A Best Kept Secret
Sheba
Offers Exotically Spicy Mix
By Debra Kronowitz
Photos by Simon Hare
For those with adventurous taste buds, Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant
offers a cool vibe and exotic décor that harmoniously molds traditional
African craftsmanship with modern design.
Dim lighting, dark woods and a world-music soundtrack — they have live
music on weekends — provide a relaxing background for an authentic
exotic dining experience.
Ethiopian food is
an exotically spicy mix of vegetables, slow-simmered meat or grain
stews, and fresh meat sautés. You wouldn’t
expect to eat with your fingers, but that is
indeed the case at Sheba. For those
not so daring, silverware is available upon request.
Sheba attracts a
diverse and somewhat Bohemian crowd who enjoy African musical
performances and communal dining. Adjoining the restaurant is an African
arts gallery. Inside, patrons will find carved wooden masks, wicker wall
hangings, ceramics, sculptures and other accessories for purchase.
The Menu
If you like spicy food, you’ll love
Sheba, whose chefs are not afraid to
use generous amounts of African spices and a mixture of Middle Eastern
and Indian influences to create unique flavors. The menu offers a
variety of choices for meat-lovers and vegetarians. Entrees are divided
into mixed platters, lamb, beef, chicken, seafood and vegetarian
selections in wat, alicha and tibs
options. Wat and alicha are served as thick stews, while tibs are
sautéed with onion and tomato.
Alicha
is a mild stew, while
wat
has the spicy flavor of berberé. Sautéed meats add variety.
All meals are served with
injera, a spongy sourdough
flatbread made from fermented teff flour.
Diners
eat with their hands, using pieces of injera to pick up bites of
entrées and side dishes. |
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Authentic dishes include Doro Wat,
Ethiopia’s
national dish of chicken legs and thighs marinated and
seasoned in garlic, ginger and
fenugreek (a
Mediterranean-grown spice) and
ZilZil, strips
of tender lamb marinated in Ethiopian honey wine and
awaze sauce, and
then sautéed with garlic and onions in Ethiopian herb
butter. Seafood entrees include
Tuna Kitfo, finely
chopped tenderloin of tuna seasoned with an Ethiopian herb
sauce and mitmita (a fine red chili powder) cooked to your request.
Assa Wat features a filet of South African haddock
lightly seasoned with white pepper, sea salt and traditional
Ethiopian spices and simmered in
key wat sauce.
Vegetarian dishes are legume-based, including Shiro Wat,
puréed split peas reddened with paprika and
berberé.
Gomen Wat
features fresh collard greens sautéed with fine sliced
onions, garlic, tomatoes and Ethiopian spices, while
Ful consists of Ethiopian fava beans cooked with tomatoes, onions
and hot green peppers seasoned with special spices and
served with olive oil.
The full-service bar offers weekday Happy Hour
drink specials from 4 to 7 pm.
The bar serves a variety of rum-based drinks, as well as
after-dinner drinks, champagne and wine. The dessert menu
features
Marquise Au Chocolat
a rich delight of
chocolate genoise and chocolate ganache
baked with hazelnuts and served with chocolate leaf; bourbon
pecan tart; Caribbean rum
cake; gelatos and sorbets.
Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant is located at
4029 N. Miami Ave.
The café is open Monday through Thursday, from 11:00 am to 10:30
pm; Friday and Saturday,
11 am to
midnight; Sunday,
5 pm to midnight. For reservations, call
305.573.1819. |
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