First Ethiopian Food Experience

To celebrate my roommate Christina's birthday and experience Ethiopian food for the first time in both of our lives, we went to Zeni Restaurant in San Jose, which got great reviews on Yelp.  I was expecting long lines since we didn't get there until close to 8pm, and Yelp had warned that lines are long between 7-9pm on weekends.  There were 6 of us that went, so we ended up waiting 40 minutes or so, but we went next door to a discount shop to roam around and hang out so it wasn't too bad. Besides, if there are a lot of people always waiting to eat at this place, that must be a good sign!

We finally got in and the place was cute.  A bit cozy in between the groups so if one person had to get up to wash their hands, it was a tiny ordeal but we managed.  The seats were actually quite cushier than I thought, and quite comfortable although most of them had no backs. Okay on to the food...

We ordered the vegetarian combo which came with I believe a spicy lentil dish, a cabbage dish, a greens dish, perhaps a potato-ish dish, and a cold type of bread salad using their spongy unleavened bread.  They were all different flavors, but tasty and flavorful.  The only one I didn't have much of was the spicy lentil one, because it was very spicy and I'm a bit weak sauce when it comes to pure heat. We also ordered a chicken dish that looked like it had a tomato flavored sauce, including chicken, onions, and carrots. It tasted quite good alone as well as with the spongy bread they give you.  The third thing we shared was the beef dish which was a green curry type sauce but not spicy.  It had some potatoes and a few other vegetables I believe, but that was really good too.  It kind of reminded me of a pulled pork type look for the meat, but again very tasty when the sauce absorbed into the spongy bread.  

I'm glad we also got the appetizer salad to have some raw, cold greens to balance the warmth and different flavors of the other dishes.  The bread alone wasn't my favorite thing due to the sourness that it had.  I really liked the pieces on the plate underneath the various sauces, because the flavor had soaked in and made the bread very flavorful and not so sour.

We also got a bottle of the Ethiopian honey wine because we had heard that it was pretty tasty and went well with the meal.  I like plum wine so I thought I might like it, but I wouldn't get it on my own again.  It was a bit too sweet and had an odd alcohol or wheat-y aftertaste to it.  I'm not sure it really complements the food that great either, but again I'm not a wine expert!

Overall, the food was good, but not at the top of my cuisines list.  I am willing to try more Ethiopian restaurants if there are specific really good ones people recommend, but I'm more likely to go eat a different cuisine.  I'm biased but Japanese and other asian foods still rank at the top of my list! Aside from that, the point was to spend time with beloved friends and celebrate a birthday so it was a success and HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTINA!