of Sheba Cafe
5403 N. Broadway
Chicago