Ethiopian restaurant

Firstly I just want to show you that I have not made much progress on my buttonhole edge around my Mountmellick embroidery stitch along cushion – but at least I have made some!

The big news of the day is that there is an Ethiopian restaurant in Sydney!

The African Village Cafe and Restaurant
359 Chapel Road, Bankstown NSW
Tel: 9790 2696

A friend of my sister’s grew up in Ethiopia, and we have been discussing Ethiopian food. Her parents told her of an Ethiopian restaurant in Bankstown (the one I mentioned recently, which we had assumed must have closed as the phone number didn’t work.) She provided me with all the details, including a different phone number (the one listed above). I rang it, and seeing they answered, I made a spur of the moment booking for last night!

After doing so, I realised that my friend Belinda would probably love to join us, so invited her and her family along too. So off we all trotted to Bankstown last night. We arrived and it certainly looked like an Ethiopian restaurant, not just an African restaurant as the name implied. The owner told us that it definitely is an Ethiopian restaurant, but she called it The African Village because she thought that “African” would have more appeal.

We decided to have a combination platter, so that we could choose from 5 different dishes for all of us. We set about deciding which ones from the menu we would like. BUT, we didn’t realise that despite the menu saying “your choice of 5 different dishes”, it didn’t really mean that… The lady brought out her own selection of 5 dishes. Fortunately they were all very nice!

Later, we saw a couple come in to get takeaway. They sat down with one of only two (or so it seemed) menus, and proceeded to choose what they would have. Before long, out came the owner with two takeaway containers of food for them. They didn’t get to choose either! It was quite comical!

There were some other customers there who were Ethiopian, who when they realised that we had been to Ethiopia, and that our elder daughter could speak a small amount of Amharic, wanted very much to speak to her in Amharic. She was a little shy though (and I think felt a bit rusty with the language!).

The food was delicious and very reasonably priced. I can’t tell you what we had, because I’m not really sure! There was a mildly spiced split pea dish, a vegetable dish, a spinach dish, a spicy wat (stew) with lamb, and a very mild mince dish. All were very yum, though some of us are not keen on spinach at the best of times… The kids found the spicy ones too spicy, but we adults found they did great things for the sinuses (too much information?!). Belinda’s kids learned that my injera which they had at multicultural day, is nothing like real injera! The restaurant’s injera is even made partly with tef, which the owner imports from Ethiopia.

Ethiopian dishes are usually served in mounds on the large injera pancakes. You rip a bit of the injera off the edge – with your right hand – and fold it over some of the wat/stew/vegies to scoop up the food into your mouth. Then you rip a new bit of injera off and do it again. It can be a bit messy, but you do end up with the smell of the spices on your fingers afterwards, which is quite pleasant! You don’t use any cutlery because the injera is your cutlery (but you can always ask for some if you need it).

After the meal, there was Ethiopian coffee. I don’t drink tea or coffee, but I did have a sip of this coffee. To my completely uninitiated palate, it just tasted burnt, but to those who know and appreciate coffee, apparently it was really good. (What would I know?)

If you’re in Sydney, you can now sample the delights of Ethiopian food at The African Village Cafe and Restaurant. While you may not get the chance to choose your dishes, the food will be authentic and yum!