The Critical Consumer

Alright! My first real review. And its a great way to start off.

Tonight I went to an Ethiopian restaurant called “Horn of Africa” on Murfreesboro Rd halfway between 440 and Briley Parkway. If first impressions are important to you, this location is enough to scare you away. I wanted to park my car so that I could watch it from my seat, but was told by my companions that that wasn’t necessary. The exterior facade has little flavor and only a small sign to mark its location. The liquor store next door is a nice touch.

But once I got inside, I felt a little better. Its not the most cohesive decor; I wasn’t exactly sure which country I was supposed to be in, with the mixture of burning incense and chili pepper string lights hung all around. To experienced diners, I’m sure it feels like home, but to me, I didn’t know what to think of the TV trays and straw tables thingys (I still don’t know what they are called) called Mesobs. I’ve been to one Ethiopian restaurant in Nashville before and this brought back bad memories.

Unfortunately, like many small businesses, there was only one person working the whole restaurant and in walks a party of 12 (of which I was part). It took about 45 minutes before we ordered, but we were given water and menus right away. No chips or bread though. And I was hungry. Anyway, when we finally ordered, the waiter gave his recommendation and persuaded us not to order 3 huge platters we (one half of the group) were certain we could eat. Thank god he didn’t just take our order and prepare all that food, because there’s no way we could have eaten it all.

This is where it gets good. The food was…well, amazing. It came out on a giant platter that was an explosion of color and scents that really overwhelmed the senses (I hate to be so cliche, but its true). Then, we used spongy, pancake-like “bread” to scoop up a mixture of vegetables, meat and cheese, making mini “tacos” that had to be carefully consumed without dripping or dropping any of the filling. There had to be 6 or 7 different types of vegetables, all stewed, sauteed, and seasoned just right. I never knew collard greens could taste so good. Then the beef and lamb was piled high in the center for all those who wanted it.

Between the 12 of us, we couldn’t even finish off three combination platters. There was enough to take home, but the Injera, as it is called (see, we’re all learning here) would’ve been a soggy mess by the time we were ready to eat again so we regrettably left it behind. I’ll definitely go back to “Horn of Africa”; they came through when I had really already given them little chance.

I guess I better start some type of rating system. Let’s start with this:
Atmosphere: C
Service: B+
Food Quality: A
Food Value for the money: A-
Food Presentation: A
Drink Selection: B- (coffee, soft drinks, and a few beers)

Overall Score: B+