We tried Indian Cuisine this week, so next week, lets try some Ethiopian food. We will meet for dinner at 7:15 or so.

The Empress Taytu, Cleveland's only Ethiopian restaurant and one of the city's most exotic of any cuisine, features tasty casserole-style dishes designed to eat with spongy bread in a traditional North African setting. The restaurant combines good food, friendly service, and a peek at Abyssinian culture.

Pros
•A wonderful sampling of exotic, North African cuisine
•Combines a culture lesson with a good meal
•Near concerts at the Agora
•A good selection of vegetarian selections
Cons
•Not for unadventuresome eaters

The Empress Taytu, located on Cleveland's near east side, is designed to resemble a traditional Ethiopian village. Guests sit in thatched huts at low basket-style tables, called messobs. No silverware is set at the tables. Instead, guests "eat" with the homemade, spongy Injeri bread. The menu at the Empress Taytu features North African beef, chicken, lamb, and vegetables cooked into stew-like casseroles. The menu includes a number of vegetarian dishes. The menu explains that Ethiopian Orthodox Christians refrain from eating meat up to 200 days a year.

Popular menu items include t'ibs, small pieces of beef, lamb, shrimp, or chicken cooked with onions, rosemary, and spiced butter and dorowat, the restaurant's signature spicy chicken dish, made with hot peppers, cardamom, cinnamon, basil, and ginger. Entrees are served in large, ceramic casseroles with layers of "injeri" on top. Several combination platters are available, which are ideal for sampling this unique cuisine.

The Empress Taytu has a full bar and specialty drinks include a variety of exotic fruit cocktails as well as excellent coffee. Dessert is not a part of Bosnian culture, although ice cream is offered. End your meal, instead, with the formal Ethiopian coffee ceremony.