By Shelley Budd
I hadn’t stumbled across a good Ethiopian restaurant since living in Victoria, until yesterday, when Harambe Ethiopian Cuisine revealed itself to me on Commercial Drive near 5th. If you don’t know Ethiopian, it’s the ultimate comfort food, and full of health. The bread, injera, is like a spongy crepe, thick and moist and my favorite meal to eat with it is a veggie combo, with plots of spicy red and yellow lentils, spinach, cabbage and slow-cooked mixed veg. The crepe is slightly tangy, you use it instead of cutlery, and does a better job than Bounty of soaking in the spices, which the owner buys from the source on trips home to Ethiopia. After my meal the restaurant filled with an intense incense – it smelled like minty, woodsy, bark-like smoke, helping me drift off into a few minutes of post-feast relaxation. It’s a powerfully comfortable restaurant that’s been at the same location for 10 years – they know what they’re doing!

What to Try: Harambe’s Vegetarian Lovers Combo plate, for however many are eating, and Tej – Ethiopian Honey Wine, which is made from only two ingredients, honey and hops; it’s light in flavour and deliciously calming. Also enjoy the stunning Ethiopian art inside.