Escape to Ethiopia in NYC

This year is the year of new experiences and adventures. First was India, and now its Ethiopia! However, I didn’t hop on a plane this time… just took the 2/3 uptown.  Thanks to my friends Chanel and Veralyn who were raving about Ethiopian food and decided to take me once they found out I had never been. We ended up at this place call Awash (the one on Amsterdam and 106/107). It’s a cute, little, quaint place, but it has charm, and it was full of patrons!! So what’s the food like…AMAZING!!! I didn’t know exactly what to order so I spent the entire day on Yelp trying to figure out what dishes to get and Google-ing what the heck they were! (Very helpful, btw). I ended up getting one of their combination platters where you can choose two meat selections and three vegetables. I ordered Special Tibs (Cubed meat in a really spicy sauce---delicious!), and Doro Wat (Chicken in Berbere sauce) as my meat choices. For the veggies, Shiro (ground split peas and chick peas), Yemisser Kik Wat (red lentils in Berbere sauce), and Gomen (collard greens). My favorite of the five had to have been the Special Tibs. It kinda reminded me of carne guisada (Dominican dish- beef sautéed in a tomato sauce I think would be the translation), but more spicier and less saltier lol. I wasn’t too crazy about the veggies, though. Never really have been a vegetable-eating kinda girl, but if they are seasoned well enough I can go crazy on them. Not the case here. Maybe I’m just spoiled with my culture and the craze with sabor, but their vegetables were a little … “dull” I guess would be the word (they weren’t really bland). The flavor didn’t kick me in the mouth the way it did with the Special Tibs and Doro Wat.  Next time I go, I’m sticking to the beef and chicken. Maybe I might try some lamb, but we’ll see J

Here's the link to Awash. They actually have 3 locations: Uptown, Downtown, and BK!!