I take photos of food the way some people take photos of their kids. Every new dish I make or eat is recorded for future blogging purposes, and my boyfriend is now trained to pause before digging in when we sit down to dinner or are served at a restaurant.
Sometimes, however, food is so good that I simply forget to bring out the camera. Friday night was one of those cases.
Emanu, the much-anticipated East African/Ethiopian restaurant, in Pleasant Ridge has opened. Get there soon--because as soon as the word gets out, this place is going to be packed!
What is it?
Emanu opened some time last week, and you can tell they hoped to have a slow first couple of weeks. Some of the tables, while set with white linen, were still covered in plastic. A few decorative branches lingered in a corner, with the Ikea tags still attached. And with no liquor license yet, the bar served as a storage space.
Tough luck for the owners: The place is already a hit. The two servers were completely overwhelmed on Friday night, and a couple of diners walked out because they waited 10 minutes to get menus. Their loss--the food was amazing, and the service was great (although slow).
When I arrived at 6 p.m., I was one of three diners. By the time my friends arrived 30 minutes later, three more tables of two had arrived. An hour and a half later, when we were finishing up our meal, both sides of the dining room were packed with a diverse crowd. A Bible study group of 20 took up most of the back dining room, and couples of all ages were in the front room.
According to a friend of mine who lives in Pleasant Ridge, Emanu's owners formerly ran a restaurant down the street, so their former customer base had been waiting impatiently for the (re)opening. I can see why. Emanu is family owned and operated, and the food is amazing. During my half-hour wait for my friends (I mixed up our reservation time), I had time to linger over the menu and an Ethiopian coffee (at $1.50, it's thick and rich, served like Turkish coffee but tasting as fine as an Italian espresso.). Co-owner Sam Yhdego chatted with me for awhile and seemed thoroughly shocked that they were so busy on Friday. The two-page menu thankfully came with translations and descriptions, because I've only eaten Ethopian once a long time ago when I still ate meat. The menu offers three vegetarian stews (wats) and two varieties of beef, lamb and chicken: a wat and a tibs (saute).
We had one each of the vegetarian dishes: collard greens, lentils and cabbage each sauteed with spices and served on injara (the sour crepelike bread that's ubiquitous in Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine). Served family style on a large platters and extra injara, the dishes were spicy but not hot -- and affordable. For three of us, with appetizers, entrees and dessert, our bill was less than $50! Our other two friends shared two meat dishes and spent about the same per person. The food was amazing, and I was so distracted that I forgot to take a photo!
We planned ahead and brought our own wine--three bottles of it. Few other diners were in the know and looked longingly at our wine. Another word of warning: Emanu's credit card system hadn't been set up last weekend. It's cash-only--but there's an ATM across the street if you forget.
Who's it for?
Anyone who, like me, is tired of the same ethnic food options in Cincinnati. Take a group of friends and make a night of it. Eat Ethiopian style, with your right hand, using bits of injara to scoop up the tasty stews.
How much?
Appetizers: all are $3
Try the sambussas, fried meat or veggie filled dumplings that reminded us of samosas. The vegetable soup was hearty, dotted with pasta and rich in cumin. Get it!
Entrees: $9-$11
Get a couple and share.
Desserts: Baklava and cheesecake, each $3. They don't seem to be homemade, but the vanilla bean cheesecake was tasty (the baklava was good but not outstanding). And for $3, the price can't be beat!
Finish the meal with Ethiopian coffee: $1.50.
Where is it?
6063 Montgomery Road, Pleasant Ridge.
513 351-7686
Finally, it's open!
We're trying to organize a company-wide outing for lunch someday this week.
The menu on the website looks like it will be promising
Sounds great.
Hours ?
Sorry, here are the hours.
11am – 10pm Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
10am – 11pm Friday Saturday
CLOSED Sunday Monday
Thanks for the tip! I took a date there on Saturday night and they were p-a-c-k-e-d! Be prepared for a laid back ambience, bring your own bottle of wine, don't worry about cash (the credit card machine is up and running), and bring an empty stomach. The food was unbelievable and a completely different experience from what you get anywhere else. Make sure you ask for a coffee ceremony and check out the bathrooms, tres chic.
I tried this restaurant last week with my boyfriend and we were not quite as impressed as Stepfanie. My boyfriend and I enjoy trying new restaurants and eating different types of food. We just love it when restaurants like Emanu open in Cincinnati and bring diversity and culture to our conservative little city. I will give Emanu the benefit of the doubt since at the time it hadn’t even been open a full week. When we first walked in we saw a restaurant that was still undergoing construction. The space had not even been completely finished before they opened their doors. It didn’t make for a good first impression, but we were wiling to let it slide. After about 15 minutes a waiter takes our drink order. I’m a coffee lover so I ordered the Ethiopian coffee and Luke ordered a Coke, because they didn’t have a liquor license and the water tasted funny. Luke’s Coke was brought to the table and it tasted horrible, it was flat. I didn’t end up getting my coffee until after we had finished our dinner and I don’t know if that was, because that’s when they serve the coffee or if it just took them that long to make. In this case it was better late than never, because it was amazing coffee just like the coffee in Europe. Well, Luke wouldn’t drink his Coke or water and ended up running down to UDF to get a six pack of beer. We ordered an appetizer and it was fantastic! Then we got our entrées, which were the lamb and the chicken. The chicken was better than the lamb and overall it was just okay. It reminded me a lot of Indian food with the smell and color. Luke and I were glad we tried it out and can now say we have eaten East African food, but probably wouldn’t go back. I wanted to keep this comment brief, but there was just too much to say.
Emily, you're going to have to go back! They're getting into the swing now that they've been open for three weeks (no one should be allowed to review restaurants for the first month) and the food is a-m-a-z-i-n-g! Go with people you like because you're all eating with your hands and the whole point is to have a leisurely meal.
This place is not that great. Drove all the way from Columbus. Seems that the owner Sam. Is concerned about opening his all night dance hall. On the second flood after the liquor permit arrives.
Ifound that the foods much better. One block down the street at Little Ethiopia Restaurant. Where the people is also much pleasant.
Parrada and Ben McCree, I have a feeling we can find you in the kitchen at the "competition".
Re: Emily's feedback. Typically, water is served with East African food (like Indian meals) and afterwards people drink coffee or tea. You may want to specify that you would like your coffee With you meal next time. I am from Eritrea and took a large group of co-workers to Emanu a few weeks ago. The owners were VERY accomodating. The food was very good, but they toned down the spices quite a bit (I'm assuming b/c they knew I was bringing in a lot of Americans). Traditionally, Eritrean/Ethiopian dessert comes in the form of fresh fruit. Baklava and cheesecake must be on the menu simply to appease our American sweet tooth(s). It hink it'd be great if they served fresh mango/papaya and such. Hopefully in the future...