Every New Year, we:
- Go somewhere we've never been
- Try an activity we've never tried
- Eat a cuisine we've never eaten before
One of the best things about living in Houston is how you can find any type of people, and thus any type of food. In one short trip down Longpoint, you see an ostioneria, a Colombian bakery, a Vietnamese coffee shop, a Korean deli and much much more. It's like one giant ethnic fondue melting pot. There are also 9998 Mexican restaurants, but that's just a given.
This year, my oldest son closed his eyes and pointed at a map. The nearest country? Morocco! We researched Moroccan restaurants and found two. One was very upscale, renowned for its elegant presentations. The other? A dive in a strip center behind a gas station. Naturally, we went for the dive. We like to order a big sampler off the menu and try lots of dishes, so the dive is definitely more to the budget.
Last night, we loaded in the car and drove to SW Houston to find our Moroccan restaurant. We drove past where it was supposed to be. We circled around again, only to realize that the Moroccan restaurant had become Mexican restaurant number 9999. Drat!
We decided to go somewhere nearby where we'd been before, and took off down the road. Only, a few blocks up, there was Blue Nile, an Ethiopian Restaurant. A little U-turn, and we were sitting inside perusing the menu. Not Moroccan, but still something we hadn't tried.
We had beef, lamb, chicken and a vegetable combination, adapted a bit to the kids' palates (they haven't learned to love spicy yet). The kids loved using the injera and their hands to pick up the food. They tried everything, and they liked most of it and loved some of it, including the chickpeas. I think I might crawl over glass to get some more of their collard greens. I could have made a meal off of just those.
Watching them becoming more adept at using the injera to pick up the food spread in front of them, and eagerly trying everything was exactly what we envisioned five years ago when we started this tradition.
3 comments:
Our family has a tradition that on the last day of school we go out for Ethiopian food. I agree with you about the collard greens--they're my favorite, too! We also love the Doro Wat--spicy chicken in red sauce with hard-boiled eggs.
We had the Doro Wat as one of our dishes. My 6 year old loves eggs, so he adored that part of the dish, but the chicken was much too spicy for them. I thought it was terrific.
His dad and I love spicy food, so we figure we'll get there eventually.
Hi! We are Houstonians who aren't living in Houston right now, but we just spent a week there with famiy over winter break. We also had an old favorite Moroccan restaurant that has since closed . . . but we found a new one, and it was MARVELOUS! Just wanted to share: Saffron, 2006 Lexington St. Phone: (713) 522-3562. Great food, eye-popping decor, lovely service (particular warmth to children!), and even a belly dancer. Hope you enjoy.
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