Ethiopian for Beginners

The slogan at Ethiopian restaurant Lalibela in South Orange is "Try Something Different." Sure, it's a little different. But it's totally delicious.

Owners Austin and Meklit Nwankwo opened the Irvington Avenue restaurant two years ago. It's a mom-and-pop joint, as Meklit doubles as server and cook. At first, it seems more like a take-out spot than a restaurant, but you should try staying. Eating to the tune of ethnic music and getting to know the owners while surrounded by traditional African decorations adds to the experience.

Meklit was incredibly welcoming, asking if it was our first experience with Ethiopian food. As it was, she explained the basics of Ethiopian dining: a main course—usually meat, but vegetarian options abound—and two vegetarian sides. The dishes vary immensely, and all are full of spices and ethnic flavors. The meals are served on injera, a spongy, crepe-like bread. You rip off pieces of the injera and use it to scoop up the food. There are no utensils. This was a challenge for my dad, so Meklit brought him a fork. But I highly recommend being adventurous and eating with your fingers!

After explaining the dishes, Meklit helped us select a few and offered to prepare everything to our tastes. It's clear that everything is fresh and made to order. The dishes range from mild to super-spicy, but she asks how much heat you can handle before preparing anything.

We started with a lentil sambosa appetizer. It absolutely melted in my mouth. A slightly sweet lentil vegetable blend came wrapped in a triangle-shaped pastry shell. The shell was cooked just enough, so that the outside was flaky but the inside was doughy and soft.

When the main course came out it was all on one dish, family style. We were given two extra rolls of injera, and Meklit showed us how to scoop up the food without making a mess. My dad had the Special Tibs, beef chunks marinated in a spicy sauce and seasoned with pepper, African spices and red onion. I should mention that he never eats anything with spice, except a little pepper, so he was being adventurous. He polished off every last Tib. He blended his Tibs with Misir Alitcha (split lentils stewed with onion, garlic and a blend of mild Ethiopian spices that comes out looking like a thick soup) to tone down the spice. Even though he asked for mild, it was still a bit on the spicy side. The Misir Wot has a sweet aftertaste, so it nicely balances the spice of the Special Tibs.

My mom went for Doro Kitfo, chicken breast pieces seasoned with pepper, onion, mitmita and other spices and flavored with Ethiopian butter. This wasn't her favorite part of the meal, as the chicken was a little on the chewy side. But she absolutely devoured her sides: Atkilt Wat and Fasolias. Atkilt Wat is a curried vegetable stew made with carrots, potatoes, cabbage, pepper and onion. It's not soupy like a typical stew, but more of a thick sauce coating the vegetables. Fasolias is string beans and carrots sautéed in caramelized onion. It was the best dish we had.

I had the spicy Misir Wot, a lentil paste blended with onion, garlic and hot Ethiopian spices. Each bite seemed to reveal a new spice, some hot and others sweet. For sides, I ordered Gome—mild collard greens—and Aterkik Alitcha, a yellow pea-soup-like blend with onion, garlic, ginger and tumeric. While I enjoyed both, I preferred the Atkilt Wat and highly recommend it as a main dish.

As we finished, Austin came over to chat. He told us a bit about the rich history and culture of Ethiopia. And though we thought we were done, he told us we had missed the best part: the main injera that the food is served on. We used the separate injera throughout our meal and left the main one on the serving dish. It looked soggy, soaked in all the oils and sauces from the food. It turns out those juices make it taste fabulous.

When you go to Lalibela, you can expect to try something new and different. You'll mix and match to create new flavors. Be adventurous—eat with your fingers. Most of all, take in the experience. It is a small but charming restaurant that you don't want to miss. No reservations are necessary and metered parking is available along the street. Don't forget, it's closed on Sundays, is B.Y.O., doesn't serve dessert and only accepts credit cards on orders above $20.