The adventure of licking food off my fingers at Nil Bleu

As I’ve promised from an earlier post, here’s the complete review for Nil Bleu!

There are few restaurants that specialize in Ethiopian cuisine in Montreal and the MRC team just did a review at the award-winning Nil Bleu. Ethiopian cuisine requires eating with bare hands and it’s a uniquely fun eating experience. You get to bond with family and friends as the whole table nibbles the food straight from hands.

I’ve always loved trying new things and since I had never had Ethiopian food before, I was very excited when I arrived at the restaurant. For anyone who are feeling adventurous and would like to explore Montreal restaurants a bit more, this would be a good place to try. They serve a wide selection of meat such as chicken, lamb, beef and fish. They also have a lot of vegetarian friendly options. If you want the food less/more spicy, feel free to tell the waiters!

A very tropical drink made with mango juice

This bouticha is nothing like the rather grainy hummus one can get from the supermarket. These scoops of creamy hummus are just fascinating. It goes really well with the signature injera, the fermented flatbread served alongside. It’s made with millet flour in house and it has a very soft and spongy texture. The flatbread blends in the savoury tastes of meats and vegetables. It’s almost like how Chinese serve rice with their dishes.

Kitfo – mildly spiced steak tartar topped with feta cheese. Since Ed has dairy allegy, I finished 2/3 of this tender raw beef. *goofy smile* (this item isn’t on the menu, our whole dinner was taken care by the waiter!)

This combination platter is the lifesaver for anyone who is usually very indecisive when it comes to choosing a main course from the menu.
For the review, we tried the one with chicken, lamb and beef with spinach.

Key Watt – this berbere marinated beef is my favourite even though it’s pretty spicy for me.

Doro Wat – chicken stew with boiled egg on top

Yebeg alicha – lamb with carrots and potatoes. It’s a bit similar to curry.

Spinach – surprisingly it tasted exactly like the one Chinese made at home!

Tropical sorbet – pineapple, mango and coconut flavour

Mango Raspberry Mousse – Despite the fact that I tried very hard to finish the last bit of the platter for at least half an hour (I’m not exaggerating…. my tummy was bursting), I managed to say goodbye to this cake in three minutes.

I would definitely visit Nil Bleu again and bring my friends along next time. The review was on a Saturday night and it was full house, so I recommend a reservation in advance. Have fun ripping the injera and licking food off your fingers!

*All photos are taken by Ed Yao – Head Photographer from Montreal Restaurant Club

Nil Bleu
3706 Rue Saint-Denis
Montreal, QC H2X 3L7
(514) 285-4628
www.nilbleu.ca/

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