Ethiopian Food- YUM!
July 15, 2009
(REPUBLISHED)
Ethiopian food is officially now one of my favorites! After passing by the Dukem Restaurant on the U Street Corridor in Washington, DC for over three years and looking on with curiosity, I decided on Saturday to take the plunge with a couple friends and try it out.
Now, a forewarning if you plan to visit, the Dukem Restaurant is not one for fine dining, if that’
s what you’re looking for. The atmosphere is relaxed, a bit noisy and service is a tad bit slow, but the GREAT food (which I will talk about later) makes up for where everything else falters.
While the experience could easily be compared to eating native Indian dishes like roti (read more) and paratha (read more), the ‘bread’ served and known in the Ethiopian locale as injera (read more) might be an acquired taste for the picky eater. It “tasted and looked spongy”, said one of my friends and I have to agree. Notwithstanding that, I found the taste to be curiously delightful.
What sto
od out most however is that with the exception of the injera, our entree which included hot spiced lamb, stewed chicken, dhal and some other Ethiopian delicacies was served on a single platter from which we all ate, using our hands (no utensils used).
In the end, I have to say that my experience at the Dukem Restaurant (website) was a mixture of the unique and the mouthwatering. Being with the right company made it a worthwhile visit also.
Below are the links to some of my favorite local (DC) restaurants:
Thai Chili Restaurant- Thai
The Taj Mahal- Indian
Pho Fever- Vietnamese
The Islander- Caribbean
The best fish sandwich!
July 15, 2007
Yesterday, the Travel Channel featured the cuisine from my country of birth; Trinidad & Tobago; including what the host said was the “best fish sandwich in the world”, known to locals as ‘Bake and Shark’.
To put it simply, a Bake and Shark Sandwich is a fried dough pocket, filled with shark nuggets. The sandwich is complete when you add tamarind chutney, coleslaw, marinated cucumbers, pineapple chunks, garlic sauce and mango chutney.
Sounds delicious eh? Wanting to have one myself, I called up a couple friends and we headed to Teddy’s Roti Shop. There, they have some of the best Caribbean food in the DC area.
Funny thing, when we got to the restaurant, there were two other people who saw the same television program and went there to get some Bake and Shark too! It’s that great tasting!
Promise me one thing, before you die, have a Bake and Shark Sandwich. It rocks!
From my heart, to yours,
Akhenaton
Starbucks- conquering the world, one Latte at a time
June 2, 2007
Sometimes I just like to sit down to unwind after a hard day’s work or heavy gym workout at one of my neighborhood’s Starbucks Coffee shops.
There, in the relaxed atmosphere accompanied by the welcomed disturbance of soothing jazz music, I’d pull out a book to read or watch TV on my Treo, while simultaneously sipping on an Iced Venti Passion Tea Lemonade (Lightly sweetened), a Venti Caramel Apple Cider (no whipped cream) or a Venti Soy Chai Latte with caramel on the top.
That brings me to one of the few pet peeves I have with the chain. What is the purpose of having those weird and sometimes long (insert expletive here), tongue-twisting names for their beverages?
Besides the pleasure that comes from showing off my ability to memorize the names of these drinks, it can be a daunting task every time- especially if I’m trying to impress the hot cashier!
- What’s up with the weird names for the drinks?
- Why not just call the sizes Small, Large and Extra Large instead of Tall, Grande and Venti
- What’s the difference between a frappuccino, a latte, a cappuccino, etc, etc?
- Why does your coffee cost so darn much!?
