Lalibela beckons spice girls, boys, and parents

By Zoë Konovalov

New Haven already has more Indian, Thai, Italian, and Vietnamese restaurants than anyone could count without a degree in discrete mathematics. Now with the arrival of Lalibela, the city's Ethiopian offerings have become similarly complex. Offering another Ethiopian option beside Caffé Adulis, Lalibela is a reasonably-priced way for spice fiends to satisfy their urges.

The restaurant isn't terribly crowded, with a nice mix of town and gown at the tables. The walls are simply decorated with Ethiopian artifacts and pictures, many of which relate in some way to the 12th-century King Lalibela, who was famous for building churches. Above Lalibela's bar, which will open in three weeks, are wall designs resembling chapel arches. The music is about the only non-traditional thing in Lalibela—it's just radio jazz.

JOHN YI/YH Well, at least it's cheap...

Lalibela's seating arrangements include traditional Ethiopian tables, called Masobs. In the future, manager Yonas Asfaw hopes to offer them for customers with reservations only, but for now customers can be seated at them upon request. They're solid, with fancy geometric patterns and conical wicker hats over the tabletops.

Compared to Caffé Adulis, Lalibela's menu is cheap: regular entrées range from $8.50 to $11.50, and a student discount takes off an additional 15 percent. For those who want to taste everything Lalibela offers at one go, and stuff their faces in the process, the $13 vegetarian combo or the $15.50 specialty combo (with meat dishes) could almost feed two. The two plates combined sample almost every dish on the menu.

Lalibela's service is efficient, and food arrives quickly. Entrées come served in little dollops on a big tray lined with injera—Ethiopian sourdough bread. Baskets of extra rolls of injera also come with meals; traditionally, you're supposed to tear bits from the injera and use it to pick up your food. It's a fun way to eat, but for a romantic first date, it's probably better to ask for cutlery. When you eat with the injera, food tends to drop into laps, fingers get sticky, and it's too tempting to slurp up the food with gusto; all this doesn't help maintain a ladylike or gentlemanly façade for the duration of an evening.

Unfortunately, the consistency of Lalibela's service doesn't carry over to its food. It is undeniably authentic—prepared by Asfaw's wife, who learned to cook from her family in Ethiopia—but on the whole rather bland. The atkilt be siga (beef, potatoes, and carrots) is cooked with hardly any spices at all. The doro alicha chicken, the ater kik, yellow split peas, and the special tibs (beef with butter and tomato) are all mild and boring. The dishes aren't bad; they just aren't exciting. Although Caffé Adulis' Ethiopian food is less authentic, including ingredients like portabello mushrooms and pasta dishes, it nonetheless employs stronger spices and better flavouring.

Only the yemesir wat (lentils in berbere), the zilbo gomen (collard greens with lamb), and the gored gored (beef in red wine and rosemary), have any interesting flavours. The zilbo gomen in particular is very good; the collard greens are sweet and the chunks of lamb are seasoned appealingly with coriander, ginger, and garlic. The vegetarian version of the dish, gomen, is also delicious.

The saba tej, or Ethiopian honey wine, that comes with meals is wonderful—it's a fascinating combination of the flavors of honey with wine that manages to avoid being cloyingly sweet or smacking of grape juice. It's recommended over the rest of Lalibela's wine list, which is rather limited. Another of the res-taurant's traditional beverages, Ethiopian coffee, may be too bitter for our Western palates—it takes about three sugar packets to approach our country's concept of coffee.

Lalibela's food may not be spicy enough, but diners should still expect to enthusiastically gulp down their meals. Be sure to ask for the student discount—though the service is quick to bring the check, they're sometimes lax in deducting the 15 percent. The restaurant's location is also nice; the walk home across the Green is good for the digestion. Although Lalibela's food is not quite up to Caffé Adulis'culinary standards, their lower prices and beautiful surroundings make the restaurant a great place to go to with your friends for a big, finger-food banquet. But if your parents are taking you out for dinner and you feel like Ethiopian food, make 'em cough up for Adulis.

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