Eating with my hands? Count me in!!!

one of the best things about being a foodie is finding good meals that you eat with only your hands. those finger flavors always seem to make everything taste better. or at least more authentic.

kent, algie, and i went for some ethiopian cuisine last night. its been a long time since i first had ethiopian in oakland and k&a had never had it before, so we were all pretty excited about it.

ethiopian cuisine is very communal. generally, the table shares a platter of different meats or vegetable portions that are grabbed with a spongey bread called injera. the process is sort of like eating indian or middle eastern food using naan. the injera has a sour taste to it, which i think is very love/hate with a lot of people.

we hit up Ghenet Brooklyn on the western border of park slope. my first thought entering the place was 'wow, this place is small and cozy'. i saw about space for only 30 people or so. all the diners looked like young professionals that lived around that area and the music was very lounge-y. however, to my surprise, we were led to the back where there were more tables and what sounded like more traditional sounding music (hear: Amadou & Mariam). i was definitely more happy about dining in this back area than the front.

(8 vegetarian dishes, ripe for the pickin. sooo much food)

started the night off with a glass of ethiopian honey wine, Tej. honey wine is... basically mead, and it was very good, not too overpowering in its sweetness. for an appetizer, we had tuna tartare wrapped in Kategna, which is toasted injera bread coated in a spicy sauce. the dish was amazing. its not very often that an appetizer has so much flavor and feels like a good portion of food that preps you for a big dinner. additionally, it was very spicy and i'm a sucker for spicy, everytime.

for the main course, we had the vegetarian combination. normally, im a rabid meat eater, but the occasional veggie meal works for me. most of the time, i can't eat vegan or vegetarian because the food is so bland or tastes plain awful. ethiopian food is usually spiced pretty well, so no worries last nite. note to my two readers: the injera sort of expands in your stomach, so you get really full. the three of us ordered a combination platter for two people and we barely finished it. the veggies were mostly great. as i said before, ethiopian food is usually spiced very well and Ghenet's food was no exception. my favorite were the two mushroom dishes. they were a bit too similar to each other, but to get two of the same thing thats tasty... seems ok to me.

unfortunately, we were too full to have a go at any desserts, which i read were pretty good. maybe another time.

dinner, overall, was great. lots of good flavors, nice wine, good company to eat communally with. there were only two lows: (1) not a big fan of the split peas, and (2) dinner was a bit pricey (33$ a person for food and a bottle of wine). sort of expected considering their location and their ability to take advantage of young pros and hipsters that live and drink in the area.

good: very well seasoned food, amazing appetizer, back traditional atmosphere
meh: pricey, front lounge-y atmosphere