Last night we had plans to meet friends at Abay for Ethiopian food. There was an hour wait so we opted to go around the corner to Tana Ethiopian Cuisine. (Yes, Pittsburgh's two Ethiopian restaurants are around the corner from each other. That makes sense.)
I learned the reason for the hour-long-wait at Abay and none at Tana: It wasn't nearly as good as Abay. The injera bread came out cold, thick, and already so soaked from the sauces that I could only use about half. I got an individual combo plate with Misir Wot (lentils) in Berbere Sauce (which the menu described as "hot," but it had only a faint hint of spiciness), Tikil Gomen (cabbage and carrots), and Shiro Wot (ground chickpeas). The Tikil Gomen was very good. The others were good, but not as fantastic as Abay's dishes.
My husband and friends got a chicken entree with veg sides. The chicken entree consisted of a drumstick and whole hard-boiled egg. First, you can imagine that a drumstick and egg covered in sauce is pretty hard to eat with just the injera bread as a utensil. Second: Why the egg? Were they trying to cover the span of what "chicken" might mean? Everyone thought it was odd, and only one person ate it (and then described it as "yep, just an egg.")
Lesson learned: Abay is worth the wait!
Eek, does not sound like fun! Sorry to hear about that. I've yet to try Ethiopian food but I hear when it's good - it's good.
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