Delicious food, helpful service at nile ethiopian restaurant

Richmond’s dining scene has gotten decidedly more diverse in the last couple of years, spanning the globe and exposing conservative palates to more than just the same old, same old. One of the most delicious (and healthy) ethnic options in town is Nile Ethiopian Restaurant in the VCU area.

Go for the vibrant urban scene, with students whizzing by the large windows on bicycles, and settle in for one of the humongous ginger martinis, made by squeezing the juice from freshly grated ginger root, or a glass of the refreshing Ethiopian-style chai iced tea. This is not the sweet, milky drink you might order at Starbucks, but rather a transparent amber liquid heady with fragrant cinnamon, cardamom and cloves.

Yeshareg Demisse runs the kitchen while her son Natan Teklemariam oversees the front of the house. Exposed-brick walls painted bright cobalt blue and orange and not a piece of silverware in sight set the stage for a

relaxed, communal dining experience.

With a knowledgeable and friendly waitress, we ended up selecting the combination plates so we could try as many dishes as possible. My favorite dish, the Tekel Gomen -- cabbage with turmeric, ginger and garlic -- has a mellow flavor and is cooked in a way that brings out the silky texture of the vegetable.

Some of my other favorites include the Yesigna Wat, small chunks of lean beef cooked stew-like in a spicy berbere-based sauce. Berbere is one of the centerpieces of Ethiopian cuisine -- a red-chili blend made with a combination of spices including fenugreek and cardamom.

Yebeg Alicha, lamb cubes cooked in a mild, curry-like sauce seasoned with ginger and garlic, as well as the Fasolia, string beans and carrots in a fragrant caramelized onion sauce, were also excellent. Lentils appear in several variations on the menu, and the restaurant is a haven for any vegetarian or vegan. Try the very mild Ater Kikwat, made with stewed yellow lentils, for a pleasing foil to some of the spicier dishes.

The restaurant is not perfect. A solitary glass of wine took way too long to be delivered and finally arrived midway through dinner. The baklava, while fresh and tasty, skipped the tedious steps of carefully layering phyllo dough with the sweet, spiced nut mixture, resulting in a dessert that didn’t keep its shape. More of the traditional honey-lemon syrup would have helped “glue” it all together.

But I can forgive these minor annoyances because the food at Nile Ethiopian is delicious, fun to eat and infused with all sorts of exotic spices. Most impressively, everything is made from scratch. Demisse even makes her own Ethiopian-style cheese from buttermilk. The Ayib Tiki appetizer featured this very rich and tangy cheese, which had the texture of ricotta.

Entrées are served on large square platters with food attractively arranged on injera (sort of a sourdough “crepe” that’s one of the staples of the local African diet). A separate platter of injera comes on the side.

To eat, tear a piece of injera, use your fingers and scoop the wat (or stew) using the injera. Eventually, I learned to combine the spicy and the milder dishes in the same morsel, balancing the two -- like a true Ethiopian.