Emily H.
Yelp
I first went to Queen of Sheba years ago and had been eager to go back ever since.
The spongey bread. The variety of flavorful meats and veggies. The communal dining.
So this year, for my birthday dinner, I finally crossed that return meal off my list.
The four of us got a table without a wait, and before digging into entrees we decided to share the beyaynetu, an appetizer sample platter with kosta wrap (spinach, diced onions, garlic, homemade cottage cheese wrapped with injera bread), fossolia wrap (green beans, carrots, onions, and herbs cooked in tomato sauce, wrapped in injera), timatim fit-fit (cold injera mixed with diced tomatoes, green pepper, onion and lemon dressing) and choice of sambussa. We went with the lentil sambussa, which is stuffed in thin pastry shells and pan fried.
The kosta wrap and sambussa were my favorites. The spinach had a hint of sweetness to it, and the sambussa was lightly spicy and full of flavor.
And then the main course! I got the meat and vegetable combination. This included doro wot (spicy chicken stew), alicha sega wot (mild tender beef stew with onion and potatoes), gomen wot (collard greens) and atakilt (cabbage in a tomato sauce).
My entree came in four small piles on a large platter on pieces of injera, alongside everyone else's food. We also got a basket of rolled up injera too.
I loved that we all ate together from one large plate -- even trying bits of everyone else's entrees too. It was friendly, communal.
Plus when you're eating with your hands, you can't be on your phone and you actually pay attention to one another. (And I say this as someone who is addicted to her phone.)
Particularly I loved the atakilt and doro wot. The cabbage was full of flavor -- more flavor than I've enjoyed in cabbage before. And the doro wot was indeed a bit spicy, but that spice was complex, definitely not one note. It also came with a drum stick on top.
Plus can we take a moment for injera? This was my favorite part. This bread is light, spongey, stretchy, and it soaks up the sauces and flavors in the food.
And as if we weren't stuffed enough, we got dessert. (It was my birthday after all!)
We split the baklawa (spelled differently but the same as baklava) and limoncello cake, a recommendation from our server. Both were delightful. While the dinner is the reason to visit, the dessert is lovely too.
Queen of Sheba makes for a memorable meal you won't soon forget.