Our sampler platter had a variety of vegetable and legume dishes, as well as lamb, chicken and beef - served on injera bread.
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Thursday, February 2, 2017
Blue Nile Restaurant Visit
The spring 17 Food and Culture class went on our first restaurant visit tonight. Delicious Ethiopian food at the Blue Nile Cafe. Seems like our students are very open to trying new things.
Our sampler platter had a variety of vegetable and legume dishes, as well as lamb, chicken and beef - served on injera bread.
Our sampler platter had a variety of vegetable and legume dishes, as well as lamb, chicken and beef - served on injera bread.
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Tonight was really a fun night. I definitely enjoyed the food more than I thought. At the beginning, I thought it might be difficult to use injera bread instead of chopstick to get the food, but surprisingly it worked out perfectly. Many food, even the material, in the platter actually have similar flavors to the ones I had in my country-China, so I have no problems with them at all. The lamb was spectacular. Normally I don't eat lamb because it always has this funny taste, but the way they cooked it was amazing and completely clear the funny taste that come from the lamb.
ReplyDeleteJust when I thought Ethiopian food didn't have much differences than mine except the way they eat and display the food, we tried the original injera bread. And OMG, that was mind blowing-- in a bad way! No wonder they need to Americanized the menu because no one can stand that sourness!
Overall, I loved the food there and definitely will come back and visit again! -- Xiaoxia Li
I went into tonight with a very open mind. I grew up being a very picky eater, but I'd like to think I've grown out of that by now! (Somewhat...) Anyways, the food was excellent! It kept things very interesting to use the injera bread instead of a fork to eat our food. The pairing of the injera bread with the food on the plate went very well together.
ReplyDeleteWhat was interesting is that I wasn't very mindful of the injera as much as I was eating the chicken, lamb, beef, etc. I noticed about halfway through the meal, I was starting to get really full! It started making sense that the bread was making me feel full more quickly. No complaints though... because like I said, the pair of the two were great together! It was hard to believe that the plate we shared between four people was really meant for two people!
This restaurant was a great learning experience. I have never tried Ethiopian food, so this was a fun and memorable first experience! I do not know true authenticity of Ethiopian food, but I have a feeling that this restaurant is probably the closest to it that I could get locally. The decor, the smell of the spices, the kindness of the staff, and the excellent food made for an excellent night!
-Alyssa Gatewood
I had a great time at the restaurant last night and glad I got to experience Ethiopian food! I was very open minded to experience this new culture of food so I wasn't scared to try all of the dishes which I am glad I wasn't because everything was great. I really liked everything on the plate and didn't have any complaints of the food. All of the food was just so flavorful and had a bunch of different spices that it was hard just to choose one dish that I liked the best.
ReplyDeleteEating with the injera bread was very interesting to me because I had never really eaten that way before. I tried the actual injera bread which I didn't like as much as the "fake" or Americanized bread. The real or traditional injera bread had a sour after taste to it which I didn't really enjoy. I also liked the fact that the plate was a communal plate so everyone tried everything, for the most part, and discussed what they liked and didn't like.
Overall this was a great first experience with Ethiopian food and I would definitely go back again in the future!
-Madison Mueth
My list of enjoyable foods has grown tremendously over the years; now I get to add Ethiopian food to that list. I enjoyed the colors, tastes, and hospitality of the culture. Getting to eat from a communal plate and use the senses of others to depict flavors and overall satisfaction of each dish was a learning experience. I love food but more importantly I love the culture food can create. I did not know and might never had shared a meal with the 3 ladies I had the pleasure of sitting next two, let alone build a conversation around lamb, injera, or greens. Getting to dive knee deep into a culture was eye-opening. When my mom makes her famous meatloaf, I am consumed by the cooking culture of my family. Traveling and eating the food of a indigenous people if vastly different then what I would expect to experience in Ethiopia. However, using my hands as opposed to utensils was a pretty messy start. One day I hope to experience this culture for more than just a Thursday night!
