Ethiopian & Tavern

So last week, the hubby and I decided to finally get out to that Ethiopian restaurant we've always wanted to go to. The Nile Ethiopian Cuisine was not a busy place when we went. The service was, therefore, great! The waitress tried to seat us at a regular table, but, the hubby being who he was, asked to sit at a more "traditional" table such as the below picture.

The waitress took off the cover and explained that, since in the Ethiopian culture usually shared food on a large plate, they didn't need a large table...they just crowded around one. Since we each ordered a different dish, she brought over another table for my dish.

As an appetizer, we ordered the tomato fit-fit:

The hubby ordered a vegetarian dish. There were four different "sides" and a salad. Since there wasn't any silverware, the method of eating was to use the spongy bread to scoop up the food to eat.


I decided I wanted to taste one of their chicken dishes. It was really good! Because you have to use the spongy bread with each bite, we found ourselves feeling full quickly.

All in all, it was a fun and yummy meal!!!

A couple days later, on Sunday, the man and I decided that we wanted to try something different. For brunch, we went drove down by the Millenia Mall and noticed that the Village Tavern looked open! Since the last time we saw it was during its construction, we decided to check it out.

The first thing I thought about when we first walked in was that we must have been under dressed...but I did not get the impression that they were judging us, so that was already a plus.

The second thing I thought was how odd it was that the place looked busy...yet there wasn't many customers seated! Hmmm...

They greeted us...then asked if we had a reservation! Nope, we didn't, but they were okay with that. Then they proceeded to inform us that, if we would consent to being used as test subjects, we would get a free meal with them! Apparently, last Sunday was the first day they were open for brunch, and they were still training their staff for service and on their menus.

Great! Free food, and we get to critique them!

Our first dish was the appetizer - french fries/chips and ranch. I'm serious! The ranch part was part of the dish, not just my request! It was yummy!!!

Since it was brunch, the hubby got some sort of egg dish, potatoes, a muffin and fruit. It was very, very good!!!

I received the salmon, rice and vegetables. I normally don't order fish, but I thought this dish was excellent! The fish wasn't dry and was very flavorful. The vege's were good...probably because they must have made it up with butter and spices.
For dessert, we got a chocolate torte. It was so yummy, it was gone before I thought about snapping a picture. =)

I'm sorry I'm not a very good reviewer of food...I just know we enjoyed our meal very much! Also not pictured was the bread basket and drinks. The bread was good, though the hubby did offer the suggestion of defrosting the butter a bit before serving to the patrons. The drinks were also served in pretty glasses. =)

All in all, I definitely will be going back to the restaurant. Our server was so good that we spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how we could tip the guy even though neither of us had cash! In the end, they could not process our credit card (their computers weren't yet set up to take). If you get a chance, check the restaurant out!