adanzig

At the 11th hour, we decided to try Zobel rather than Queen Sheba last night, as I'll admit I was scared off by a few posters' comments over the past day or so. In my efforts to try all of the Ethiopian places in Seattle, this was experiment #3 and I'd say its tied for second (or last, however you want to look at it) with Meskel. First place is still Lailabela. We were the only diners in the place for the entire 90 minute meal (we had a lot of time to kill before another commitment). Service was slow but more attentive than at Meskel, although I think I've officially discovered that at Ethiopian places, one must ask for the check. Its not that you're being ignored -- its simply the appropriate custom in their country. Yes? Anyway, as with the other two places, we ordered a veg combo. It had five dishes whereas the other restaurants offered six (I believe). It was missing the salad that many people often say is a "throwaway" dish but I actually quite enjoy it -- breaks up the monotony, so to speak, of a lentil-heavy veg platter. In this case, the platter also only had one spicy lentil dish...I'm accustomed to two. None were quite warm enough and all needed more of a kick. The injera was great, though. Very sour. On a more positive note, Zobel subscribes to the philosophy of only charging two diners the price for one veg plate (including refills that we requested of the red and yellow lentils)....a pleasant surprise when the bill arrived. Despite our lackluster dining experience, its hard to walk away too disappointed when the total bill is $16 with tip! Not sure which place is next on the list but I'll be sure to report back.

I, too, had the vegetarian platter at both Lailabela and Meskel. I must have hit Lailabela on a good night and Meskel on a particularly bad one since my experience at both places sound like they were completely different than yours. Our service at Meskel was glacial and I found the food terribly bland (granted, in my opinion, bland Ethiopian is still better than no Ethiopian). We waited 40 minutes for the bill once our plates had been cleared which definitely doesn't inspire me to return. There are just too many other places that I'm looking forward to trying (like Queen Sheba tomorrow!). Will report back!

I'm in the midst of what will probably be a six month effort to try all of the Ethiopian restaurants that Seattle has to offer. I've only made it to two of them thus far (#3, Queen Sheba, is scheduled for this week) but of the two I've tried, Lailabela and Meskel, the former had the more flavorful offerings, hands-down.

Thanks for the recommendations, all. I've had multiple people suggest that I contact Ravishing Radish -- think that will be my first call. Appreciate all of the help!

I'm planning a reception to be held on a weeknight and am at a loss regarding what catering companies (or restaurants that will do off-site catering) to call. A eG search didn't turn up any previous threads. I expect the menu to consist of heavy h'ors d'oeuvres and a hosted bar. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Check out Marche in the Fifth St. Public Market. http://www.marcherestaurant.com/