Hello foodies and friends. I am super excited to bring to you my very first African restaurant review.
A couple of weeks ago I visited the
Blue Nile Authentic Ethiopian Restaurant located in a store front at 9400 Richmond ave, Houston, Texas. There is much to be said about the location of the restaurant.
 |
| The outside of the restaurant. |
The location of Blue Nile did not prepare me for what I was about to experience inside the restaurant.
The ambiance was so inviting and smelled like an incense shop but not overpowering. The Blue Nile looked like I was walking into Cleopatra dining room. I am not sure if there is a link between Egypt and Ethiopian but the Blue Nile gave me a heavy Egyptian vibe which I loved nonetheless.
We were greeted by a waiter I think his name is "Azmera", a few minutes after we walked in. He was busy serving another table as there was no other waiter in sight. We waited for at least 10 minutes before the waiter came back to take our orders. There were at least four separate tables of customers already eating.
This was my first time eating dinner at an Ethiopian cuisine so I was not sure what I wanted to eat.
Fortunately we had a really good waiter who guided us through the menu. The first thing I learned is we were going to be eating with our hands. yippee!! I love eating with my hands.. I am such a village girl!!lol. We were going to use
Injera (click the link to learn more) ( looks like carpet, texture like pancakes but tastes like fermented soft wheat bread) to eat our meals. My meal was excellent. Omg!!! but the meal presentation could have been better. It looked sloppy but it really did not take away from the deliciousness of the meal.
The Injera was so tangy a bit too lemony for me, after bout 10 bits I was over the Injera. It was so tangy that my eyes would water every time I took another bit of it.
My friends all ordered different food items with some vegetarian choices. I understand that Ethiopians are very family oriented and they like to eat as a family. Our meals were served in a large tray. I ordered #17. "Yebeg Tibs" cost $17.99. (Lamb cubes sautéed with slices of onions, jalapeño peppers
and fresh rosemary). The dinner menu was priced reasonable.
Our food was served in a large tray, so we were able to sample each others meals. The lamb was melt in your mouth good. The lamb and the salad combo just kept exploding flavors in my mouth! Azmera, our waiter did an excellent job helping us understand the different flavors that we were experiencing.
He was very knowledgeable, we did know how to pick our legumes,beans and salads. He just told us to leave it up to him. I am not a big fan of beans but I love how the beans was not over powering and it did not make me gassy.
Eating at the Blue Nile was a wonderful palate opening experience. The ambiance was very inviting, the waiter was knowledgeable, Hi Azmera!! the food was great. Looking forward to returning to the
The Blue Nile Restaurant.
Scroll down to view more pics.
 |
| This is how our meals came! We were all able to sample each others food. |
 |
| cute dinner for two set up!xo |
 |
| Fresh roses everyday. |
 |
| Injera |
 |
| Extra dinning space for large party. |
 |
| More art on the wall. |
 |
| Bar area.. Looks like a Tiki Bar. |
 |
| I do not drink coffee but this is a after meal tradition. |
 |
| Beautiful picture, adds to the ambiance. |
Photo credit: Bukky Olusanya
Up next Signature African Restaurant.
