Diners Get a Finger-Food Feast at Addis Ababa

Low-fat, flavorful, and pretty darn good for you. These are the characteristics of Ethiopian cuisine, and it's now close at hand, thanks to Addis Ababa Restaurant located inside Plymouth's Charleston Square on Main Street.

At the helm of Addis Ababa, which opened in April, is owner and chef Bekele Lessanework, who came to the U.S. in 1989. Preparing the food of his native land is nothing new for Lessanework: He was a cook at the well-known (and highly-respected) Blue Nile restaurant in Ann Arbor, which is owned by his brother, Seifu.

Perhaps the most noticeable feature at Addis Ababa is authenticity – and the absence of utensils underscores this. Yes, diners are to eat completely with their hands, sans forks. Yet to accommodate this tradition, our server, Meghann, provided moist, hot cleansing towels on a silver platter for us to clean our hands.

Dinner at Addis Ababa, which is named after Ethiopia's capital city, is nothing if not simplistic: There is the all-you-can-eat meat-and-vegetable platter for $16.90 per person or the vegetarian platter for $14.90. (Lunchtime presents an opportunity to order a smaller meal comprised of one meat with two vegetables for $7.95.)

But what the menu lacks in the way of choice it makes up for with distinctive taste. The food is to be eaten family style, and little mounds of each dish are placed on top of a large circle of injera, Ethiopia's signature bread, which is made with just self-rising wheat flour and water. (No dairy products, eggs, or shortening are used.) An additional basket of injera is provided so that diners may use the bread as a carrier for their food.

Delectable highlights include gomen, chopped spiced greens cooked with onion, garlic, and jalapeno; tekil gomen, cabbage sautéed with onion, garlic, jalapeno peppers, and spices; and metin shiro wat, ground roasted yellow split peas cooked in berbere sauce. Meat eaters are sure to delight in doro alecha, chicken cooked in niter kibbe herbed butter with onions.

At the end of the meal, diners are again given a clean moist towel to clean their hands. While the menu states that sorbet is available to cleanse the palate, we found it peculiar that it was not offered to us. (We realized this after the fact.)

 In keeping with the establishment's truthfulness, Addis Ababa's décor delivers with flying colors – and lots of them. Diners can choose to sit in a booth or at a mesob, a small round, woven table; artwork in the form of candid photographs adorn the walls; and traditional Ethiopian music adds to the ambiance.

The area where Addis Ababa unfortunately falls short is the personal interaction department. Despite having only three of 12 tables occupied (including ours), the staff did not provide thorough explanations of the cuisine when asked. My husband and I, having never experienced Ethiopian cuisine before, were chock-full of questions, yet our server seemed downright frustrated at times when we asked for clarification on menu items.

With this in mind, Addis Ababa is not recommended for newbies seeking a thorough understanding of Ethiopian fare while they dine – unless they do not mind leaving with questions, as we did. Veteran diners, however, may find Addis Ababa to be a pleasant choice, although dining-in is not necessary: Addis Ababa also accepts carry-out orders.