Meals by Genet

It's hard to count the number of Ethiopian restaurants in the stretch of Fairfax just south of Olympic, but as exotically named as they all are, Meals by Genet still always sounded to me like the most curious. Having nothing whatsoever to do with the homosexual French tightrope-walker-loving poet, it turns out that in Ethiopia "Genet" is pronounced like "granite" and is a common woman's name (and in this case, that of the smiling chef-owner). While we did have to wait awhile for a table to be cleared for us, once we were seated service couldn't have been more attentive, starting with our waiter who flamboyantly draped clean cloth napkins across our laps and counseled us on ordering the right combination of food for our party of 7. We ended up with two large trays of mostly vegetarian options as well as grilled marinated steak and dorowot, the famous Ethiopian stewed chicken in a red pepper and butter sauce. In addition to the heaps of vegetables which included several types of lentils, collard greens and some salad, we went through several plates of folded injera, the thin, spongy bread with which you grab and eat most everything. At our waiter's suggestion, we also ordered bottles of Harar, the wheaty Ethiopian beer which perfectly complemented the subtle spice of the food. Ethiopia was once part of the mighty Italian Colonial Empire so there are a few pastas on the menu as well. But with food this good, I recommend sticking to the traditional East African items and saving the fall-back menu as a consideration the next time you're out for Albanian (or perhaps Libyan) food.

Meals by Genet
1053 S Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles
(323) 938-9304
closed Monday and Tuesday