Best of 2003: Best Ethiopian Value

Awash Ethiopian Restaurant
4979 El Cajon Boulevard, North Park
619-583-9225

Don't expect cutlery here; you eat with your hands. Awash (named after an Ethiopian river) serves pretty much everything on injera, the giant soggy crumpet you rip and wrap around foods arranged in beautiful piles on top. It's a small, clean eatery with white walls, Ethiopian art, haunting music, and maroon cloth-covered tables. Plenty of meat dishes, including yebeg alicha (lamb stew), kitfo (raw chopped beef with spices), and yedoro wot (spicy lamb cooked in red pepper berbere sauce and butter). But Awash is also great for vegetarians and vegans. Ethiopian beers or the Awash's tej (honey wine, with or without alcohol) go well with all this. For a late breakfast, try the delicious foul or sambusa.