I have a collegue (the frazzled photographer mentioned in a previous review), who absolutely reveres the Bishoftu Ethiopian Restaurant in Sinkor (11^th Street & Payne Ave).  He has previously declared it to be one of his favorite restaurants that he has sampled in his illustrious history of restaurant going – I confidently speculate that he draws on a not insignificant sample size.

Prior to coming to Monrovia, I lived in Washington, DC, a mecca of Ethiopian dining.  Bishoftu would indeed compare quite favorably with any of the Ethiopian cuisines I sampled in the US capital.

Bishoftu offers three dining ambiences – a covered patio, a porch (only two tables or so), and an indoor dining room.  I’ve always ensconced myself on the patio.  It offers the best people watching and is also adjacent to the kitchen, which serves up a variety of interesting smells and sounds.  Bishoftu offers two distinct culinary experiences – the regular menu options and a twice a week buffet (Wednesday and one weekend day).

The buffet costs US$20.  While the food is still quite solid, it tastes a bit room temperature tepid and with a large group of friends, it is generally better value to get made to order food off the menu.  The combined patio and menu experience is the route I chose on my most recent visit to Bishoftu, where the exterior wall is decorated with a large poster of the Ethiopian emperors.

However, this visit presented a rather unprecedented experience – a flock of extremely enthusiastic young Christmas carolers.  Their rendition included snippets of easily half a dozen carols and provided an unexpected interlude between the placement of our order and its delivery, albeit one that interrupted the distraction of the smells and sounds emanating from the kitchen.

The frazzled photographer looks excitedly at the meal. Photo: Ben Cleeton

There was one disappointment with the meal, the various forms of beef tibs were unavailable due to the absence of the sauce in which they are customarily prepared.  The group outsourced ordering duties to a doctoral student, who leveraged his Ivy League training to its fullest and brilliantly came up with several stellar replacements to the absent beef dishes.

A particularly on point replacement was the fish tibs.  I felt that it contained a strong resemblance to an Asian fried tofu dish, but when I called the item “Chinese-y,” my fellow dinners scoffed.  Other superb items included a melt-in-your-mouth lamb dish, a number of delicious pastes containing some sort of finely ground animal, and a range of vegetables – cabbage, greens, carrots, and more.

All of the food came layered on injera, the spongy bread that is the Ethiopian staple food.  On this visit the wait staff generously replenished the injera, coming back two or three times with refills.  The frazzled photographer, induced to a calming Bishoftu slumber, adoringly remarked, “That was a good meal.  Glad that happened.”

His apprentice – from whom the glory of the images seen here emanates – who was fresh from vigilantly documenting the exploits of Mary Broh that morning, agreed that even in the absence of the beef tibs, the meal “was still extremely satisfying.”

Having sampled a range of meats, vegetables, a large club beer, and even a hard-boiled egg at just under US$15, I too was “glad that happened.”

Featured photo by Ben Cleeton