Kat's 9 Lives

I remember when I first came to Zeni Ethiopian. It was a very long time ago with Ms. Lin and my Mom. In my memories I remember this place was located in a dumpy strip mall but the Ethiopian food was tasty and this place was not busy at all. I always remind Ms. Lin to make reservations everywhere we go just in case because I'd rather be on the safe side than have to wait. Her normal response is that the place won't be that busy so don't worry. Of course when we arrived here this place was PACKED! Wow, how times have changed. Everyone is worried about the economy and recession, but you really can't tell at this place or eating out in the Bay Area. Most restaurants are packed with people I must say. This restaurant really hasn't changed much since our last visit, which might have been over 5 years ago. We sat there and waited for a table to open up so that we can get a seat. It was not a good sign when we saw that most of the people here still had their menus. As always, Ethiopian restaurants take a really long time to serve. Eventually we got a seat in the more traditional area, sitting in the authentic Ethiopian chairs and using a straw woven table. We both love the cute table top. The only thing is I am recovering from extreme back pains and the day I was leaving it was starting to act up again... so let's just say this way of eating was not the best thing for my back. =*(We were going to order 3 dishes, but we decided to wait on making sure it's the dish we really like. I told Ms. Lin that it wouldn't be a good idea because the wait must be very long but she argued that we wouldn't want a dish that we might not like so I reluctantly agreed. As it turns out we should have ordered it all at once because it would take ANOTHER 40 mins for the dish to come out. I know this place is busy but BOY do they take their time! Some of the dishes are not even cooked and they take that long! We got the Ye-Beg Tibs. It's chunks of Lamb sauteed with Onions, Tomato, Green Pepper, and Purified Butter. The dish comes out on a sizzling platter and the server will scoop everything onto the big injera with the other dishes. I usually like this dish a lot because it's always full of meat with a firm seared texture. This dish was not as good as I remembered and it needed more flavor. Still, meat is meat and the texture was decent enough that I could tolerate this dish. It ended up that I mainly ate this because everything else was not that great.Generally we order a combo plate to share. We ordered their Meat Combination, which is a great deal. It contains Alitcha Fitfit, Doro Wot, Beef Kitfo, and Home-made Cheese. In the center of the large Injera is their salad that I always enjoy. The salad and cheese always lightens the spice and enhances the taste. The fitfit was Lamb with Bones cooked in Mild Green Pepper Sauce, and mixed with pieces of Injera before it's served. I thought this dish was extremely disappointing. There was no flavor or taste at all. It's one of the worst fitfit I have had. Normally I love the taste and the sauce that the injera absorbs in. Beef Kitfo is like an Ethiopian Steak Tartar. It's Lean Round Steak seasoned with Purified & Herbed Butter, and Hot-Spiced Chili Powder (mitmita). I can only eat so much of this dish before I get sick of it. Their version was not too spicy or maybe I am able to take spicier foods. The best way to eat this dish is to compliment it with the salad and some home-made cheese that will bring out the taste of the kitfo. Doro Wot was a Drumstick cooked in a Hot & Thick Red Pepper, Onions, Garlic, Ginger, and Purified Butter Sauce. It's quite hard to eat the drumstick with the injera without any help since the meat doesn't easily fall off. The flavor was so-so, but not worth the effort for me. We had to work together to pull of the meat with the injera. All in all the food was a little disappointing. The prices were very reasonable for the amount of food you get. Maybe I was expecting too much? Maybe time has not been kind on them and they have fallen backwards in food quality & taste? Maybe things are never as good as you remember? I had to start the debate about this with Ms. Lin because it is NOT true. How can I say this? Well aren't there places that you still love or frequent often? I named one good example that I am sure even Ms. BumbleBee would agree with me. Sushi Sam's! ^_^ It's not fair to say that it's never as good as you remembered because there are places that you keep going and love. I think the phrase is a scape goat or a lie that we tell ourselves so that we will keep going back to these restaurants that aren't worth the trip. Zeni Ethiopian Restaurant

