Hearty stews and spongy Ethiopian injera make meals at this Fenton Street restaurant finger-licking good. Literally.
Consuming a traditional Ethiopian meal without utensils requires a little skill. Those in the know can scoop up rich red stew with a piece of squishy sourdough pancake (injera) and not even break a sweat.
Others (read: The Penguin) wear the leftovers home. However, the food at Addis Ababa (8233 Fenton St) is worth the dry cleaning bill. The service and setting aren’t that bad, either.
The lentil sambusa appetizer ($2 for one piece) is an interesting hybrid and a bold, ballsy start to the meal. A dense wonton wrapper envelopes a mound of red lentils and is deep fried. What results is a crisp turnover seasoned with feisty, ass-kicking paprika.
For the main course, the lamb with chopped collard greens (zilbo gomen, $9) is seasoned with a light hand but has just enough butter to give it a velvety body. The lamb is stewed until tender, and the bitter collards give a pleasant zip to the dish’s overall richness.
Veggie lovers can choose the beyaynetu platter ($12), which offers generous portions of five different vegetarian entrees. The sauteed cabbage (tikil gomen) is buttery and sweet, a good contrast to the slight bitter bite of seasoned collard greens (gomen).
Stewed string beans, carrots and potatoes (yatakilt wat) release their sweetness without surrendering their firm textures. A touch of turmeric keeps the natural sugars in check.
The red lentils stewed in red sauce (mesir wat) also imparts a sweet taste, but to a fault. Tomato paste, which is used sometimes to thicken the sauce, leaves too strong an impression on the palette (and too intense a stain on the fingertips). The yellow split peas stewed with onions and garlic (kik alicha) is bland and mealy.
The dining room is cozy, comfortable and usually smells of frankincense. Add to that some smooth Ethiopian jazz, and it’s serious chill time. Also, the service is brisk and helpful with food selections.
Each meal tops itself with wet naps.
Addis Ababa, 8233 Fenton St, Silver Spring, (301) 589-1400.
Read 
What the hell are they building now? Learn more from 
Boxed wines and rosés are back in vogue. Just ask The Penguin's sommeliers.
God, the service here is so slow, and they never get your order right. I love the food, and end up going anyway, and then I’m just really angry with the service whole time I’m there.
The food here is excellent; however, I will agree that the service is terrible. It’s still the Ethiopian restaurant I take everyone too, but the service turns me off more and more each time.
Guess I caught the servers on a good day.
I agree, the service is very slow there BUT (and this is a big but)…could it be that our American expectations/perspective are the “problem”?
If you go to Spain, Greece, Italy, Israel…and probably Ethiopia (though that’s one I haven’t been to) the service is much slower and less rushed than here. There, you are expected to linger…to enjoy the company of others…and to relax and stay as long as you want. No one rushes you or expects you to leave until you are ready.
The American business model says: get them their drinks, hurry with the appetizers, bring them the entree, offer desert, bring the check and get them OUT so you can seat the next group at the table. We’ve become so accustomed to this type of “service” that we now think this is the way it is always supposed to be.
Of course, I did get pretty hungry waiting at Addis Ababa.
Thanks for your comments, Woodsider.
As part of my research, I always take note of when my order is taken, and when the food arrives at the table (or in Addis Ababa’s case, the basket).
During this particular visit, it took roughly 10 minutes for the entrees to arrive. It took less time for the appetizer.
I wouldn’t mind the slowness if they were otherwise good servers. I have never gotten my drink there, no matter how many times I order one, and ask repeatedly for it to be brought. Everytime, they mess up our order, and then it’s impossible to even find someone to fix it, and then you finally find someone who will promise to bring the right order, but you never see that person again. And then they bring out the bill, and it charges for the drink you didn’t receive and the order that was incorrect and never fixed.
Got to agree with NotYourBroom; last time, we were told they were out of a certain brand of beer, only to watch the couple who sat down later at the table next to us order and receive the same beer. Speed isn’t always the issue–it’s more a matter of getting someone to respond.
The food and the atmosphere are so good that we always go back, but we always adjust our expectations first!
I agree completely, it’s always about someone at least acknowledging your presence, and then periodically stopping by to say that it will be a little longer before the food comes out. It’s when you are ignored that it gets irritating.
I’ve been there 3 times and each time, everyone ordered a different type of sambosa (lentil, veggie, or meat, I believe). They have never gotten more than 1 out of 4 sambosa’s correct (pretty hard when there are only 3 options). The combination platter rock. Available for parties of 2, 3, or 4.
I love me some Ethiopian food but the service here is very slow. I usually bring in a bottle of water with me, knowing full well that i will not get more than one glass, ever, even when I ask for it. The food’s kind of good though.
While I do agree that the service can be mediocre, it has not been enough of an issue to keep me away. My only real complaint regarding the whole experience is that the injera is almost always bland and flavorless. I’ve always felt injera should have a moderate to strong sourdough tang to it. Here more often than not, it tastes more like “wonderbread”.
JKAIBDLWTX timberland boots IMWVTSRINL http://www.oneribpublications.com