The Nile is flowing in Rochester

Here's a little from my column in today's Post-Bulletin PLUS an on-the-scene video clip of me nattering on about it.

For the all of the details, check out the print edition of the Post-Bulletin.

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Rochester fans of African cuisine have been asking me one question all of this tropical winter.  

When will the Nile Restaurant in northwest Rochester open? I now finally can answer that.

The Nile Restaurant started cooking Ethiopian dishes on Tuesday at 2711 Commerce Drive N.W., off of West Circle Drive. That's the former home of The Clay Oven restaurant, which closed last year.

It seats about 30. The staff is still fine-tuning the menu and other things, but it is open and serving recipes from the East African country.

The Nile also offers a full bar. The owner has not found a supplier for Ethiopian beer and wine yet, but he is working on it.

For those not familiar with Ethiopian cuisine, many of the dishes are variations of a spicy vegetable and meat stew called wat. Wat is usually served with a soft pancake-like bread called injera.

Comments

[Allen]

Yummy!

[Jeffrey B]

Went there last night; overall, quite impressed. The doro wat was excellent, one of the best wat I've had. The tibs (both chicken and beef) were a bit unimpressive (but the portion size was huge for an Ethiopian place); they were just stir-fried, not marinated, so didn't have much flavor. Thumbs up for the injera as well! Prices were acceptable, $10-$12 for most dishes.

WARNING: as with any new non-chain place, consider them still a beta version. It took almost 45 minutes for the food to arrive (and we were only the third table), they don't have a children's menu (they didn't mind that we brought our own food for the kids, however), and they only take cash. They said in about a month they will have their "grand opening", after they get everything working and staffed. I sure hope so, the food was very good, but I don't see myself coming back often for that long a wait.

[Carl]

Unrelated to this article. Two Brothers Sandwich place is now Hornitos, again.

[ray schmitz]

Three of us enjoyed it last Saturday for lunch, one word, consider two entrees for three, three for four, they are large and with the amount of bread involved filling.

[Dmitry Salnikov]

Thanks for post.

[Lalie]

We're so happy to have an Ethiopian restaurant in Rochester. We've been shlepping up to the Cities for years to get our Ethiopian fix. What a great addition to Rochester.

The dining area is warm and inviting. Our waiter was attentive and accommodating. And the food was delicious. We had the vegetarian platter and zilzil tibs. So good! Fresh and well-prepared. And more than enough food for the three of us.

I would definitely recommend The Nile Restaurant and plan to return often.

[downtownemployee]

Kiger, what about the Kahler Starbucks??