A friend was recently returned from D.C. If you are wondering, all is well there.
She dined on Ethiopian food while there and wanted to do it again.
I had known of Harar in North Park for quite some time but just hadn't gotten there yet.
We got there! A tiny little place with only about 5 tables inside but a great outside patio to eat on. We decided to eat outside since the early November evening was quite nice.
There were 3 of us and we ate quite well and thoroughly enjoyed the food. We were the only people in the restaurant when we got there and everyone was quite friendly.
I shared the sampler platter with one and the other diner got a vegetarian plate. Both were quite good and more than enough food. My platter had 7 different dishes, 3 meat based and 4 vegetarian. All of it was served on a bed of injera - more on injera in a bit.
Ethiopian dining uses no utensils, the injera is your fork and spoon. I love it when I can eat with my hands! All you gotta do it tear off a piece of the injera, scoop whatever you want into it and shove the whole thing in your mouth - yummy.
The meat based dishes were beef, chicken and lamb. All were quite tasty but I preferred the vegetarian items. There was a cabbage and potato dish, lentils, green salad and collard greens. I could have eaten one whole dish of the collards but I will go to the ends of the earth for greens!
Our server was kind enough to bring us two huge baskets on extra injera - smart man!
Now about that injera - bread. It is made from teff, the smallest of the cereal grains. It takes three days to make and is a bit fermented. This fermentation gives it the slightly sour taste I love so much. It is cooked on a
flat pan called a mitad. Not unlike a huge, thin pancake but no sweetness here!
We all ate until we were full and had leftovers. The bill for the three of us was $36.00. Very reasonable for three to eat out these days!
As we left, we decided to try The Red Sea - another Ethiopian restaurant located on El Cajon blvd.
Cusine: Ethiopian
Dollar Value: Excellent
Service: Very friendly but a little slow
Would I return here: You betcha!!
