East Village Eats

Food & Drink recommendations straight from the East Village, New York City

Queen of Sheba

Posted on | March 9, 2010 | No Comments

Queen of ShebaA bunch of us got together to celebrate & my buddy, DJ, took us all to Queen of Sheba (650 10th avenue @46th St.) for some authentic Ethiopian fare.  This was my second time to an Ethiopian restaurant with DJ (he had taken us to Awash in the East Village) & I thought I knew a bit about the cuisine.  I quickly found out that I didn’t know anything at all!  We were seated on stools around woven straw tables called Messobs (thanks Google).

We ordered some beers & let DJ handle the food, I’m not even going to pretend that I knew what he had ordered, but it did sound like a lot.  Little did we know what we were in for!  Our waitress brought trays lined with bread (called Injera) & proceeded to top it with all sorts of condiments; vegetables, cheeses, etc.  Next they added various meats & additional veggies on top of the giant platter & gave us more injera.

Here’s where things got fun, we just all dug in.  No utensils!  The Injera was your knife & fork (and most of the time, napkin too!)  You basically took a bit of everything & popped it into your mouth!  It was awesome because you really could ‘customize’ your flavor; a little of this, more of that etc.  I loved the soft cheese (I forgot to ask if it was cow’s milk).  I half expected it to be really spicy (I’m a bit of a wuss when it comes to heat), but it was just right.  I think the Ethiopians have it right.  We ate out plate, knives & forks!  I really wish that I could describe the injera properly.  It was just so light & fluffy, absolutely amazing & perfect for soaking up all of the sauces!

Rum CakeTotally & utterly full, we moved onto dessert.  I got some incredibly thick Ethiopian coffee & shared the rum cake.  By this time, I was ready to cry uncle, so honestly, I have no idea if they were good or not!  I could have been served a shoe & I would have been totally satisfied.  If you like African food, or just good food in general, go to Queen of Sheba!

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