Queen of Sheba
I’d been looking forward to checking out Queen of Sheba ever since discovering it existed. Before that I had only been able to find one other Ethiopian restaurant in the Triangle (It’s quite likely there are others, I just haven’t stumbled up on them yet.) and my meal there had been kind of mediocre.
The food at Queen of Sheba was good overall, but this is one of those situations where a little issue can influence my evaluation of the meal, perhaps unfairly. Queen of Sheba is tucked away in a strip mall in Chapel Hill with some truly hideous beige siding. It’s a small, brightly lit place with a choice of sitting at a traditional basket or a table.
We started with the Sambussa, which were filled with lentils and onions, and came with a little dollop of Buticha, a chickpea dip that is very similar to hummus. The Sambussa were very tasty, albeit kind of tiny.
So here’s the issue I had - I had looked at the menu online before going and pretty much decided to get the Vegetarian Combination, which the menu says includes a choice of 5 of the vegetarian entrees. My husband decided to share this with me, so we got it for two. I was really looking forward to having the variety of entrees so I could try some lentils, the collard greens, the cabbage, the green beans, and split peas. When it came time to order, our server told us that the menu was wrong and the Vegetarian Combination came with two set entrees and three side salads. I was a bit disappointed that the menu was misleading but we figured the combo was still a good way to go.
When the combination came out, the two entrees were the Yemisir Kay Watt (red lentils in a spicy sauce) and the Kik Alich’a (yellow split peas) and the sides were Yetimatim (fresh tomato salad. Good and refreshing.), Yemisir Azefah (cold green lentil salad), and I’m guessing the Yetimatim Fittit, which was a rather bland tomato puree. Overall everything was flavorful and good, with the Yemisir Kay Watt being the standout, but it was a LOT of lentils to have in one meal and the split peas had a very similar texture. The Yetimatim, with the chunks of fresh tomato, was a nice change of pace, but overall the meal was a little monotonous. We broke down and ordered a side of cabbage, because that’s one of my favorite dishes at an Ethiopian restaurant and I am used to it being a side dish with everything.
Service was a little slow. The food was good but for me, the disappointment in not being able to choose the entrees for the combination (it could be fewer than five and still be good) and the fact that no one has corrected the menu (I’m not saying they have to go to the trouble and expense of reprinting menus, even a note taped to the menu would do the job) put a damper on the experience. I would come back but with somewhat lower expectations.
Queen of Sheba
1129 Weaver Dairy Rd
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 932-4986