Friday, December 12, 2008

Ghenet Ethiopian Restaurant

12-12 Ghenet
Following this reported rumor about local Ethiopian restaurant, Ghenet, we thought we had best hightail it over for lunch before another neighborhood mainstay falls prey to rising rents. We were more than well satiated after sharing a combination platter of the doro wett (chicken) with sides of lentils and collard greens and an order of the delicious spicy minced meat sambusa (stuffed pastry dough). If you've never had an Ethiopian meal before, it's best to be prepared for the unexpected intimacy of sharing a platter with your dining partners. Using only your hand (no utensils!) and pieces of injera (sourdough flat bread) to sop up the stews and meats can be a trifle disconcerting if you're not accustomed to the practice.
Ghenet Ethiopian Restaurant, 284 Mulberry Street below Houston

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh no! I'm so sad to hear Ghenet is leaving. It is/was one of my favorite places to eat in Lower Manhattan.

I've been told, though, that Philadelphia and DC have the best Ethiopian food on the east coast. Honestly, my palate isn't sophisticated enough to tell, but for anyone interested in investigating further...

Philadelphia:
The stretch of Baltimore Ave between 45th and 48th Streets is full of Ethiopian bar/restaurants--Gojjo, Dahlak, Blue Nile, Queen of Sheba. Elsewhere in West Philly, Abyssinia at 45th and Locust is also a good choice.

In the DC area:
Addis Ababa in Silver Spring and Zed's in Georgetown are apparently quite good, although I haven't been there myself. Did not learn there was such a thing as Ethiopian food until *after* high school...

Okay, happy eating!

Front Studio said...

Well, one of us is from the DC area and would skip high school classes to go eat Ethiopian. We haven't tried many of the places in NYC, but mostly because it doesn't even compare! Get yourself down there!

Anonymous said...

Hi. There is a Ghenet location in Brooklyn...it's in the Ft. Greene area, so not too far from Manhattan.