Addis Red Sea - a trip to Ethiopia in Boston

Boston does not have what you call a "plethora" of restaurants from many cultures like many other big cities.  I always want to try out different types of food, but when push comes to shove, I don't - not because I don't want to but because its easy to get intimidated by the menu, and really, I don't think about these less-traditional options when the time comes.  In this case, however, Groupon helped push us into going.  In March Groupon was featuring Addis Red Sea, a completely authentic Ethiopian restaurant, and so I decided to go for it.
Nick and I went last week, somewhat early, and the place was busy.  The set up isn't your traditional table and chairs but rather stools and smaller chairs, and something more like a high ottoman than a table.

Table and Chair

This unique table setting really made you feel like you were somewhere completely different and fun.  Wanting to make sure we took advantage of all the Ethiopian offerings, I ordered some Axum, a nebit honey wine that was actually suggested by people on FourSquare.  Nick got a Tusker beer (actually Kenyan, but close enough!)

Wine and Tusker

The wine was delicious - not being much of a white wine fan I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.  The honey flavor was just on the sweeter side, making it more refreshing than anything else.

Our table had a cute little card on the top telling us that it was in fact a table for holding the food and should not be leaned on or sat on. 

Mesob - our table

Not really knowing how to begin ordering we decided on an appetizer and a combination platter.  The appetizer that sounded good was a sambusa.

Sambusa

The sambusa has a couple of different fillings, but we got the spiced ground beef flavored with cumin, garlic, onions and a touch of nutmeg.  This was tasty and the flavors were definitely something new and different, preparing us for what was to come.

While there were loads of great entree options we went for the Addis Red Sea Special Combination.

Special Combination

This plate came with Doro Wot, Doro Alcha, Lega Tibs, Zenge (Exotic Beef Stew), House Salad and Gomen Wot.  Doro wot is tender chicken marinated in lemon, sautéed in seasoned butter and stewed in a red pepper sauce, flavored with onions, garlic and ginger root with a pinch of cardamoms and nutmeg.  Doro Alcha is chicken simmered in a mild sauce of butter, ginger and onions.  Lenga tibs is beef chunks sautéed in oil seasoned with onions, green peppers, rosemary and black pepper.  Finally, the gomen wot is chopped collard greens cooked in herbed oil with onions, green pepper and garlic.  Basically we got to try a little bit of everything!

Every dish was served on this amazing soft spongy bread- picture a moister and spongey pita.  Good thing there was a whole plate of extras because it was fantastic.

"Fork"

When eating Ethiopian food, rather than using silverware you use the bread instead!  This was not nearly as messy as I thought it would be - it was really fun and a totally new experience.

The flavors used in all the food were something different than anything I have had.  The food is not like Indian or another cuisine you may be used to - it really has its own flavors.  The textures and tastes were so much fun and totally enjoyable.  It was a great time and the food was delicious - I really cannot wait to go back and try some new things on the menu.  I highly recommend taking a trip to Addis Red Sea (its way easier than going to Ethiopia!)