Athens, GA that is. My original plan was to meet my sister in Athens and go to a Greek restaurant, because why not. That fell through, however I already had my mind set on driving the hour and change to Athens and I decided to go with plan B. Mannaweenta Ethiopian Restaurant was that plan. It had quite a while since I’d had African and they had some good reviews so it seemed like a low risk proposition.

It is in the corner of a well established shopping center and the layout has an odd layout that opens up as you go further in where it expands with the corner. The decor is fairly simple, with plastic covered tables and decorations reflecting the origins of the cuisine.

They were not too busy when I got there. One group of 3 seated and waiting on their food and another group of 3 ladies who were placing a takeout order. It was the first time here for those ladies and the young woman behind the counter was super friendly, smiling and encouraging questions. These ladies were more that happy to accommodate her on that last point. She went through the process in the photo above and they asked questions about most of the dish options. I’m not an especially patient person by nature but since people trying new and unfamiliar food is pretty much the spirit of the blog I just smiled and listened as Lisa went through it all.

My turn came and I ordered Yebeg Tibbs (lamb cooked in onions, tomatoes, jalapenos, herbs and spices). For sides I got Yemisser Wot (red lentils cooked with onions, tomatoes, garlic, ginger and berbere) and Atakilt Alitcha (cabbage, carrots, potatoes, garlic, ginger, herbs, and curry powder). I was going to get the Gomen Wot (Ethiopian collard greens) but they were out. Step 2 is to pick Injera (an airy flat bread) or rice. Now from the Q&A I heard earlier Lisa had dropped a secret menu option of half injera / half rice. I asked for that but alas as my meal was being prepared she came over and told me that they were running out of rice and it would be a while before they had more ready. It wasn’t a real hardship to get the full injera option.

The meal is served on injera and as I was given to understand my first time at an Ethiopian place you tear off a hunk of injera and scoop up the food. I got a fork as back up but managed to eat most of it with the tear, scoop and pinch method. Only once did any hit the table and not once did any land on me so that was a win. I also got some hot spiced tea to go with it. The lamb was tender and well flavored. I’d asked for it with medium spiciness and honestly it was very mild. The vegetables were pretty good but the red lentils were probably my favorite of the dishes. It had a good earthy flavor you expect from lentils and the other ingredients added their own goodness plus it did have a bit more spice that the lamb or vegetables. The portions were enough that I rolled up some leftover lamb in the injera and brought it home for dinner.

Overall it was a good lunch and experience. I will say that I’d have probably had an issue with the time it took to get the food and the fact that there were out of a side at 12:30 and effectively ran out of rice by 1:00 if Lisa had not been so nice. Her attitude and helpfulness to everyone who walked through the door (including the lost person looking for directions) gave me an unexpected tolerance I guess. As plan B’s go it turned out well.