Relish: Blue Nile serves up some finger-lickin' fun

By Tim Pawul & Mimi Arnold     2/18/10 6:00pm

If you have an open mind when it comes to food and are willing to venture 15-20 minutes off campus for an uncommon eating experience, Blue Nile Ethiopian Restaurant should be at the top of your list. With a wide variety of Ethiopian selections - including combination platters that allow you to share and sample a spectrum of vegetables, meats, fish and spices - you can get a taste for the cuisine in no time. With an array of inexpensive, meatless dishes, Blue Nile also appeals to vegetarians, so wash your hands and be prepared to dive in fingers-first.Ambiance

The environment is very casual, with a fun, "anything goes" feel that is relaxing and modest. The walls are adorned with African art and safari-themed decorations, and the restaurant serves an eclectic lunchtime crowd of working people.

Food

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We ordered a pair of combination dishes, the Vegetarian Combination and Yefisik Beyayinetu. Both arrived on the same platter atop spongy Ethiopian injera flatbread that we tore and ate using our fingers - no silverware here! With the various sauces and vegetables, the two dishes served as an introduction to a good portion of the menu items. Many of the offerings are seasoned with berbere, a mixture of chili peppers, ginger, cloves, coriander and ajwain, a pungent spice often grown in the Middle East.

The Vegetarian Combination includes a smattering of offerings, including Blue Nile Salad, Kik Alicha (split peas cooked with oil, onions and spices), Gomen (collard greens), Atkilt Wot (mixed vegetables with garlic, ginger, turmeric and olive oil), Yemissir Wot (red lentil stew), and Shirro Wot (onions, peas, flour, herbs and spices). Don't let the unfamiliar names of the dishes intimidate you: All the dishes, except for the collard greens - which lacked decent seasoning - were fantastic, well-seasoned and distinctly unconventional. Since Blue Nile has garnered the Houston Chronicle's "Best Ethiopian Cuisine" distinction twice, we'd expect nothing less.

The salad dressing was fairly similar in consistency to an Italian dressing and therefore none too surprising, but the Atkilt Wot was a mouthwateringly sweet combination of a variety of cooked vegetables, including cabbage and carrots. Meanwhile, the bold, full flavors and consistencies of the Kik Alicha, Yessimir Wot and Shirro Wot complemented the injera bread.

The Yefisik Beyayinetu includes Yessiga Wot (beef cubes in berbere sauce), Alicha Minchetabish (minced beef with Ethiopian spices) and Doro Wot (chicken with berbere, onion and spices). The Yessiga Wot, served in a dark, pungent sauce, provided the spiciest kick. The Alicha Minchetabish lacked strong flavor and the low quality of the minced beef failed to impress us. However, the Doro Wot, which came in a quasi-barbecue sauce (initially sweet, but with a spicy aftertaste) featured tender and juicy chicken, more than making up for the Alicha Michetabish disappointment.

Service

The food arrived quickly, but the waitress was not very personable and did little more than deliver the food - while she performed the necessary tasks, she did not deliver the exemplary service we hoped for.

Price

The prices were very reasonable: Two or three people can put away a large amount of food for less than $30.

Tim & Mimi's Recommendation

If you are new to Ethiopian cuisine like we are, your best bet would be to order the sampler trays. We enjoyed getting to try a variety of different flavors, textures and ingredients. If ordering a single dish, we recommend the Doro Wat, Yefisik Beyayinetu, Atkilt Wot or Yessimir Wot.

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