Arada Ethiopian Restaurant

Elite '08

21

89

Alicea W.

Denver, CO

I love ethnic food e.g. Ethiopian, Moroccan, Korean, Greek, Peruvian, etc.  I'm kind of like that weird girl Polly from the movie Along Came Polly (although I have yet made anyone have diarrhea -- go watch the movie).  I like Ethiopian food because it's flavorful, communal, and different.  Here are my comments on the items I've tried:

Siga Wot (spicy beef): very good, had just the right amount of spicy-ness
Yebeg Siga Alitcha (lamb stew): had an overwhelming lamby flavor, but what do you expect, it is *lamb* I guess
Yater Alicha (yellow split peas): the texture was a little too hard for me, I didn't think it was cooked through enough
Yatakelt Alitcha (steamed cabbage and carrots): loved this veggie dish, I wish I can get more
Yemiser Wot (lentils): the menu description said it was cooked with a red pepper sauce, so I expected it to be spicy, but it wasn't; I'm not a big lentils fan though
Greens (eh, greens): very soft and flavorful, one of my favorite veggie dishes

I also tried their honey wine.  It was *very* sweet.  I would recommend it with dessert rather than with dinner.

If it's your first time, a combination plate is always a good idea to try multiple different dishes.  One word of advice though, eating too much of the Ingera (bread) can fill you up pretty quickly.  So take it easy on those.  The Ingera is like a giant sponge that sucks up all the things you ate plus all the things you didn't think you ate and makes them expand even bigger in your stomach.

1 star off: small portions on the good stuff

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Elite '08

10

74

Riza H. C.

Denver, CO

A unique experience some will tell.  Since from where I am from, we often have "communal" eating events and when you use your fingers and hands to eat, all in all things are ok.

Food wise:  They have a distint flavor to it, depends on what you order.  I had my first experience at Arada with like about 11 other friends for dinner sometime on April 29 2008.

The service was indeed at a slow mode pace aka laid-back.  The host do provide us with plenty of the "special" chewy bread in called Injera.  Injera or Taita is a pancake-like bread made out from Teff Flour.

The table that I am seated, my friends and I ordered these:

Yebeg Siga Alitcha  ~ lamb

Doro Wot ~ chicken

Meat Combination ~ Minchetabush and gomen Besega Yebeg Alitcha, Siga wot, Bozena shiro

The rest of the dishes I cant recall.  All the entrees include Injera, Tomato Fit-Fit, Tomato Salad or the choice of any dishes in the Vegetarian menu.

Since its a communal type of eating, the people at my table indeed enjoyed their experiences and the food.  We are the only guests at my table who finish our dishes from the communal plate at the end of that evening.

If only the entrees comes with a larger portion I would come for more.  For now, I would rather check some other places in Colorado that offers Ethiopian dishes.

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Elite '08

72

156

Peter M.

Denver, CO

Way to go Yelpers!  I tried this place out after reading my fellow Yelper's reviews, and it was great!  What a gem!

I had my folks out to dinner, and there was a great deal of skepticism when I suggested Ethiopian food, as neither of my parents had ever tried it.  We got the lamb, and a beef dish.  It was STELLAR!  

I highly recommend that if you have never tried this interesting cuisine, you drop by Arada some day soon!  Fantastic staff, too!

Well done!

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0

3

Tristan T.

Denver, CO

Oh...My...God.  I would eat this every day, if there weren't so many other things I wanted to eat on any given day.

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7

10

Andrea P.

Denver, CO

I would give it five if the meat servings were a bit bigger.  BUT I do like this place a lot!  Yummy food, authentic menu and authentic service (yes, that does mean it's a bit slower than American restaurants, but it is supposed to be!).  I'm going again this weekend!!  And bringing friends this time.

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21

220

Jelena W.

Lakewood, CO

I can't say that I had high expectations the first time I tried Ethiopian cuisine. Actually, I couldn't really picture what it was- a less tactful friend, referring to the famine conditions in Africa, opined, "Ethiopian food? What is that- they serve you 30 grams of food, then take it away and tell you that the American aid money all went to promote abstinence so you don't get to eat today?"

On the contrary- this Ethiopian cuisine is spectacular, and if you can't figure out what the words on the menu mean, either ask the very friendly employees or just order it anyway- it's bound to be good. There are plenty of choices, and each that I've tried has been excellent. It seems like lots of folks stop in here after the First Friday Art Walk for a quick, yummy, and extra inexpensive post-free snacks nosh.

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3

32

Stephen W.

San Francisco, CA

I love this place. The food is fantastic and atmosphere isn't bad either. The  price is quite reasonable. It can be slow if there are a lot of people in there, and they won't take a reservation on first friday, which is a great day to go.

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Elite '08

68

380

Lori M.

Denver, CO

When Arada first opened its doors on East Colfax, it raised the bar for Ethiopian restaurants in Denver. Fast forward to now: Loftier digs in the Golden Triangle, more seats, and a bar, and it's still the best of the bunch. The spongy injera is excellent, and the main dishes shine with numerous choices for carnivores and herbivores alike. To sample both, order the meat/vegetarian combination.

Service is laid back, but gracious, the cliental is a diverse mix of neighborhood hipsters, urbanites, and ardent ethnic food fans, and the food, all of it prepared with love, is not only amazingly good, but deliciously inexpensive.

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