Mooching around Naka-Meguro looking for dinner one evening, I had lots of options, then a few minutes on the main road from the station, I came across something I hadn't really expected - an Ethiopian restaurant. The menu outside was all in Japanese, but the prices looked reasonable, and I'll always try something new, so down the steps, past the giraffe and inside I went.
Inside it's cosy, colourful and cluttered. There are lively prints and hangings on the walls, a very striking painting on an ox hide of what looks like the Saint George myth, and an equally striking zebra hide adorning the ceiling. Gourds hang down from the ceiling, brightly decorated lamps hang above the well-stocked bar, and Ethiopian emperor and Rastafarian icon Hailie Selassie's image gazes out from flags and posters.
Now I'd never tried Ethiopian food before, so had no idea what to expect, but the English-speaking owner was born there, so I'll assume the dishes were authentic. For my dinner I chose doro alicha, a mild chicken stew made with spiced butter, accompanied by dabo, Ethiopian spice bread. The stew was a touch smaller than I'd hoped (well, quite a lot smaller), with just one chicken leg in the bowl of sauce, but it was very tasty, spicy fragrant rather than spicy hot. The bread was also very nice, with a light taste but firm texture, just right for soaking up the sauce.
There's an extensive English menu, with helpful descriptions of many of the dishes. (There's also a menu with pictures, but no English, so you'll have to cross-reference by Japanese if you want to check both.) Stews with chicken, lamb, beef or vegetables cost from ¥900 to ¥1200, with rice or bread to accompany them being ¥400-¥500. (All prices are given before consumption tax, which at the time of writing is 8%.) Stew sets are ¥2500, or complete multiple-course dinners are ¥3400, and these are probably a good option given the smallness of my stew. Starters and side dishes are between ¥500 and ¥1000, and I was pleased to see a handful of more exotic choices on the menu: ostrich is served as a ¥1000 carpaccio or a ¥1200 kebab, while grilled guinea fowl costs ¥1500.
They have an equally wide range of beers, spirits and cocktails, both standard and African, for ¥700-¥800. Many of the African cocktails are evocatively named, so you can ask for an African Zion, a River in Babylon, or a Crocodile in the Sky: drink enough and that's what you'll see, the sign of an evening enjoyed.
