Kokeb

Bueg Wat and Atkilt Beyayenetu:

There are a few great places for Ethiopian food in Seattle, and one of our favorites is Kokeb. It’s located on First Hill, near Seattle University, and is cozy, authentic, and delicious!

Kokeb Menu

The interior of Kokeb is a single room that’s low-lit, with small circular tables scattered around with low chairs surrounding. Small oil lanterns are in the center of each table, adding to the intimate setting. There are wooden lanterns hanging from the ceiling and African art on the walls, as well as Ethiopian music videos playing on the television. The staff is friendly and gracious and the pace of the restaurant is very relaxing.

Interior of Kokeb

This evening we ordered Sega Sambusa for an appetizer ($4.75) – it is a pastry of phyllo dough filled with spiced ground beef, laid on a bed of lettuce, tomato and onion. There’s a tangy vinegarette on the salad, and the flavors of the vinegarette compliment the spicy beef. The crisp texture of the fried phyllo dough, the heat of the filling, the sweet tomatoes, and the coolness of the salad are a delightful combination.

I ordered a glass of sweet honey wine (a favorite of mine) and Josh tried the Harar lager. Both are wonderful; I love the honey wine. It’s sweet, soothing, and a perfect match for the spice of the food. I’m usually not a fan of white wine, but this one is thick and rich with a distinct aftertaste of honey. The Harar lager is great too – it’s smooth and slightly sweet as well.

A delicious lentil soup was brought out before our meal. It’s rich and savory and has just enough heat to it to warm your tastebuds. It is a simple soup that was a great introduction to more wonderful flavors to come.

For our entrees, we ordered our usual – Bueg Wat, which is a dish of lamb cut up into bite-sized pieces and cooked in a rich spicy sauce ($12.95), and Atkilt Beyayenetu, which is a vegetarian combination dish ($11.95). The lamb comes with two additional side dishes to choose, and we decided on Yetekemen Ergo (a spicy yogurt) and Yedenech Tibs (Ethiopian-style french fries).

Before the entree is brought out, we are given warm towels to wash with, getting our hands ready to eat! Our vegetarian combination is brought out on a flat platter lined with injera, and space is saved for the lamb to be spooned onto as well. We are given small plates with two kinds of injera – one is lighter and has a milder flavor, and the other (my favorite) is a darker brown and has a richer, sour flavor. The idea is to tear off pieces of the injera and use it to pinch up bits of food, and enjoy!

Diggin' In!

The Atkilt Beyayenetu consists of several delicious samples of vegetarian dishes – our injera is covered in chopped cooked greens, Ethiopian cottage cheese, two kinds of spiced lentils, savory split peas, spicy chopped up injera, cooked potatoes, carrots and cabbage, as well as the spiced yogurt and Ethiopian french fries (thinly sliced potatoes fried and crispy) we ordered with the lamb. We dig in, and thoroughly enjoy trying different combinations of flavors. Some favorites are the spiced yogurt, greens and lamb, or maybe the lentils and cottage cheese, or just wrapping a chunk of hot potato in injera.

Bueg Wat and Atkilt Beyayenetu:

Ethiopian food is always one of those meals that is a joy, an exploration of exotic flavors we don’t seem to have enough words for, a creative opportunity to mix and match and eat with your hands! We highly recommend the experience, and Kokeb is a wonderful place to try.

Outside of Kokeb

[where: 816 12th Ave. Seattle, WA 98122]

Tags: Ethiopian, First Hill Restaurants, Seattle Restaurants

This entry was posted on February 03rd, 2008 and is filed under Restaurants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or Trackback from your own site.