By Stan Dyer, Denver Dining Examiner
There have always been many Italian, Chinese and Mexican variant restaurants to choose from in Denver, but, recently, a number of new cuisines are adding their mix to the lot. One of these is African food and, in particular, the cuisine of Ethiopia as witnessed by the number of establishments offering this new dining experience to the city. On the recommendation of a friend, I ventured into one called “Axum” on East Colfax and am back with my review.
.JPG "Axum Ethiopian Restaurant")
For those who are unfamiliar with Ethiopian cooking, (as I was just a short while ago), it is basically “wats” or “tibs” served on and with a type of bread called “injera” or “taita”. No utensils are used for eating. Instead, pieces of the injera are torn off and used to pick up bites of food. The “wats”, (or “wots”, as this restaurant calls them), are “stews” and the “tibs” are “sautés”. Traditionally, the food is eaten off a woven “Mesob” after the hands are washed with soap and water, and, generally, the right hand is used to put the food to the mouth.
This was my first experience with Ethiopian food and I found it to be quite tasty, although I was expecting something a bit more spicy. The “Berbere” is a traditional Ethiopian spice composed of chili pepper, ginger, cloves, coriander, allspice, rue berries and ajwain. It is supposed to be as spicy as Southwest chili powder, but I found it very tame. We tried the Vegetarian Combo and were able to sample a variety of vegetarian “wots”.
Our vegetarian combo included samples of Yemesir Wot which are lentils in hot barbecue sauce, Ater Wot which are peas cooked with garlic, ginger roots and spices, and Shiro Wot which are chickpeas seasoned with garlic, berbere and Ethiopian spices. Also included in our combination were a salad and another dish with cabbage, carrot and potato. The salad was a tradition salad like you might find in any restaurant and I do not know what the other dish was or why it was there. The salad was supposed to contain jalapenos, but I did not notice any. As for the various wots, they were very tasty and reminded me of lighter versions of Indian cuisine. Yet, the injera is something that will take a little getting used to for me.
“Injera” or “Taita” is a grayish-brown, spongy bread made from fermented teft flour. Teft is a type of seasonal grass indigenous to northern Ethiopia and often used in cooking. The bread resembles a pancake in consistency and texture, but falls apart easily and, served cold, is unfamiliar to Western cultures. It has a pleasant flavor, but neither the temperature nor the texture suited my tastes.
While we were there, we also sampled the Ethiopian beer and a honey wine called “Tej” that is said to resemble mead. The beer had a good, light taste similar to American beers, but was strikingly devoid of carbonation. The honey wine tasted like some kind of champagne mixed-drink like a mimosa, except it, too, lacked the carbonation. It was an interesting dining and cultural experience, but not without fault.
If you decide to try this restaurant, be ready for a little cultural shock. It is not particularly clean either inside or out. Also, we had some communication problems with the help. Our first server spoke only Spanish and knew very few words of English. Our second server had a better grasp of English, but seemed to be a native speaker of Amharic or some other Ethiopian dialect. Many of the bilingual customers had no problem communicating their desires, but, for those unfamiliar with African tongues, it was difficult. Being vegetarian, we worried that we would be misunderstood and served something with meat in it. Fortunately, Ethiopian cuisine is largely vegetarian and popular with vegetarians worldwide. The service was, however, very friendly and accommodating considering the circumstance, although no one ever brought out the traditional soap and water and our food was not served on a Mesob.
I will not rate this restaurant. If you like Indian food or cultural adventure, you will probably like this cuisine as well. If you are familiar with African languages and cuisine, you will also probably enjoy this restaurant. If, however, cleanliness, both inside and out is a concern of yours, I must throw up the caution flag and advise you in advance to approach with caution. Nothing I consumed made me the slightest bit ill, but I still feel the restaurant could do with some broom work, some vacuuming and a good wipe down throughout.