Ethiopian restaurants?

abesha

Hello all,

I'm visiting Bangalore for a few days in September and i was wondering if anybody knew if there are any Ethiopian restaurants in Bangalore?

cheers,
Abesha

Haylo

No idea, but now I've seen your question I'm curious about Ethiopian cuisine, so do enlighten me while you're waiting for an answer.

My only image of the country is of starving children; unless you're on a strict diet, I'm guessing that Ethiopia has a lot more to offer the diner!

__________________
The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful - E.E. Cummings, poet (1894-1962)

Thoughtcrimes

I had it once maybe 10 yrs ago and didn't care for it*, the bread they use had the texture of a sponge (during the meal my friends were calling it "spongey bread") and was pretty bland and tasteless. The vegitables/side dishes weren't much better. IMO it doesn't hold a candle to Indian food, but then again I'm biased

*I submit however that there must be better Ethiopian food then what I tried...I just never cared to sample again!

__________________
"I speak a strange language, sometimes even I don't understand." - D. Iyall

wind_chariot

i have no idea about Ethiopian food, but i do love ethiopia as a country for the following reasons.

1) It is believed that ethiopia has the earlier traces of humanity. which means, in all possibility, modern human was born there and from there it migrated through Mediterranean sea. Scientists believe capital AdisAbaba is the point from where humans migrated around the world.

2) It is the only country in africa who was never colonized by european country even after several attempts. Only it had the power to hold back hoards of european colonists (particularly Italy).

3) It is called rooftop of Africa as much of its region is above 5000 ft from sea level.

So, there is much more than starving children in a country named Ethiopia!

abesha

wind_chariot, there sure is much more than starving children in Ethiopia! it has a very rich culture and beautiful people!! but then again i'm biased. i'm 100% naturally organic Ethiopian! ha!

thoughtcrimes, i'm sorry you had bad experience with the food. you might change your mind if you try it in a nice place! but maybe not.

by the way, i LOVE indian food and i've been told by non-Ethiopian Ethiopian food lovers that some of our food is very similar to Indian! spicy, hearty e.t.c but obviously Ethiopian spices are very different from Indian in smell and taste. and i'd say we don't dare compare to the variety, richness (smell and taste) of the many spices found in India, in my opinion! i could be wrong...i'm not much of a cook [i just know how to eat!]

Hylo, there are a lot of Ethiopian recipes online!




By the way, don't think I can't survive without Ethiopian food for a couple of weeks in Bangalore! i'm only asking about Ethiopian restaurants out of curiosity and perhaps to find out if there's an Ethiopian community in Bangalore. i'm planning to try different tastes while i'm there!

cheers!

Haylo

Thanks abesha, whatever that is (wat?) it looks absolutely delicious!

I've been Googling Ethiopian food, I'm looking forward to trying it one day, maybe when I visit Toronto next. There is everything you could ever wish for there except perhaps Martian restaurants - and I reckon that's only a matter of time!

machadinha

Try googling for Eritrean food too; it's been pretty big in Amsterdam for a decade or two now, there are many eateries. (Often advertized as "African" restaurants; it is in fact difficult to get any other kind of African food here, or in restaurants at least (well, save for Moroccan or Egyptian perhaps. Even those it isn't easy to find more than a snackbar for, with the standard kebab and stuff, itself more Middle-Eastern anyway.) E.g. Antwerp is good for some other African cuisines; different colonial past and modern migration patterns no doubt. (I suppose it would indicate we must have taken on many Eritrean refugees when the war was still on then.) Still, we have e.g. a large Ghanese community though; I guess they just haven't got around to the restaurant business yet, or maybe they're less prone to.)

That soggy bread cum pancake is enjera (injera), it is remarkably similar to the dosa (leading to some interesting questions regarding connections to and fro. But east Africa and India have long seen trade and even immigration I think, yes.) I really like it, but perhaps it's something of an acquired taste. It is likewise eaten with the hands; or, in those restaurants cutlery will be provided for those who find this awkward, of course.

Eaten with any choice of an array of meat, fish, or vegetarian dishes. Yummy (And it follows that here at least it's a good option for vegetarians as well. Those dishes are then usually served on top of those enjeras, I think that's what that picture above shows. There's something of an art form to deftly picking away at those enjeras, first from the side, then from underneath, to be able to finish your food, which you pick or scoop up with it of course, again, just like a dosa. Or one can ask for extra enjera in case of trouble of course It's usually a very filling meal though. Cheap too, over here. Note that eating in company -- and is there any other way to eat, really -- unless you demand otherwise, you'll get one big plate of enjeras with whatever toppings you ordered that you'll all pick away at, and so it becomes something of a communal feast. So aside from being very tasty -- and exceedingly healthy, I'm quite sure --, it's a lot of fun too I've eaten thalis with Rajasthanis this way, but that was a local family who'd taken me along, as a visitor you don't commonly run into this a lot. And of course, many Indians will be picky about others touching their food; these local Brahmins evidently were not, however.)

Whether found anywhere in India, I wouldn't know, but I very much doubt it. That is not to say that there aren't sizable communities of modern African immigrants in a number of cities; but I just never noticed any restaurants run by them.

Hole in the market, perhaps...?

__________________
Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links

namaste_cat

I love Ethiopian food! Absolutely delicious, and so much like Indian food yet different. I live in Washington, DC where there are no less than 10 Ethiopian restaurants in a 10 mile radius of my house.

abesha - Alas, not seen any Ethiopian restaurants in India but then I don't live there, so hopefully someone can help you out in case there are any around. And if not, I don't think you will have a problem w/o real Ethiopian food while in India because there will be enough delicious stuff to take your mind off it

wonderwomanusa

There must be dozens of Ethiopian restaurants within an hour (by public transit) from my home. It's wonderful food, Haylo. Kind of looks like Indian but when you taste it, it's out of a totally different spice drawer!

Doro wat (chicken) is one of my favorites.

Thoughtcrimes, try it again. Every restaurant has a different recipe, just like Indian restaurants. Some are boring, some are wonderful!

__________________
The map is not the territory. --Alfred Korzybski

abesha

namaste_cat, i know, there's no shortage of very good ethiopian restaurants in the DC area!

machadinha, Thanks for the info! i'll try googling "Eritrean" food


Haylo, Martian restaurants....ummm... a Hole in the market too?!

cheers

machadinha

Yes, well, you're really most welcome, but that was meant more for others who were asking what is it.

As the others, too, have confirmed, I'm afraid you'll stand very little chance of finding such a restaurant in India. But then, who knows indeed.

And as the others have said, Indian cuisine should be right up your alley, so little chance of going too homesick in any culinary ways

abesha

oh thanks..sorry i misunderstood, machadinha! i was thinking i'd google "eritrean food in bangalore" and see but nothing came up! haha..but like you said,i'm going to be busy sampling different indian food which is great!

cheers