Ethiopian Food with Anna and Jenny

Anna's friend Jenny was visiting her family in MD (she lives in TX) for Christmas, and it was the perfect chance for all of us to get together. Good thing we all like food and do not shy away from interesting cuisines. One of the reasons I like living in DC is the diversity: be it people or food or both! This time we decided to check out Dukem, and Ethiopian restaurant in U Street neighborhood. Both Anna and I have had Ethiopian food before, but have never been to Dukem. For Jenny, however, this was her first taste of Ethiopian cuisine.



The restaurant was pretty empty on a Friday afternoon, and we were able to choose our own table. It took a while for our waitress to take our drink order, and every time she stopped by our table, we got a whiff of her strong flower-y perfume: not the best combination with the flavors of the food.

For the appetizers we ordered something similar to Indian samosas stuffed with ground beef: they were flaky, oily, hot and delicious!



For the main course we decided to share a vegetarian platter, even though our waitress thought it would not be enough food for the three of us. She wasn't exactly right. The "pancakes" served with the entree were quite filling.

What are those piles of food to the left? There were several lentil dishes, a tomato and cucumber salad, a potato salad, stewed cabbage with carrots, and something resembling greens.















The food was rather mediocre, but what was more disappointing, was the slow service! Again, they were not busy at all! I think we sat waiting for our check for more than 30 minutes! Of course we had plenty to catch up about, but still....

At the end, since Anna and I did not have cash, Jenny graciously paid for lunch and we were out of there without ever receiving the bill.

The final verdict? I would try some of the other local Ethiopian places next time.

And then we were in search of dessert....