Between the savory stewed dishes and the traditionally brewed coffee, owner Meski Gebreyohannes wants to give you a taste of Ethiopia, hence the name of her Southfield restaurant, Taste of Ethiopia.
“You get all your five senses,” claims Gebreyohannes.
She says when you walk in you will smell all the spices and herbs they use, you will see the many artifacts and cultural décor, Ethiopian instrumental music will linger in the air, you will touch their classic bread, injera, and taste all the wonderful food.
Gebreyohannes grew up in Ethiopia and learned to cook at an early age from her grandmother. The sound of a knife on a cutting board always excites her, she says. Cooking has always been a passion of hers, so when she moved to Toronto, she opened an Ethiopian restaurant called the Blue Nile. Then, when she moved to America in 2004, she opened Taste of Ethiopia, sharing her culture with the people of metro Detroit.
In Ethiopia, meal-time is a communal event. Everyone will gather around the table and enjoy all the different dishes.
She has carried this on into her restaurant as well. Many dishes are served on large platters meant for the whole table to share. There is the vegan platter for two which has eight different vegetable-based dishes ranging in flavors and spiciness level. If there are meat eaters in the group, they can choose which four dishes they want to try for their meat platter. Options include steamed fish stir-fried with peppers and onions, or their doro alicha, which is curried chicken slow-cooked with potatoes. Watch the video above for a fuller look at the menu.
You will also notice one thing missing on the tables, silverware. That is because you are meant to eat all these dishes with an Ethiopian staple, Injera. It is a thin bread, similar in texture to a thin pancake, with a flavor similar to sourdough, which you are meant to rip apart and use to grab the different stewed dishes. Waiters will also bring around towels for you to wash your hands with before and after the meal.
Here, they truly do give you a taste of Ethiopian culture. If you would like to try Taste of Ethiopia, they are located at 28639 Northwestern Hwy. in Southfield.