Queen of Sheba

My first time eating Ethiopian food was when I lived in Washington, D.C. while I was in college.  There is a very large Ethiopian community in D.C., and this restaurant was actually quite nice.  We did not even have a table or chairs.  We sat on these big, fancy pillow type things and there was a tall stand in the middle where the food was placed.  Who would have thought so many years later ... that we would be heading to Ethiopia in a few months.

So we took the kids to dinner for their first experience eating Ethiopian food last week.  There are actually several Ethiopian restaurants in Portland.  Dave and I had tried one last summer on my birthday while our adopting plans were still unknown to others.  That one was called Mubai's.  Very casual. The lady there was very friendly, and it was delightful enjoying dinner with our secret plans ... wondering how this whole adoption process would work out.

So this week, we went to Queen of Sheba, also very casual. I had heard it was good from several people.  We found some non-spicy food in "alitcha" sauce for our 2 spice averse kids, and then Ethan and Dave and I really enjoyed the more traditional spicy food in the "berbere" sauce.  For those who have never eaten Ethiopian food, it is served on an enormous plate that is covered with the biggest "pancake" you've ever seen ... the traditional bread called injera.  It is a fermented, somewhat spongy texture bread, and you use the injera to pick up the food.  Ethan thought it was awesome not having to use silverware.  Everyone liked it ... the only negative was from our oldest who doesn't really care for sourdough type flavors ... he didn't really like the injera.  Next time we'll ask for a fork for him.