This Blue Nile Restaurant is sanitized for the suburban masses. It’s watered down for those who aren’t used to the taste. The clientele in this case is mostly college students and faculty, overwhelmingly caucasian. It was sort of interesting to see Ethiopian garb on caucasian waitresses. There was African décor and carvings on the booths--a nice touch. I definitely liked the hot towels to clean our hands before eating. We sat at a communal basket-woven table. My friend ordered iced tea, while I ordered the tej honey wine. We sampled each other’s drinks. I really liked the iced tea. The rose hips, cinnamon, orange, and lemon peel gave it a unique flavor. I was a bit disappointed in the tej wine. I’ve had better.

We ordered the Ethiopian feast, which came with several meat dishes and vegetable dishes on a big tray that was placed on the woven table. For our meat dishes, we picked two chicken dishes (doro wat, chicken simmered in berbere, a dark, rich, tangy sauce, and doro alecha, chicken cooked in niter kibbeh herbed butter with onions and green peppers) and a lamb dish, yebeg alecha, which is lamb cooked in niter kibbeh with onions and green peppers. We had kik alecha (yellow peas with green peppers, onions, and herbs), tekil gomen (sautéed cabbage with onions, peppers, and spices), and timatim salata (romaine lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and hot green peppers with fresh lemon juice and olive oil). I’m not sure if it’s a regional difference or not, but the spices were a lot blander than what I was used to. For those who aren’t familiar with Ethiopian cuisine, you tear off pieces of the spongy bread called injera to wrap around morsels of food before popping it into your mouth. It’s easy to become stuffed, because the injera expands in your stomach quickly.

After our meal, we were so stuffed, we couldn’t even look at the dessert menu. We didn’t bother to take any leftovers home, since we had done a decent job of demolishing our dinner. Even the thought of some Ethiopian coffee was too much. The owner came to greet each us before we paid for our meal. I noted that he visited each table to welcome his customers to his restaurant. An excellent touch.

If you want upscale Ethiopian, this is the place. It's a different world from homestyle Ethiopian cafés, but it’s just as affordable. I think it’s an excellent place for an introduction to Ethiopian cuisine.