When we have family gatherings, it almost always centers around food.  Whether it’s cooking, potluck or trying a new restaurant, we love food.

Months ago, when my daughter, Kat was visiting we tried a new restaurant in Pflugerville, TX, the Taste of Ethiopia.  It was wonderful!  The food was delicious and the atmosphere inviting, providing a full dining experience.  It’s not a large venue, managing to feel intimate but not crowded.

When Kat returned to Austin for a visit this weekend, she mentioned how delicious the meal had been and we decided it was time for a return visit.  This time my son, Rich accompanied us.

As before, once we reached our seats, our server informed us with a huge smile that we were to eat with our hands.  If you aren’t up to the full experience, utensils are available.  The meals are served on a special bread called injera which is used to scoop up the food.  

Meals are served family style in a woven basket called a mesob.  A large metal tray covered with the injera is placed into the basket and topped with the food.

We over ordered but wanted to try everything.  We started with Sambusa, Minchet Abish and Tomato salad for appetizers.  The Sambusa is a light pastry dough filled with your choice of beef, lentils or spinach.  On our first visit we had the spinach filling but today we chose the lentil.  Both were delicious.  Rich said the minchet abish reminded him of sloppy joe texturally but a much nicer flavor.

We ordered the Ultimate Combo of vegetarian dishes.  We had gomen (seasoned collard greens), fesolia (mixed vegetable stew with ginger and turmeric), yemisisr wot (lentils with traditional spices), tikil gomen (spiced cabbage, carrots, onions and tomatoes, ater kik (split peas in herbs and turmeric) and eggplant wot (eggplant with traditional spices).  If you’re thinking that’s a lot of food and Yum,  you are correct on both counts.  Even with three of us eating we left with several cartons of food.

The mesob(basket) arrived at our table first, followed soon after with a basket of injera.  My mouth was watering from the smell of the buffet simmering in the back of the room.  When our food arrived, our server sat a large pan of injera inside the mesob.   He then spooned each of the entrees around the circle putting half on each side.

I think my favorites were eggplant, sambusa, and yemisisr, but truthfully, we loved everything we ate.

Kat and I ended our meal with a cup of traditional Ethiopian coffee.  The coffee was prepared in the back and then delivered to our table in a special clay pot called a jebena.  I’m not sure how they make it, but it was the perfect treat to end our meal.

It was a lovely experience which I hope to repeat soon!