Maija's : Ethiopian Food in King's Cross

Ever since living in Ethiopia as kids, my brother and I have been obsessed with Ethiopian food. Our whole family loves it, and ask any of us what our favorite food is, Ethiopian will be the answer. Luckily for us, London has some great Ethiopian restaurants. Last week my brother and I caught up over Ethiopian food in King's Cross. It's a restaurant he has been to lots of times, but a new one for me. I was so excited for dinner I only had a light lunch to save space, I couldn't wait to try the delicious, spicy dishes.

Ethiopian food is a mix of spicy meat and vegetable stews, served on injera, a sourdough flatbread made from teff flour. The food is served on one big dish and you usually share your food and always eat with your hands. Even to this day I maintain that all food tastes better when eaten with your fingers, much to my mother's dismay.

The restaurant, Addis, was about a 5 minute walk from King's Cross station and when we arrived it was very busy. We sat on some stools with small tables while we waited for our table and had a drink. The crowd was a mix of families, groups of friends and even a small hen party. The interior of the restaurant was basic but authentic and it had a nice buzzing vibe.

We ordered our favorite dishes of kitfo (spicy minced meat) , ye beg wot (meat stew) and doro wot (chiken stew). We also got a small portion of spicy spinach with cottage cheese. The food took quite long to arrive, and by the time it did we were starving and tucked straight in. It was to die for, really really well spiced and balanced, the injera was light and delicious and the portions were large. We had 3 dishes and it was definitely enough, we ate it all but mainly because it was so good rather than not having had enough. We were very pleasantly surprised when the bill arrived and I have to say it was one of the cheapest meals I've had in a long time.

As the night was still young we thought we would find somewhere nice for dessert. My brother has been wanting to go to the Renaissance hotel so we headed to the cozy warmth of the Gilbert Scott Bar and Restaurant. The building itself is stunning by the way and a lovely place for dinner or some cocktails. There was an excellent pianist and and the service was great, I have a feeling I will be back, maybe for a special occasion. I had a warm ginger cake with cinnamon cream and ice cream and my brother went for warm chocolate with yoghurt and lemon ice cream. Both were delicious and completely finished us off. Happy and full I headed home on the northern line, glad made the trip to the other side of town.