1919 9th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20001
(202) 232-1919
Closest Metro: U STREET/CARDOZO (Green and yellow lines)
Ask some random Washingtonians which cuisines make DC so well known, and chances are, you’re bound to hear the word “Ethiopian.” Due to the large influx of Ethiopian immigrants, Ethiopian restaurants dot the city. Like all restaurants, some are really good, some are mediocre, and some are just awful.
Fortunately, I had a guide to help me navigate through the DC Ethiopian restaurant maze. My friend Simret is from Ethiopia and lives in DC. So when first I came down here, I told him to take me to a good Ethiopian restaurant. He took me to Dukem, arguably one of the most famous Ethiopian restaurants in DC. I then told him to take me to a place where I could get a truly good authentic Ethiopian meal. He took me to Habesha Market.
Habesha Market is located on 9th Street NW near U Street, in an area informally called “Little Ethiopia.” Habesha Market is more than just a restaurant. It’s a place that sells Ethiopian ingredients, such as spices, shredded wheat, unground coffee beans, injera bread, sodas, even fruit tobacco, phone cards and Ethiopian music. Think of a cross between a small market and a restaurant. But I came for a good Ethiopian meal. This is the type of place where you go to the counter and order. They will give you a beeper to alert you when your food is ready and then you go from there.
One of the features of this place that struck me the most was the open faced industrial kitchen behind a stainless steel counter containing different Ethiopian vegetarian dishes, such as spicy lentils, spicy potatoes, yellow peas and collard greens. For the curious, watch them cook your food. I chose to pass on that. In a way, it detracts from the pleasure of enjoying a good meal, and is just something that I don’t need to see. Instead, I went into the dining area in an adjacent room and viewed the pictures of rural Ethiopian villages.
As Simret described to me, Ethiopian cuisine stems from a pastoral society, so chicken is rarely consumed. Beef is really the primary meat here, and in America, the land of cheap meat, it is served abundantly. Simret recommended that I try the tibs, which is steak on the off the bone that’s sautéed with onion, and served with jalapeno and diced tomatoes and garlic. ($7.50) But I had to pass. I was here to get one of my favorite dishes, which is the Kitfo, or beef tartar that they prepare with butter, mitimita (a spicy seasoning used to flavor food), and cardamom. Kitfo can be consumed three ways – raw, cooked, or medium. I chose medium. I also chose to have mine with diced onion and diced jalapeno ($8.95 – FYI: This dish is $5 more at most other Ethiopian restaurants). With it, I also got a few sides of lentil, yellow peas and spicy potato. Overall, the kitfo was spicy, which is how I like it. Then again, I ordered the spicy one, but that is optional. Fair Warning: I’m a fan of spicy food, and my tolerance to spice is higher than most people. The spicy lentils were a misnomer; since they had a sweet taste and not spicy one, but the yellow peas had a very mild taste that one comes to expect from yellow peas. It was all served over injera bread, with an extra piece on the side. The injera bread tasted like standard injera bread, a little like sourdough.
The place is wonderful for vegetarians. You can get a four veggie combo for $6.95, which comes with spicy lentils, yellow peas, greens and house salad. For $2.00 more, they will add cabbage and shiro (ground chick peas with spices). For an extra $3, you can add a piece of fried fish, which is actually a whole white fish that is julienned so you can pick off pieces and eat. Just be careful for bones. I can’t write on the fish now because I did not have it this time, but I don’t remember it being bad.
There are two words that I could use to summarize Habesha Market:
1) Value. You get a lot of food for the price you pay. Also, the quality of the food is above average, especially for the price. But the phrase “you pay for what you get” does not apply here. In this case, “higher price” does not correlate to “better food.”
2) Authenticity. This place does not try to be anything more than it is, other than an Ethiopian restaurant serving good food. Possibly one of the surest indications that this place is authentic is that many Ethiopians eat at this place as well.
Simret added a third word:
3) Consistency. Some Ethiopian restaurants can be hit or miss, depending on what you get. Some Ethiopian restaurants specialize in certain kinds of food. But he pointed out that the quality of this place has always been good.
Overall, I left that meal feeling extremely full, especially when eating a portion here by myself. I would recommend this as a lunch place or a dinner place to come in with a group of friends. Given the heavy nature of Etiopian food, I would not recommend it as a late night snack. Still, Ethiopian is probably one of the best kinds of cuisine for a communal meal. Take-out is also an option here. Ultimately, I would give this restaurant a 7.5/10. Like I said, above average food, portions were fairly large, and you could eat a substantial amount of good food for at or just below $10.
Vegetarian friendly: Very. It is very easy to eat well here as a vegetarian.
Amount Spent: $8.95 for the kitfo, and some vegetables and injera bread on the side.