ReplyDeleteVictoria Surdyke
My experience to the Ethiopian restaurant was interesting. I was not excited at all to try the food. As I've gotten older, I have become a very picker eater. I was nervous to say the least to try new things. I must say I was very impressed with myself and I tried everything on our dish. The tastes and textures were very different but I enjoyed all of them. I also had the pleasure of sitting next to Dotty and she explained a lot about the culture. We discussed the used of bread and the many different spices used and sold at the restaurant. I overall enjoyed the experience and I'm looking forward to the next two restaurants. I will be going into those experiences with a much more open mind!
ReplyDeleteRose Monachino
Trying new foods is one of my very favorite things to do. I was very open minded and excited to try Ethiopian food for the first time- and I was not disappointed. I enjoyed the idea of a “family style” presentation of the food which encourages conversation and interaction with the people you are enjoying dinner with. I also like this presentation because I got to try some of everything. The bread, or injera, was the most interesting part of the meal. I tried both the “original” version as well as the Americanized one. I may be alone in my opinion, but I really enjoyed the sourness of the injera. Alone it was a bit overwhelming, but when used as a utensil the flavors complimented each other well! My favorites were the mushrooms, chicken and lamb. In addition, I tried the mango juice and Kenyan beer which were both delicious! I’m grateful to live in a city with opportunities to experience different cultures from my own and I definitely see more trips to The Blue Nile in my future.
ReplyDeleteKatie Bryant
I was really excited for this experience because I had never been to an Ethiopian restaurant. I went in with an open mind and ready to try new and different foods as well as eat those foods in a way that I am not accustomed. I found it very interesting that the very large plater that 4 of us shared is actually for 2 people, which seems like a very large amount of food for 4 people, let alone 2. I learned about myself that I like lamb, and the injuria that they make special for us, I was not a huge fan of true sour dough injuria, but it was worth trying to at least be able to say I have. I also really enjoyed the way they spice their foods, I found it very tasty. I was willing to try everything except the mushroom sampler just because it is an extreme textural dislike for me so I couldn’t get myself to taste that but I tried everything else. Finally I really enjoyed the African white sweet wine that I had that was made with lots of fruits. I feel that it was a really good experience and I cannot wait for the next.
ReplyDelete-Ashley Cundiff
I was so excited to go to the Blue Nile because I love trying new things. I was so excited that when you guys said come hungry, I did. I ate a very small lunch that day so I had more room for dinner. I was certainly not disappointed with my experience at all! Like mentioned above by others, I really enjoyed the communal aspect. I enjoyed being able to share not only the food, but also in conversation with others. The one thing that I noticed with at least my group was that people weren't really on their phones like you see so many times when normally going out! I love being able to converse with others, so this definitely made the experience even better! Before our trip to the Blue Nile, I had never tried lamb and I must say, it was DELICIOUS! The other foods in the dish that I liked were the chicken and garbanzo beans. With that being said, nothing disappointed. I was able to try a little bit of everything served and everything tasted wonderfully. I have been telling my entire family about it in hopes that when they come to Kansas City next, we might be able to try it as a family! I look forward to our next restaurant!
ReplyDelete-Corey Cochran
I had a really great time eating at the Blue Nile. Not only did I enjoy the food, I was surprised at how much I liked all the food we had. I like to think of myself as an adventurous eater but I never imagined I would eat at an Ethiopian restaurant. I also had never had lamb before so I learned I like all kinds of different foods. I would definitely go back to the Blue Nile and try to get my family to try it, except maybe my 8-yr old daughter who might not be ready to expand her palate that far.
ReplyDelete-Marianne Parsells
The Blue Nile Café restaurant visit was a great learning experience for me. Not only did I learn a lot of new things about the Ethiopian culture but I also learned a lot about myself during the experience.
ReplyDeleteThe food culture that makes up Ethiopia was very intriguing to me. The way the food was served, on the communal platters, was one thing that I found very different from our culture, but very unique to the Ethiopian culture. I thought it was interesting how the platter was designed for sharing food with each other. This made me aware that food is not meant to be eaten alone in the culture of Ethiopia.