Recently I have been on a huge Ethiopian craving and I was wondering where I could take my best pal E to for dinner that would be cheap & good. What better way than to introduce her to Ethiopian food because it is not costly, a new experience, and good. I mapped out if going to Little Ethiopia would be very far from Lobster Fest, but one day I happen to see that there was one in Anaheim! I was so excited and eagerly awaiting the chance to take someone with me to try it! So of course on our way back from Lobster Fest I had to stop by Merhaba for a quick bite!
The restaurant is tucked away in the corner of a strip mall. We were both still VERY FULL from Lobster Fest since all we did was eat Eat EAT! O=9 So we decided to just order 2 dishes. Normally I would be very greedy and be compelled to try a bunch! Also I debated a long time about ordering the Ethiopian coffee but I was afraid it would be like the one we had at Messob. Eventually after a long debate I decided not to since it would be a huge waste if I don't like it and E doesn't like it. That would be $12 down the drain. At Messob it wasn't as bad because there were 8 of us. For our main dishes I decided to get the Zel Zel Tibsy and Kelwa Bighe Tseada. The tibsy is home grilled Beef Strips Seasoned with Assorted Spices and tossed with Onion & Green Pepper. It's not really that spicy but it was seasoned well and the meat was decent. The kelwa is mild saute of Lamb. I liked this more than the beef because it was more flavorful and the meat was more tender.
As usual, there are no utensils provided in Ethiopian/Eritrean food. You use the Enjera/Injera to pick up all the food to eat. I don't think E really enjoyed the dining style and found the enjera/injera a little awkard. The food tasted decent, but to her they were nothing out of the ordinary or distinct to make her think it's Ethiopian. I told her that I ordered the safer foods because she would probably never eat the Kitfo, which is raw meat, or other more adventurous dishes. Personally, I thought the food was decent and the service was fine. Would I seek this place out? Most likely not, but then again it is slim pickin's in the OC for Ethiopian food. We will see in the future! ^_^ It's definitely not the best Ethiopian/Eritrean I've had but it's solid still.

Merhaba

To start off the trip, I researched a bunch of places to try in Vegas that's reasonably priced and fun for the whole family. This trip my Dad decided to tag along and we had to change our plans drastically. I mean it's fun that he comes along, but he also comes with baggage. Ms. Lin and I were WRACKING our brains out trying to find places that are cheap and good. For those of you who frequent Vegas, you KNOW that for great food there it will cost you an arm AND a leg. By chance I came across Merkato, an Ethiopian restaurant off the Strip. Word to the wise, having a car in Vegas will be extremely helpful in getting around. ESPECIALLY in the sweltering heat of the summer! When we arrived around 10-11PM it was still 110 degrees. Needless to say it was hot and stuffy!
We ordered the Merkato Derek Lamb Tibs that were fried pieces of Lamb tossed with Jalapeños and Onions. I liked the texture a lot, even though it was a little on the dry side. It's lightly flavored and tasty. We decided to get Mahberawi that included YeBeg Wot, Tibs, and Vegetables. The YeBeg Wot is Lamb cooked in Garlic, Onions, Purified Butter, and "Berbere" peppers. I always love to eat the Injera that is soaked in the sauce. It's also not a very spicy dish, which is good for my stomach. The Tibs was Beef with Seasoned Butter, Fresh Tomatoes, Awaze, Green Pepper, and Onions. This was tasty and they added another dish to the platter that was almost exactly like the Awaze Tibs, but without Tomatoes. We also ordered the Balageru that was Special Cubes of Beef prepared with Onions, Garlic, Red Pepper, and Purified Butter. This tasted just like the Merkato Derek Lamb Tibs, but with beef and more meat! How can you go wrong with something fried! I really only ate the Tibs because they were flavorful and not too spicy. The fried texture was dry but good, except I started getting really tired of chewing. Don't worry, I took a break and persevered! ^_^
Just as a quick refresher to those who have never had Ethiopian food, Injera is the spongy bread that they eat. It's meant to help pick up the food since you are suppose to eat with your hands and it helps mellow out the strong flavors of the food as well as compliment the taste. Ms. Lin waned to order the Kitfo, the Ethiopian version of Steak Tartar. It's Lean Chopped Beef minced, blended, and delicately seasoned in Hot Spice MitMita. This dish is usually spicier and you must like raw meat. Unfortunately, Ms. Lin had to remind our Dad that it's raw meat! So he stopped eating. At first he thought it was just cooked meat so he ate it without any complaints. Of course Ms. Lin forgot that he doesn't eat meat unless it's well-done! She needs to take her Gingko-Biloba! She basically had to eat the rest of the Kitfo by herself. I did try to help her, but I am not that big of a Kitfo fan.
All in all it was a nice way to start off the Vegas trip. It fit the criteria of our Dad. We also wanted to expose him to different cultures and he has never had Ethiopian food so it was a totally different experience for him. I do think restaurants in Little Ethiopia in LA tastes better, but the food at Merkato was still pretty good. If you come to Vegas and want to try something new or expose others to a different dining experience, then keep this place in mind. The service was friendly and you can tell by looking at the people who dine there that it suits the pallette of Ethiopians. Always a good sign! ^_^

