Lalibela Ethiopian

1025 South Fairfax Avenue

If you have ever driven up Fairfax Avenue between Pico and Olympic, you’ve likely found yourself in an ungodly long line of traffic, and also, Little Ethiopia. This neighborhood boasts multiple different Ethiopian restaurants, thrift stores, bakeries, and more.

Out of the plethora of Ethiopian options, we took our talents to Lalibela. We were seated at a table in an aromatic environment with pleasant music playing, yet we yearned for the area of the restaurant with cushions, couches, and low tables. The menu provided us with options of beef, chicken, lamb, and veggie courses, most of which were served on injera, a flat Ethiopian sourdough. To the more aged and classy readers, the menu also offers an impressive array of Ethiopian wines and beers galore, that would have warmed our spirits had we been off the clock. We ordered lentil sambusas (warm savory pastry filled with lentils), kategna with ayib (bread coated in a nice spicy sauce with Ethiopian cottage cheese), and doro wot (curry-like stew with chicken and hard-boiled eggs, on a large injera bread).

These foods all had a similar spicy, tart, salty and pungent taste profile, which we found quite enjoyable. My personal favorite dish was the lentil sambusa, maybe because my fat, sassy, American Ass needed something fried. However, the doro wot was one of my favorite things we have tried yet. Its only vice was that eating so much bread had become just slightly tiresome after a while. As we finished up, we couldn’t help but notice that the portions of the vegetable dishes at the table next to us were significantly larger than our chicken doro wot. Nonetheless, it was a wondrous meal.

But our journey was not yet over. After our meal, we stopped into a thrift store a few doors down, where we were greeted by an eloquently dressed, soft-spoken Ethiopian gentleman who introduced himself as Solomon. Roan does not think this is his real name, and is very distrustful. We exchanged information, and we were surprised as Solomon gratuitously invited us to Ethiopia, where he welcomed us to stay with his relatives, and informed us that a package would be waiting.

Such a sequence of events made for a very successful venture into Ethiopian cuisine in Little Ethiopia.

We give this pleasing restaurant an A+, as in A+ticus and Roan enjoyed it immensely and will tell tales of its quality for years to come out of ten. The first A+ we have ever given could hardly be given to any other restaurant.