The Ethiopian Restaurant

2816 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80206
303.322.5939

No, I am not blanking on the name of the restaurant.  The actual name of it is “The Ethiopian Restaurant” and it’s located in Denver.  It can be recognized by the outer walls which are painted the green, yellow and red colors of the Ethiopian flag.  It doesn't have a website so I included its other information above.  I went to this restaurant with a very large Meetup group.  It’s a small mom and pop place with a small dining area.  Our group of 20 or so people almost took up their whole room.  Luckily there was still space for other parties on the perimeters.  

I started with a glass of the house chardonnay.  It was pretty unremarkable.  I took the hint from some others and followed it up with a glass of their house honey mead.  This was much more interesting!  It was sweet but still very light.  It almost had a floral taste to it.  Very pleasant.

I don’t remember the Ethiopian names for what we ordered but basically the dishes were spicy chicken, spicy lamb, mild lamb and spicy lamb.  The spicy dishes were red with chili powder.  The waiter assured us it wasn’t as spicy as actual Ethiopian food because “we want you to come back.”  The chicken dishes were two drumsticks served with a hard boiled egg.  The lamb was small pieces of lamb in the sauces.  I enjoyed the family style way of serving.  We had a huge plate the size of a bicycle wheel in the center for 4 people.  The plate was covered in the spongy sourdough bread called Injera.  Each dish that people ordered was piled in front of them in the big plate.  In the center, our waiter put a mixture of cooked cabbage and onions.  Next to each individual pile of food was a yellow chickpea mixture.  There were no utensils.  We had a side plate of the Injera bread that we tore off and used to pick up food and dab sauce.  I couldn’t believe the level of flavor in each dish.  Even the mild dishes had their own delicious flavor.

I highly recommend this place to people who want a fun and interesting night out.  The waiter/owner was very patient with our large group and had a fantastic sense of humor.  The entrees ran about $10 so it was very filling and affordable.