Merkato

Say good-bye to the same ole same ole. While we were in LA on Friday we decided to have some Ethiopian food in Little Ethiopia. Tofu chose Ethiopian since he has never been, he's so sheltered! I will have to keep taking him up to LA to show him what the world has to offer in food! Next time I will bring Mango & Coconut up so we can all go to Moroccan.
We went in a group of 6 to Messob. For half the group, this was definitely a first time experience for them. Earlier in the day we called ahead and reserved a table, but it didn't do any good. We arrived at 8:30PM and the place was packed. More and more people came in after us. The interior was very dimly lit. There was a lot of traditional settings and furniture. It's a very quaint atmosphere. One good thing that people might not know about this place was that it offered free valet parking.
One of my friends decided to try the Honey Wine upon my recommendation. I have had it at other Ethiopian restaurants and it really reminds me of the Hungarian wine, Tokaiji, but stronger. At Messob they offered their own homemade mead and it was different from what I had the first time. I agree that it tasted more like a honey rice wine, closer to Asian wines. I wouldn't recommend their honey wine.
We ordered three combination platters from the dinner menu and we all chose the same thing. The three items were Doro Wot, Siga Wot, and Yebeg Siga Alicha. This also includes a salad and Tomato Fit Fit, which I believe was tomatoes tossed in Injera. There are no utensils given and everything is eaten by hand. All of these dishes come with the Injera, which you use to pick up and eat all the food. It's a spongy flat unleavened bread that's usually prepared from Teff (Ethiopian grown grain), barley, corn, and millet. This was a very typical bread, but I have had ones that resemble a pancake that tastes much better. I am not a big fan of the spongy texture and sour flavor, but it's extremely useful in picking up the food. Having the texture of a sponge prevents the sauces from immediately soaking through.
The Doro Wot was chicken stewed in red pepper sauce with an assortment of spices. It was very difficult to eat the chicken leg since you can only use your hands. I felt it was kind of bland because the sauce was mostly on the outside and there wasn't much flavor on the chicken itself. I don't think it's because of the restaurant, instead I think that's how the dish is normally. For Siga Wot they use strips of beef braised in red pepper sauce with assorted spices. Since the beef was in smaller pieces it was able to absorb the sauce and flavor. The best thing of the night was the Yebeg Siga Alicha! It's a lamb stew delicately spiced with garlic, ginger, and other spices. This was not spicy at all and packed full of flavor. You can taste the aromatic flavor of the lamb along with all the spices that complimented the natural taste of the meat. Sadly there wasn't that much on the platter, next time I plan to just get this!We all ordered one more dish to share amongst one another. Tofu and I shared the Tibs that was cubes of beef with onion, tomato, garlic, green chilies, and spiced butter. At first we ate the lamb and though that we should have ordered more lamb. Luckily we stuck with the Tibs because it was much more flavorful than the other lamb dish we were looking at. The meat was semi-tender and had a light flavor. Avoid the green chilies if you don't love spicy, I ate a piece touching the it and boy did it pack a punch!A&K decided to share the Awaze Tibs. It was cubes of beef with onion, tomato, hot red pepper, and spiced butter. They thought that this dish was the best part of the platter. The other three dishes from the combo were nothing compared to the Awaze Tibs. A insisted that it was much better than the Tibs we got. =-P
Burumun and her friend showed up SUPER late! So they asked that I order for them and I ordered them the same combo along with the lamb dish that Tofu & I were debating on trying. I told Tofu later on that luckily we didn't get the Kikil. It's cubes of lamb with onion, green pepper, garlic, and collard greens cooked Ethiopian style. There wasn't really any flavor to this dish. I believe the collard greens probably masked the natural flavor of the lamb and absorbed all the savoriness of the spices.
After reading some reviews online I was very curious in trying the Authentic Ethiopian Coffee served in traditional Jebaen, clay percolator. One order served 2-5 people and believe one order was more than enough. They brought out the coffee beans to let us smell them as they were roasted, heated. At first it was very aromatic, but quickly turned into a burning smell. The coffee was sooooooooooooooooooo BITTER and the burnt flavor seeped in through your nose as well as your taste buds. I drank one full cup and Burumun tried to dump her cup into mine but I refused! Yipes, I don't know if that was how their coffee normally tastes but now I will be too frightened to try this in other places. I don't think any of us liked it. All I have to say is that I miss my cafe au lait from Paris!All in all the food was good and I loved the Yebeg Siga Alicha! The service was friendly, but very slow. I think that happens at all Ethiopian restaurants. There's a lot of time from when you order the dish and when you get it. Tofu and I were the first there and slowly the rest of our friends started to arrive. Our meal lasted from 8:30 PM to past 11PM, but we still made it to Pinkberry! I think I would come back here, but not before I finish trying all the other Ethiopian restaurants next door and right across the street!

Messob