Enat Kitchen: Restaurant Guide 2014

ENAT KITCHEN
By KAT MERCK

300 N Killingsworth St., 285-4867, enatguada.com

[BARE BONES, FULL BELLY] Amid all the hip, self-aware small plates and chalkboard walls cropping up along North Killingsworth Street, it's almost refreshing to walk into Enat Kitchen, a dark, narrow space in a nondescript strip of shops beneath an apartment block. There's little in the way of ambiance aside from framed Ethiopian tourism posters and a few cultural artifacts propped up near the lunch buffet. The only other customers on a recent weeknight were convivial East Africans drinking Coronas. This is food by Ethiopians, for Ethiopians, and it shows. There are no utensils, the spices are imported directly from Ethiopia, and the postprandial coffee is served in a traditional ceremony, with beans roasted right at the table. The menu of various wats (stews) and slow-cooked vegetables is vast, so those unfamiliar with the cuisine are best served by partaking in the lunch buffet ($8) or choosing the "family-style" option from the menu, which comes with two meat and five veggie dishes of diners' choosing on a platter of injera nearly half the size of the table. It comes in two sizes, but the "couple" version ($27) is more than enough for three people. Add a couple of Ethiopian beers and you're set until lunch the next day. KAT MERCK.

Pro tip:

If you're looking for a meat-centric version of the family-style meal, the "beef" section of the menu offers four entrees for $14.50. There is also a vegetarian version.

11:30 am-9:30 pm Monday-Saturday. $.

WWeek 2015

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