Sunday, May 16, 2010

Little Ethiopia Restaurant

1924 9th Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 319-1924

www.littleethiopiarestaurantdc.com

Visited: May 15, 2010



Mommy and Daddy go out on the town for date night and met up with friends for some Ethiopian food! Woo-hoo!!

Trust me, if you're a parent you too would be saying "woo hoo" at date night. Okay, on to the good stuff...

As mentioned above, the boss lady and I met up with two other friends on a Saturday night. We wanted to try out Little Ethiopia because:

(1) The boss lady was tired of gong to Dukem
(2) We love trying new places
(3) I likey likey the spicy food

We all met up at Little Ethiopia which to my surprise was in the middle of an area off of U-Street (on 9th) that was full of Ethiopian business. We arrived on time, but our friends had already beaten us there and were waiting for us at the reserved area.

The restaurant is located in the basement of a converted row house which adds an intimate environment perfect for enjoying great conversation with your loved ones and friends. Each area was sectioned off by straw/wooden shades adding a bit more privacy between your party and the other diners.

Once seated, we ordered drinks and scanned the menu. Not being too knowledgeable about Ethiopian food, I read the descriptions as I didn't recognize any of the entree names. Scanning all the descriptions I settle on the Derek Tibs. Let me confess to you...I'm in love with Derek Tibs...seriously I am. It was my first time, but I can't stop thinking about them spicy delicious crispy pieces of munchable meat....yummers.

Okay, so first of all I dunno if he's an Ethiopian celebrity or this history behind this Derek dude...I don't even know how Derek's Tibs became SO friggin' famous...What the freak is a Tib?!?!?!

What I DO know is that the Derek Tibs at Little Ethiopia were delicious! This tasty dish from Little Ethiopia had the perfect blend of spiciness and flavor (much like my wife) while being conveniently shaped/encapsulated in small cubes of meat. Texturally, these spicy meat cubes had a crispy outside with a soft insdie that just teased and "wowed" my mouth. I love using the injera to grab a finger fulls of Derek Tibs with some onion and jalapeno peppers.

The four of us shared a great dinner portion of Derek Tibs and a veggie sampler. The one "hint" dropped by one of our friends was that some items such as the Saint George beer or other food items may not be on the menu...so ask ask ask your friendly wait staff!

Speaking of the staff, the servers at Little Ethiopia were very attentive and great. From being greeted at the door by the friendly women dressed in traditional Ethiopian attire to the table side hand washing service to the constant attention we were given to ensure we had everything we needed....great great service! Call me crazy but the staff's attention to its customers and work in creating a authentic dining experience made the first time trip to Little Ethiopia even more memorable.

One of the things I really enjoyed about Little Ethiopia was the ability to make a reservation. We were able to call them up 2 hours ahead of our scheduled dinner time and secure a reservation. The staff over the phone was a bit unsure how to spell my very ethnic name (Antonio), but I overlooked this as I was happy that we had a Saturday night reservation.

I truly enjoyed the dinner and entire experience at Little Ethiopia. The wife and I are still talking about our dinner and hope to return again very soon.

Dammit...now how am I gonna share this story with my parents and friends when I tell them, "I friggin love the Derek Tibs"

They'll probably respond with, "Yeah, I bet you do Sally...I bet you do.."

:-)

Little Ethiopia on Urbanspoon

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