Rica B.
Yelp
About me: I am not Ethiopian, but attended an Ethiopian church in Texas for a few months while living there. And also had Ethiopian coworkers during that time with whom I became close that would make homemade food for me (salads, veggie dishes, fresh injera, etc.). This was my introduction to Ethiopian food in 2017. I currently reside in Korea, have close Ethiopian friends there, and found the places where Ethiopians frequent and thus, so do I (regularly). Thus, even though I have never been to Ethiopia, I think I have a palate for proper and acceptable Ethiopian food.
I last went to my favourite vegan spot in November '23 and as I'm visiting home, I was missing one of my favourite foods and excited to take my dad who does not regularly eat Ethiopian food. I saw several good reviews on Google and decided to backburn the one review by an Ethiopian that said the food was "okay" and try it out.
My experience: I ordered the vegan sampler with regular expectations and suggested my dad get the Awaze Chicken Tibs (he also got the collard greens and the cabbage and potato for his sides). My food came on a partial injera piece with a plate of extra injera for us both on the side. I've never received food in this manner, I'm used to receiving it on the full circle of injera, but I'm not Ethiopian so I let it pass. Then I tried the food. All of it was bland. The most bland Ethiopian food I'd ever had (sans one poor experience in a new Ethiopian restaurant in Korea - that place closed down in a few months, so I'm not lying). I was confused and upset. The collard greens were okay, but everything else was confusing. The temperature of the food was not that warm, which if the food was flavourful, I would have let go. But it was just becoming a bland, not warm/not hot eating experience. I called over the owner (who does seem sweet, I will say) and explained that I am very familiar with the food and asked if she held back the seasoning because we are in the States. She said the food is always like this. Okay. I mean, what can I say? To me, even if I had never tried Ethiopian food in my life or was not a regular consumer, I believe that I would still note the extreme blandness. My dad also said that the collar greens were good but that his cabbage and potatoes were bland (and he has only had Ethiopian food once 30 years ago). So...now I am just looking for reviews from Ethiopian people alone on this topic when searching for an Ethiopian restaurant.
Final Outcome: I only like to consume food that is good and good for me. So I stopped eating and gave it back. The owner (I only interacted with the woman) was nice and she took my food off of our bill. Honestly, I feel like she probably knows how to cook. I don't know who the cook is. But whoever they are, they probably know how to cook well. They just are not presenting that there. My dad liked his Awaze chicken though.