When the server brought out the platter, just by looking at them, I was expecting some of the sides to be somewhat bland tasting. But, once I actually tasted it all for myself however, I found out that all the food was actually very flavorful. Normally I don’t like to try foods that I’m not used to, but I ended up trying a little of everything on the platter. I liked the chicken and the mixed vegetable side, with the carrots, green beans and onions, the best.
Another thing I took away from this restaurant visit was, at the beginning of the experience, I was unsure about eating without utensils like I am used to always doing. I was afraid my hands and the platter would get really messy, but I found out it wasn’t bad after all. At first I was tearing off too small of pieces of the injera bread. However, after I started tearing bigger pieces it made it a lot easier and turned out to not be messy at all.
Overall, I enjoyed this restaurant visit a lot. I am glad I got to experience and accept the differences between our culture and the Ethiopian culture.
Emily Elam
I was pretty unsure of how the experience at Blue Nile Cafe would go at first. The staff was extremely friendly and I enjoyed their service. I love trying little restaurants like this one, but the Blue Nile Cafe was definitely the most adventurous restaurant I have ever been to. First off, the African wine that I ordered was fantastic and had a very nice, smooth, sweet flavor. The injera bread was unexpectedly similar to a tasteless pancake. I was surprised at how little the concept of sharing a plate and using bread for utensils affected me. It was nice to share one plate with someone because it almost felt like you were more connected by sharing food. The bread was tricky to use at first but became easy pretty quick. All of the food, upon arrival, was a little unappetizing to look at, but I tried all of the options. The vegetables were by far my favorite like the cabbage, green beans, carrots, and collard greens. I did not love the texture on the different meats and the sauces with them. They were too mushy for my taste, but overall I am really glad I tried it and got to experience a different culture's food.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure like a lot of people, new foods are not my favorite. I am definitely willing to try them, but I am generally pretty skeptical and reserved when it comes to my palate. However, I had tried similar food previous to eating at the Blue Nile. At my church I have a friend from Zambia, and he has come to my family's home multiple times to make Zambian food for us. Therefore, I was somewhat prepared for the tastes. I definitely enjoy the experience!! I would have to say though, that though the food was absolutely delicious, that my favorite part of the meal was the fresh mango juice. I feel like I could have drank it by the gallon. Another thing I enjoyed was the way it was served family style, and that our utensils were hands and injera. I feel that those two things speak a lot about the culture, how they are very family and people oriented. I plan on visiting the resturant again in the future, and bringing my family with me. Thanks for a great experience!
ReplyDeleteAbigail Hegarty
I had a great time at the Blue Nile. Growing up in Kansas City I love trying new foods and I have never had Ethiopian food so this was a new experience. I am a very picky eater but love to try new things. I'm not usually a big fan of spicy food but this food wasn't to bad. I loved the communal 'family' style aspect of serving the food. It allowed people to be more engaged with their food and the people sitting around them. I enjoyed the injuria and using it to pick up the food, it made me feel full pretty quickly. My favorite besides the injuria was the lamb! Just by appearance it did not look very appetizing, but I was wrong because it was delicious! I found with the other foods I wanted salt and pepper to make the flavor appeal to me a little better. Overall though the food was delicious and I would recommend to family and friends to try. Another favorite part for me was trying some of the red wine from South Africa. It was the perfect blend of sweet and savory and it complimented the meal really well. I enjoyed my time at the Blue Nile and plan to go back!
ReplyDeleteI have never been one of those people who seek out eating new foods, so needless to say I was anxious about trying Ethiopian food for the first time. To my surprise I very much enjoyed my experience at the Blue Nile Restaurant. Eating with the ingera bread was challenging at first, but I got the hang of it after awhile. The bread actually, tasted very good with every single dish I tried! Another thing that was different that I enjoyed was the communal style of eating. I have never been to a restaurant where they served their food like that, but I though it made the experience better in that we were all eating the same food so we could talk about what we were eating. Also, I still can't believe that giant plate is meant for only two people!! That ingera bread was very filling!
