Portland goes Ethiopian

Last week sometime my man and I visited Jarra's, a long time standing Ethiopian restaurant on Hawthorne. As we walked in we were greeted by what seemed to be the owner helping his daughter with her homework. We were shown to the empty dining area and had quite the selection of seats to choose from. We decided on the what looked to be the dark side of the room, but soon found out it was just a light bulb on it's way out. As we browsed over the simple thirteen item menu, the light continued to flicker making us get a bit giggly. I decided on a Heinkeken and Jonathan got a draft IPA. The man said, "people, prepare your i.d.'s." His charisma and proud energy made me really comfortable and excited, despite being the only customers in the restaurant. Following our drink arrival we got a brief history on Ethiopia and reasons to love the country. He told us of the beautiful people, diverse regions and the misconceptions of his country. At first, I was a bit saddened by his explanation of America's idea of African-American people. Not that we are racist, but think of only Africa and not the 53 nations that exist. He explained to us that people just see him as someone from Africa and not the mountainous country he is from. We could tell he loved speaking of Ethiopia, but not necessarily that he wanted to return, just that he wants all to know about it.
After our lesson, Jonathan and I were more and more talkative and starving for our food. I decided on the vegetarian combination(easily made vegan) and he chose the mild chicken dish. We had read reviews before we went and heard of the awesome spice. I was ready for the heat, but Jonathan was not. As my plate was set in front of me I could smell the unknown spices that were about to hit my palate. Aesthetically, it was not the most beautiful of plates, with the dark colored sections meshing into one-atop a white colored sponge looking pancake, but that didn't stop me. Ethiopian food is served on a thin crepe-like bread made from teff called Injera. The owner explained that there was a hot and a mild sauce on each side of the plate, surrounding our vegetables and proteins. There was chopped lettuce and tomatoes on top to cut the heat of the dish. He told us to tear the bread around the outside of our dish and simply scoop the food up with our hands. We were provided with a plate of extra bread to finish the whole dish. My combination included two different kinds of lentil blends, collard greens, spinach and rice. I was surprised how clean I kept my hands and plate.

I must say I have never tasted food that made my ears burn. It was a whole new experience for my mouth and body. It was the kind of spice that clears your sinuses, but yet you don't shed a tear or a drop of sweat. My chest seemed to be warm too! I see Mexican food spice as me sweating, Japanese wasabi like spice as me with my eyes wide open and Indian and Thai spice as my throat and mouth burning. This was nothing like any of those. I kept looking up at Jonathan and saying, "Oh, I'm done, it's too hot." Then a couple bites later he'd say," I thought you were done?" Haha, I couldn't stop eating it, it was so amazing. What I thought looked to be a small portion, thinking I could finish my plate, ended up being more that enough. The bread, being made of Teff, is extremely filling. Teff has a high amount of fiber making you satisfied faster and soaks up a lot of flavor.

The food was far from what I expected. The awkward ambiance was very reasonable after my first bite and conversation with the owner. Sometimes I think us foodies expect a little too much. It was kind of a nice break from the usual swanky expectation many of us portray when going out to eat. Don't get me wrong atmosphere does matter, but sometimes all you need is good company, culture and delicious flavors. Come on, give it a try, Jarra's. They serve lunch and dinner! I could have guessed they don't have a website, but the address is on the link.