Nazareth

A few weeks ago, my good friend Diona Joyce, a.k.a. TitaFlips, was curious about Ethiopian cuisine. I have tried Ethiopian a couple of times and thought it was about time that I add more to that experience by visiting another Ethiopian restaurant. Scouring Urbanspoon, Nazareth caught my eye. With an approval of 92% after almost 200 votes, it should be a winner. You can get me into a restaurant when I see a rating of 75% and up. To have it at 92% would be a real promise of a good meal.

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Coming out of a meeting, I met up with Diona and we drove to Bloor and a little past Ossington. It was good to come prepared knowing the address as it could have been easily missed as there were tall recycling bins temporarily parked on the sidewalk fronting Nazareth. When we walked in, it was already packed with patrons and we had to stand in line. There were already 3 groups of people before us and I winced at the thought of having to wait. I did not think that at 6:30pm that it would be that full. I guess that was a bad judgement to make as the place was popular. Luckily, some patrons on a table for four left and the people taking it were open to making it a communal table. Diona and I have the foodie gods on our side.

As the menus were given,  I minded the reviews I have read before as I chose my meal. Countless reviews were ecstatic about the vegetarian sampler and I made sure we chose that. For a second dish, we chose Kitfo, which was spicy minced lean beef. Waiting for food, I looked around and the restaurant have an eclectic mix of diners. Casual, formal and hipsters all meld into one common dining place. It was impressive that it has a wide demographic of people who appreciate their cuisine. That made me expect good food all the more.

When the food arrived, just like the other Ethiopian restaurants I went to before, both orders came into one common platter. The food was meant to be shared and eaten by the hands. I am no stranger to dining without utensils and so I heartily dug in after a good round of pictures. I must apologize for the darkness of the images. The restaurant have dim lighting with tones of red light coming from its bar. Just take my word for it that the servings were massive and was a gratifying medley of depth and flavours. My most favorite was one of the vegetables that came with the vegetarian option. Diona told me it was kale. Another one that should have a mention was the tender beans. I could eat a whole platter of it without any effort. Of course one must not forget the injera. It was rather addicting. It was so good even without any of the accompaniments. I think I was rather fast in consuming my injera share that we ended up still with so much food in the platter after I finished my last piece of injera.

This place I am definitely marking as a favorite at Urbanspoon. It was so nourishing and would definitely leave you contented and comforted.