Hail to the Queen

A walk down Broadway can be like a trip around the world when it comes to restaurants. You've got Japanese, Thai, Nepali, Mexican, Chinese, Jamaican and smattering of good old American fast food. Last night I experienced Ethiopian food for the first time at Queen Sheba.

I've eaten Moroccan food a few times and also enjoy the tastes of India. To me, this seemed like a cross between the two. And like when I've eaten those cuisines, I find it best not to over-read the menu and just leave the taste adventure up to the chefs. We ordered the combination dinner for two which includes (for $11.99 per person):

• Doro Wot - a piece of chicken and an egg, cooked with spices including red pepper, garlic and ginger
• Key Wot - beef simmered in spices, hot pepper sauce and spiced butter.
• Lamb Tibbs - lamb sautéed with purified butter and seasoned with onions, garlic, and ginger.

We also got our choice of two vegetable entrees and chose:

• Miser Kik Wot - Lentils cooked with hot spices
• Gomen - Cooked spinach & collard greens with onions, garlic and spices.

The food came out what looked like a large, round pizza pan. The aromas were amazing! Spicy and very unusual (in a good way). We also got a basket of injera, a thin, spongy sourdough-like bread. It is so difficult to describe. It's not like naan or pita, but it was delicious. This is a "no silverware" establishment so the injera served as our utensils.

I was starving so I dug - or scooped - right in! The lamb was tender and the sauce was delicious. The beef dish packed a punch of heat, but not too much. The beef was savory and flavorful. Both vegetable dishes were tasty but very different from one another. The chicken was just OK and I wasn't wild about the egg. All of the dishes are spicy but in the sense of being well seasoned. None of them are hot for the sake of being hot. The injera was perfect for sopping up all the delicious sauces. I washed everything down with an Ethiopian imported dark beer. It's subtle sweetness was the perfect compliment to the spice.

Dinner for two and two beers was $34. Queen Sheba also has an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet for $7.50 and loads of vegetarian and vegan options. The restaurant is located at 1704 Broadway.