| Abyssinian
>> Explore exotic Ethiopian fare at Restaurant Abiata One of the best things about going out for Ethiopian food is that it justifies itself the moment you leave the house-it’s simply not the kind of cuisine you can easily recreate at home. Sure, you might be able to cook up some of the simmered stews, but the centrepiece of the meal, a giant spongy pancake called injera, is something of a mystery. This unleavened bread is made just as it has been for centuries, and it’s used instead of utensils to scoop up the different elements of the meal. The whole eating experience is one of sitting back, sharing, and letting your fingers do the walking-perfect for a hot summer night. Restaurant Abiata is located on St-Denis, just above the strip recently plagued by comedy fest crowds. Considering the droves of tourists, the fact that there was no one at the restaurant when we arrived was some cause for concern, but then again it was a Tuesday night and it’s only been open for three months. The inside is slick and styling, though the décor borrows heavily from another Ethiopian place just up the street. There’s a shimmering glass waterfall, a grass roof over the bar, and leopard prints galore. There’s also a terrasse, but be warned that you’ll be a magnet for people bumming change. Despite the lack of diners, the sensitive service made it very welcoming. First off, we got warm napkins to wash our grubby hands-a good thing since we’d be using them to eat with. To taste the maximum while spending the minimum, we opted to get two combination plates, one meat ($15) and one vegetarian ($13). Together they add up to about a half dozen dishes from the menu, which can also be ordered individually. The doro watt was an immediate standout. Anyone who’s been to a restaurant from the region will be familiar this traditional dish of tender chicken and a hard-boiled egg. At Abiata, the menu says it’s mildly spiced, but fortunately they don’t hold back on the heat in the berebe sauce, made with red peppers and a whole mélange of spices (paprika, cayenne, lemon juice and lord knows what else). The yebeg alicha, lamb with potatoes and carrots, wasn’t as remarkable. The chunks of meat were very firm, and the sauce wasn’t particularly tasty. It came with carrots and potatoes that were cooked to crispness and worked as a nice counterpoint to the meat. The vegetable-based entries fared well. A lentil concoction called yemesser watt (watt means sauce, incidentally) was my second favourite thing: savoury, ever so slightly musky, and marinated to a deep red colour. In contrast, the gommen was a simple and straightforward spinach number, fresh green leaves gently sautéed with slices of almost sweet garlic. The meatless concoctions were rounded out by lentil salad and yellow split peas cooked with turmeric, ginger and onions. It all went down easily with a continually replenished supply of injera. Desserts aren’t really big in Ethiopia, but the most African option was a light and refreshing mango mousse ($4) that came on a plate striated with chocolate so that it looked like the stripes of a zebra. Also worth sampling are the tropical sorbets, made of exotic fruits like lulu and geishta, with a pleasantly sour note that makes your mouth pucker. As
for the beer, there’s Giraffe and a few other imports. But there’s
also the house lager called Abiata, brewed especially for the restaurant.
It’s very blonde, and goes well with the rich flavours of the
food and the warm July air.: Feedback? restoagogo@hotmail.com |