We ate last night at the Ethiopian restaurant, the Queen of Sheba, on Fortress Road. All agreed it was an excellent evening and the restaurant is thoroughly recommended. The meal, with wine, came to £20 a head.

The meal is served on a single large plate covered with sour dough bread; either that bread or rolled-up pieces of the same are used to scoop up the dishes that are placed on the plate. Lamb and legumes were prevalent. The sour dough bread is not massively sour; it wouldn’t work on its own, but it works well as an accompaniment. The food is quite unusual; it’s not quite a curry – somewhat lighter on the palate – and the sourness of the bread is a good balance to the w’et – the main part of the meal. It’s probably fair to say that it’s spiced rather than spicy; none of the dishes were particularly hot, but the flavours, although based on simple things like onion and the meat itself, were delicate.

We ordered (on the waiter’s recommendation, as we were new to Ethiopian food) the special meat platter and a mushroom dish called ingudai t’ibs. There was plenty to go around. The only slight – and it is very slight – disappointment was the beer, which was essentially a moderately hoppy lager. Not unpleasant, as lagers go, but the house wine was fine and, when it comes to beer, I prefer ales and bitters.

Service was great, nice atmosphere and the coffee ceremony at the end was a nice way to end the meal, complete with the smells of coffee grounds roasting literally in front of you and frankincense burning away.

Definitely worth a visit.

xD.