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It is a truth universally acknowledged that if there is an Ethiopian restaurant in a city, it will be called "Blue Nile." Houston, no stranger to universal truths, has its very own Blue Nile, tucked away in a strip mall on Richmond on the west side of town.
Our Blue Nile has long been an outpost of exotic Eritrean and Ethiopian food, despite the fact that most Houstonians are blithely oblivious to its existence. And while Houston doesn't have the same enormous, vibrant Ethiopian communities that Washington, D.C. or Los Angeles boast, we at least have an amazing restaurant serving food from the cradle of humanity.
An introduction to Ethiopian cuisine can be confusing to even the most intrepid Westerner. Most of the food isn't what could be called "aesthetically pleasing" to the eye, it's served with flatbread that more than slightly resembles a Dr. Scholl's Odor Eater insert, and your hands are used in place of any and all utensils. Houstonist has had more than one dining companion turned off by one or a combination of these things. But for those willing to break outside of their narrow-minded, stifling culinary boxes, the reward is a cuisine that's rich with the taste of the earth, highly-flavored with unique spice blends and fascinating with an intoxicating blend of textures.
We reccommend dining at Blue Nile on a Sunday afternoon, when the post-church rush brings in noisy, happily-chattering crowds of Orthodox Christians (you did know that the majority of Ethiopians are Christian, right?) and an overall sense that you've been temporarily transported from a dank strip center off Richmond into a sunny restaurant in Addis Ababa. Cheerful yellow walls, crisp white table linens and an array of Ethiopian art (of which at least 30% seems to be various potrayals of their patron saint, George, and his famously slayed dragon) and furniture throughout add to the depth of that experience. Order a bottle of sweet, tangy Ethiopian beer or a berele of refreshing Tej (deceptively-strong honey wine) and soak in the seductive scent of berbere while you wait for your food.
Don't know what to order? Blue Nile offers two combination platters that let you sample almost everything on their menu, the better to equip yourself for the next visit. The larger of the two is the Blue Nile Special, which contains small servings of gomen (collard greens), atkilt wot (mixed vegetables), tibs (sauteed lamb), alicha minchetabish (minced beef) and doro wot (spicy chicken stew). At $40, it's a great meal to split between two or three people and a wonderful way to initiate yourself or your friends into Ethiopian cuisine.
The smaller combination platter also happens to be perfect for vegetarians: the Vegetarian Combo offers an Ethiopian salad (with fresh jalapenos!), kik alicha (split pea paste, which is much better than it sounds), gomen, atkilt wot, yemissir wot (red lentil stew) and shirro wot (a dreamy potato and onion concoction). At only $11.50, and with more than enough food for two people, this is possibly Houstonist's favorite menu item.
As previously mentioned, everything on the menu is eaten sans utensils and with your hands. More specifically, you use your hands to tear off pieces of the slightly sour flatbread that accompanies your meal and then use that piece to pick up your food. Although Ethiopian custom (like many others) dictates that you should only use your right hand for eating, that moray seems to have fallen by the wayside in America.
The flatbread, injera, serves another purpose besides just a utensil: its sourness combats the extreme spicyness found in most dishes, somewhat muting the fire of the berbere and instead allowing you to taste the undercurrents of allspice, ginger, coriander and many other elements contained in the spice mixture. Injera is made from teff, a whole grain native to Ethiopia that's high in protein, fiber, iron and calcium, making it the perfect utensil: edible (no waste!), a flavor enhancer and exceptionally good for you.
Aside from the aforementioned combination platters, Houstonist would be remiss if we didn't encourage you to try three of our other favorites at Blue Nile. The lamb tibs are very similar to fajitas, with savory strips of onion and bell peppers accompanying the sauteed chunks of lamb. Pretend the injera is a tortilla and you're suddenly having a Tex-Mex moment. The doro wot is our favorite of the wots, thick onion-and-butter based stews. Each dusky, swarthy bowl of doro wot comes with a hunk of dark meat chicken and a boiled egg for good measure. And the kitfo is an experience in and of itself, as most restaurants would never knowingly serve a bowl of raw ground beef. The beef has been marinated in a mixture of extremely spicy chili powder and clarified butter. Whether or not these two things kill the bacteria in the beef, we're unable to say. But we've been eating kitfo for years with no ill effects, so we're going to assume that it does in that "ignorance is bliss" sort of way that serves us so well.
After your meal, you can indulge in the famous Ethiopian coffee ceremony. $20 lets you enjoy the traditional three rounds of freshly-roasted and freshly-brewed coffee surrounded by the heavy, drowsy scent of burning frankincense. The scent is a reminder of just how ancient this culture -- this country -- is, and leaves you in a deeply reflective state, contemplating the many changes it has seen over the years and its miraculous ability to retain the exquisite cuisine its people have enjoyed throughout time.
Blue Nile Restaurant
9400 Richmond Avenue
713.782.6882
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Photo courtesy of Flickr user abbey*christine through a Creative Commons license.
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AS WONDERFUL AS ETHIOPIAN FOOD IS, WHY DOES THAT PLATE LOOK LIKE SOMEONE HAD SERIOUS DIARRHEA ??
EVERYTHING LOOKS LIKE IT BLASTED OUT OF A RECTUM & ON TO THE PLATE. COULDN'T IT HAVE BEEN MORE TASTEFULLY ARRANGED?? ALL THAT FOOD IS SOOOO GOOD! SHOW IT SOME RESPECT!
FLASHING BACK TO ABOUT 1979 - WHAT DO YOU CALL AN ETHIOPIAN WITH A CHICKEN?? A CATERER!
The photo does not do justice to this wonderful food. It is unique and delicious. Go with friends, you will enjoy it. In fact, make an afternoon of it by visiting the Houston Museum of Natural Science to see the Ethiopia and "Lucy" exhibit (until Sept. 1, when it closes) then going to Blue Nile for dinner. You'll get the full Ethiopian experience without having to go through airport security!
Nice! I used to bartend here a few years ago. I still have random, uncontrollable cravings for kik and injera from time to time.
Um, the dorky English major in me LOVED how you started this article. :)