ReplyDeleteThe food was different than what I normally eat, but I liked it! I tried every dish on the plate expect for the lamb (I'm not that adventurous of an eater yet) and was impressed by all of them. Therefore, from the great food and the friendly service I would definitely recommend this restaurant! I might even go back there myself! This experience really opened my eyes to how different eating habits of different cultures can be. I look forward to becoming a more adventurous eater and trying foods from other cultures as well!
Overall, the experience of eating at the Blue Nile was a very positive one. When I first arrived I thought the atmosphere was warm and inviting. We were a big group so we were a lot of people to fit around one table. When our food was delivered, I felt excited about trying out new dishes. I like to be experimental with food and am always open to checking out another country’s cuisine. One of the first new things for me was the Injera bread. I really didn’t like it because it was too salty and one of the fundamental things to my diet is rice so it was hard for me to make that adjustment. I did really like the lamb dish and I agreed with everybody else that this was the best dish of everything we tried. I would have liked to have tried a beef dish as well. I really enjoyed getting to know my classmates and teacher better and I had a fun time. I would not go back though because I need rice as one of the staples of the meal.
ReplyDeleteTrying new foods has never been something I have done or enjoyed so going to try to Ethiopian food is not something I thought I would ever be doing. For this reason it made me really nervous to be trying new food I have never been around or seen. But overall to my surprise, I did not hate the food and tried more than I was expecting myself to. It was a good positive experience for me and I am glad I was given this experience to try new food with other people who have not tried it either. The meat what my favorite dishes out of the meal and I think I would have liked it better by itself. The injera bread was really sour and the texture was something I could not handle. It was a good experience that I am glad I was apart of and enjoyed the time with my classmates and trying something new.
ReplyDelete-Brooke Williams
The trip to the Blue Nile was a very enjoyable one for myself and I hope it was for the others that sat near me during the meal. The Ethiopian food was a joy, I love heavily spiced foods and that is exactly what this meal was, heavily spiced to perfection. I am a rather adventurous eater so this was another wonderful culinary experience! But the communal aspect of not only the plating of the meal but the actual partaking of the food was my favorite aspect of this meal. In the US now a days we are so focused on quick options for food as we shoot about during busy days. This meal was prepared and served in a way that made you sit and enjoy the food with others in a communal fashion, this allowed for great conversation with classmates that I know very well and others whom I had just met. This to me shows the clear values of community and fellowship within the Ethiopian culture and is something that I wish was emulated more in the US culture and, in my day to day life rather than making another stop to McDonalds. I loved this experience and will definitely be trying to incorporate those ideals with friends and family in the future.
ReplyDeleteWhen I heard we would be visiting an Ethiopian restaurant for this class, I was skeptical. I don’t usually venture out and try new foods from different cultures. I would consider myself a picky eater, especially with different types of meat and foods with a certain texture. Despite this, I am still willing to try new foods with an open mind. I was excited to go to the Blue Nile, not necessarily for the food but just to experience something new with my classmates. I enjoyed this experience and being able to socialize with everyone outside of the classroom setting. The platter of different foods with the injera on the side didn’t appear very appetizing, in my opinion. Even though I didn’t try all of the foods, I did try the majority. My favorites were the beans, garbanzo beans, green beans, cabbage, and potatoes. The texture and taste of the injera was not my favorite. It reminded me of a sour pancake, but when eaten with the food on the platter, it didn’t taste as bad. I was able to try the authentic injera, but it was too sour for my liking. I tried the mango juice as well, which was good and very fresh. Overall, my experience at the Blue Nile was good. I enjoyed being with my classmates and socializing as well as trying new foods. This experience was good for me, it allowed me to try new things I otherwise wouldn’t have gotten the chance to. I am looking forward to the next restaurant we will be visiting during this course.
