Ethiopians must have fat babies

July 3rd, 2008

I love Ethiopian food. And please, do not even start with the starving kids-Sally Struthers jokes. Ethiopians eat better than most Americans do and I bet all their babies are fat with food. So stuff it. The craving for it sideswipes me like Mac truck, I swear. Yesterday I was standing in line at the pharmacy, and all of a sudden, I could not get the picture of a freshly fried beef sambusa out of my head. I headed straight for the nearest Ethiopian restaurant, Ethiopian diamond (6120 N. Broadway St., Chicago). It helps that I moved into a neighborhood that has three Ethiopian restaurants within walking distance of my apartment. If you’ve ever had the stuff, then you know what I am talking about. When I first tried it, I had to eat it once a week for the next month straight. It produces such a strong craving for it; one might compare the addiction to that of a crack addict. You just keep thinking of where you will get your next fix! My man went with the doro tibs watt on my suggestion (I was craving some white meat), and I got the usual, the veggie combo with yemsir watt, dinich alicha, gomen. The absolute worst part about going to this type of restaurant is the time it takes to get your food. They make it all from scratch, at least at this place, so no steam tables are holding your watts, which is nice. For those not in the know, the food is served on a giant thin piece of bread in little piles, and you tear off the bread and scoop the food up with it. The best part is at the end, when the bread plate is soaked with the juices of all the food and you eat it…crap, I?m drooling. The injera bread was spot on; chewy with a nice sour tang they get from fermenting the batter. I love using the yemsir watt as a condiment before I scoop up other pieces of potatoes or collard greens…ugh, it’s so good. And I got my sambusa fix too. Who knew deep fried beef in pastry could taste so good? They serve it with a sweet chili sauce and a wedge of lemon that gives it the perfect kick. I could eat about 8 on my own. In my opinion, Ethiopian diamond is the best of its kind in Chicago. The only way to describe their food is just savory goodness. From the moment I first walked into the place, the smell alone made me want to steal food off nearby tables. Man, I?m gonna miss this place. Hopefully Australia will have a small Ethiopian population to meet my needs! Now I want more sambusa. This is what I get for indulging in a food porn memory. ~LTG

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http://www.kudzus.blogspot.com/ Donna

Hey……….It’s our anniversary there…are you enjoying it? It’s been 33 years and seems just like yesterday and you know what a horrible day yesterday was…………..

Just kidding……..luv ya kids
leenatrivedi23

Eh, I have had consistent bad service at Ras Dashan, although I do love dining on the traditional Ethiopian tables. Ethiopian Diamond has killer food and the owners are lovely people who occasionally run cooking classes at Treasure Island. I dig that. You should try it out!
http://whatsonthetable.blogspot.com/ Suzer

Ethiopian is one of the foods I MUST have when I go on a visit back to Chicago…although I prefer Ras Dashan on Broadway (about 6000 N.) to the reastaurant you mention.

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