Many people have called me an “adventurous eater” over the years. I’m not so sure I deserve such a title. What I will say is that I not only keep an open mind about world cuisine, but I do my best to actively seek it out. The world is a vast, diverse and delicious place. And there are many corners I have not yet explored. It may surprise you to learn, then, that it has taken nearly four decades for me to try Ethiopian food for the first time. For this maiden voyage, we ordered takeout from Harambe Ethiopian Restaurant on Commercial Drive in Vancouver.
I know a little bit about Ethiopian food. Like, very little. Truth be told, I know very little about African cuisine in general. We touched on it with Safari Snack House and the now-shuttered Trade Winds Restaurant. The thing is that those are/were more Afro-Indian fusion. African food in general, and Ethiopian food in particular, deserves more of a spotlight and that’s how we finally ended up at Harambe.
Harambe Chef’s Choice Combination
We figured the best way to get a lay of the Ethiopian culinary land, so to speak, was to get the platter from Harambe. All in one go, we got to sample the following.
- Yebeg Wot: Lamb simmered in Berbere sauce, seasoned with organic Harambe spices
- Doro Wat: Chicken thigh leg cooked with onions in rich Berbere sauce
- Alitcha Wot: Diced lean meat simmered with onions, ginger, garlic and assorted Harambe organic spices
- Miser Wot: Red split lentils cooked with onions in Berbere and Harambe organic spices
- Tekil Gomen: Steamed cabbage with onions and seasoned Harambe spices
- Gomen: Spinach boiled in onion and sauteed with garlic and Harambe organic spices
- Yatekit Alitcha: Sauteed carrot, string beans, potato and onions seasoned with Harambe organic spices
- Kik Alitcha Wot: Yellow split lentils cooked with onion in Berbere and Harambe organic spices
Officially, the Chef’s Choice Combination platter comes with the three meat dishes plus “assorted vegetarian dishes from the menu.” So, the exact veggies you get may vary. It’s $18.99 per person, or $14.99 per person if you go with the Veggie Lovers Combination. Every meal comes with regular injera, a traditional Ethiopian flatbread.
Factoid: According to the website, Berbere is a “sophisticated spice combination” consisting of “hot red peppers, ginger, rue seed, sacred basil, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and bishop’s weed… among other spices individually prepared and grounded together in the exotic blend.” The more you know!
A Handful of Delicious
What you’re supposed to do here is take a piece of injera bread and use it as your utensil for scooping up some of that delicious food. There are no forks, spoons or knives here. You’ve just got to dig right in. And “dig right in” is exactly what we did. I really like the complex array of spices, flavors and textures at play here.
It’s a little hard to describe if you haven’t had this kind of food before (like me). There appear to be some influences from Indian food or food from the Middle East. Even so, the unique blend of flavors is distinctly Ethiopian and unique in its own right. It’s definitely spiced, but I wouldn’t say it’s spicy in the same way you might get with an Indian curry. Of what was here, I enjoyed the Yebeg Wot (lamb) and Gomen (spinach) the most. The latter almost reminded me of collard greens.
Extra Injera Bread
The injera bread wasn’t what I expected either. I knew that the food would be served on the bread. I expected the bread to be mostly neutral and bland, allowing the flavors of the other items to take center stage. Based on nothing, really, I also thought the bread would be more bread-like, similar to pita, naan and other flatbreads. Injera is not those things.
If anything, injera more closely resembles a crepe or a pancake. It has a spongier, “wetter” texture, for starters, and it is distinctly sour, almost like “wet” sourdough. The sourness, from what the internet tells me, is because injera is a fermented flatbread, traditionally made with teff flour. Teff is a protein-rich grain that’s been a staple of Ethiopian food for millennia. And I really like it.
For a couple extra dollars, we got an extra order of injera with the two-person Chef’s Choice Combination. This was a mistake. There was so much extra, we ended up reheating it for two more meals. I guess that’s not a terrible problem to have with such a delicious food item.
Harambe Ethiopian: All Pull Together
Harambe is Swahili for “pull together.” This is a perfect way to think about Harambe Ethiopian Restaurant. They’re all about sharing delicious food with people you love, eating with your hands and feeding your companions. This was our first experience with Ethiopian food and it most certainly won’t be our last. If you’re looking for more options on Commercial Drive, Sweet Cherubim and Downlow Chicken Shack are both worth checking out.
Harambe Ethiopian Restaurant is located at 2149 Commercial Drive in Vancouver. They’re open from 4pm to 10pm Monday to Thursday, from noon to 11pm Friday and Saturday, and from noon to 10pm on Sunday. Order directly by calling 604-216-1060. You can also order takeout or delivery via Skip the Dishes, Doordash or Uber Eats. Check their website at harambeethiopianrestaurant.com for more information and the full menu.
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