ReplyDelete- Nicole Mangiaracina
Last week I was granted the opportunity to eat at an Ethiopian restaurant, The Blue Nile. I love trying new foods so I was very excited to eat somewhere new. I really enjoyed the Americanized version of the injera. The original, gluten-free injera was really sour and not for me. I loved the meats that came in the platter. I had never had lamb before and I can honestly say that it was my favorite thing on the platter. What I liked most about everything on the plate is that most of it was spicy, as I really enjoy spicy foods. It was also a new experience directly sharing food with other individuals at the table, it made the dinner seem a little more casual and friendly. Lastly, I tried a traditional African beer named Tusker lager. I love trying new beer even more than I love trying new food, so this was also quite enjoyable for me. I don't think I would ever seek out Ethiopian food exclusively, but I would definitely enjoy eating their food again in the future.
ReplyDeleteJohn Schwarzel
I enjoyed the experience of eating at the Blue Nile very much! I am usually not that open with trying new foods because I tend to be a picky eater, however I liked the food very much so. The spices that they used is what did it for me. It was the perfect amount, not to spicy and was very flavorful! Though I could not really get with the injera, I think it was the texture that I did not like. I found that odd because going in I thought that I would love the injera, since I love bread, but not like the actual food however it was the opposite. One thing that I really did enjoy was the communal style of eating. It kind of forced you to engaged and interact with others that were close. I think that made the experience fun as well, especially with it being the people around me first time eating Ethiopian food too. We were able to try things we liked on the plate and encourage others to try it as well. Also the customer service was amazing there, they were so friendly. Overall I think it was a great experience it made me realize that maybe I should be more open to trying new foods!
ReplyDeleteShanise Lovelace
My experience at the Blue Nile was different that I expected. I enjoy trying new foods but, admittedly, I went expecting to not enjoy the food. Not for any particular reason other than the fact that I had no idea what to expect and haven't had any experience with food from that region. With that being said, I was pleasantly surprised with how good the food was. I truly enjoyed every dish.
ReplyDeleteAs far as culture goes, eating that style of food with my hands felt very foreign to me. I don't know why but I would have felt much more comfortable if the food had simply come in between two pieces of injera like a sandwich. While I did get slightly more comfortable as the dinner went on a always felt a little uneasy and was more focused on how I was picking the food up than I was the food itself. This experience showed me that we have rigid cultural norms than do not necessarily translate across borders.
Kyle Brady
I enjoyed my experience at the Blue Nile. I was not sure how I would react to the food because I am not someone who likes to try new foods. Seeing it for the first time, I wasn't sure because of how it looked but to my surprise I really enjoyed the food. I enjoyed trying all the different kinds of food they had and didn't hesitate to eat more of it. To my surprise my favorite one was the lamb and the best part was we all thought it was the chicken.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea what to expect when they said we were going to an Ethiopian restaurant but I really enjoyed the experience and the food. I was excited to try the injera, but I was not ready for it to be that sour. The African wine they had was also very different but I loved it. You could really taste all the different fruits that were in it. I would definitely recommend any of my friends to go there if they were looking to try something new.
I really enjoyed the style of eating we got to experience as well. I would never do that with people I don't know very well but we were all very open to it and didn't hesitate to get some food! It really made it fun and enjoyable. I thought it was a great experience over all and it made me realize that I need to open up to eating different types of foods.
Courtney Gall
Due to my having a cold, I was unfortunately not privy of the full experience of the Blue Nile dinner, however what I could taste was quite enjoyable. I am no stranger to trying ethnic fare, though this was my first Ethiopian experience. I enjoyed the various textures, although I prefer my potatoes to be thoroughly cooked. I was also undecided about the texture of the American injera, but I did enjoy it more over the authentic Ethiopian bread. The authentic injera made with taft only was definitely not my cup of tea. I look forward to returning to the Blue Nile when my ailment finally decides to subside.
ReplyDeleteI am not big on trying new foods and I am very basic. I am a turkey, cheese and mustard on white bread kind of girl. So going here was out of my comfort zone. But I am so glad that I did. I also don't like certain textures.. the bread that was served with the dish was different to get used to, but it grew on me. Because of this experience I am willing to try new things. I am very excited for the other resturants to come!
ReplyDeleteLizzie Sanford