The basics: injera, berbere and dabo
Before the dishes themselves, three words are worth knowing, because they come up across the whole menu. Injera is the flatbread the entire meal is served on, made fresh here from teff flour. Berbere is the Ethiopian spice blend that gives many stews their red color and their characteristic heat. Dabo is a regular Ethiopian bread served alongside the dishes.
The difference between injera and dabo matters beyond taste: injera is made from teff flour and is naturally gluten free, while dabo is an ordinary wheat bread. Anyone avoiding gluten should keep that distinction in mind.
The stews: wat, tibs and firfir
Wat is the general name for a slow-cooked Ethiopian stew. Doro wat is a chicken stew with egg, onion, garlic and a spicy, piquant seasoning. Siga wat is the beef equivalent - onion, garlic and Ethiopian seasoning - and it can be ordered spicy or mild.
Tibs works differently: instead of long cooking, it is a cut of meat sautéed in a pan with onion and a distinctive seasoning. Firfir is built on pieces of injera themselves, sautéed with onion and berbere - so here the injera is not just the base, it is the dish.
Shiro and the vegan side
Shiro is one of the best-loved dishes in Ethiopian cooking - a thick, gentle stew of ground legumes, served here with injera and fresh hot pepper. It is a particularly good starting point for anyone who would rather skip meat.
If choosing feels hard, the shared platters solve it: they arrive with several sides at once, so you can taste a range without committing to one dish. That is also the traditional way to eat - everyone from the same platter.