Dalo's Kitchen

Dalo's Kitchen is inside some sort of county multiple use building, low slung and concrete bricks painted grey and pink, that bring back memories of high schools. They've managed to make their little section (room 207a) into an attractive enough space, considering. There's a freshly constructed bar in the corner of the second room, as well as a TV serving little more purpose than distraction.

the place has a small menu, serving American deli-style sandwiches as well as a small, but flexible selection of Ethiopian dishes. After Sampling the Ethiopian food with a friend of mine (and current Reed student, just to spite VJ) I am pretty certain that I'll never ask for a sandwich. I'm not feeling particularly eloquent, so I'll do good news bad news:

Good News
-Injera is great--that perfect fermented/sourdough flavor.

-The spiciness and flavor of all the dishes was well balanced and superior to my memories of every other Ethiopian place. My Dining Partner put it much better than I:

"I usually feel culturally fulfilled but culinarily disappointed, but not this time around."

-They have the largest selection of Ethiopian beer I've found yet. I had a St. George's, which was quite drinkable. With the new bar, I Imagine there is liquor license in their future, if the High School will let them have it (tee hee).

Bad News:

-the service was mud-in-January-in-Nunavut slow.

-The beef dish was toasty enough and one of my lentil concoctions was lukewarm, but the rest was cold. Perhaps on purpose? I've never had a cold dish at an Ethiopian place before.


other people on Dalo's:
WWeek
Mercury
AltPortland
portlandfood board