Honey wine, sweet nectar from God

Tonight, Johnny and I stuffed our faces at The Blue Nile Ethiopian restaurant. (9400 Richmond, 713-782-6882) We didn't intend to stuff our faces but we were ravenously hungry. We love The Blue Nile: the potent frankincense aroma as you walk in the door, the blue and white Coptic-Cross curtains on the windows, THE HONEY WINE (tej), and the food. I found the following Houston Press article that gives a pretty good initial description of The Blue Nile:

"Once the only Ethiopian eatery in town, Blue Nile now has some stiff competition. The new guys in town, Addisaba on De Moss Drive, are serving up some awesome yedoro wot. They also have a bar and a big-screen television set. But Blue Nile holds on to the title, thanks to superior vegetables and a more relaxing atmosphere. Blue Nile has some great meat dishes, but their seven vegetable selections are all knock-outs. The yemisser wot -- a red lentil stew seasoned with ginger, garlic and berbere sauce -- is often described as the African version of vegetarian chili. The shirro wot, a bright yellow pureed pea stew, is sensational here as well. But the best thing about Blue Nile is their traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony, in which coffee is offered with frankincense, a basket of popcorn and a spirit of quiet meditation. Try that while you're sitting in front of a big-screen TV."

The Simmons also highly recommend yessiga wot - a beef stew which we had tonight along with the above-mentioned yemisser wot and tej. You eat the food with your fingers using injera bread which we find delicious regardless if Frank calls it octopus bread.

When I asked Johnny how to spell tej he Googled and found this interesting and informative web site. Now you may read why Ethiopian is the Simmons' 2nd favorite cuisine. (Indian is 1st, Mexican is 3rd, and Thai is 4th)