At Dukem, we’re up to our elbows in dinner
by Lynn Williams
maindish@baltimoreguide.com
Ethiopian food is not for the prissy.
Does the very idea of eating with your hands from a communal platter give you the vapors? Just wait: there’s more! As you brush fingertips with your tablemates, using torn-off bits of spongy flatbread to grab at morsels of intensely-colored, intensely-flavored and intensely-spiced stews, you will most certainly be putting your manicure and your snowy shirt-cuffs, as well as your dignity, into jeopardy.
Sounds like fun to me!
As a former Washingtonian, I’m an old hand at Ethiopian dining; for decades, D.C. has had dozens of places to indulge. Baltimore, on the other hand, has been home to a mere handful of Ethiopian eateries - most of them short-lived – leaving many locals as yet uninitiated into the pleasures of this super-sensual cuisine.
Dukem is changing all that. Now open a little over two years, this local outpost of a Washington favorite has attracted a steady clientele. It has location going for it; the UB and MICA student populations are nearby, but as it (unlike its predecessor, Ghion) isn’t a bit divey-looking, it doesn’t scare away the symphony, theatre and opera-goers. The two-story restaurant is simple but very pleasant, with a small, wood-lined dining room and bar downstairs, and more dining space, complete with traditional woven mesob tables, above.
For a twosome, the best deal is a combination sampler, which range from $10.95 to $29.50. Our choice, priced at $21.50, included three meat and five vegetarian dishes. The platter comprised beef tibs (cubed beef, cooked with onions, peppers and plenty of garlic), minchet abesh (finely chopped gingery beef, savory but not fiery) and a wot (stew) of lamb chunks in a thick red sauce flavored with the distinctive spices found only, it seems, in this kind of cooking. The vegetarian dishes include cabbage cooked with potato and carrots, soulful greens, a spicy stew made of red lentils and another of yellow peas, and shiro, a split-pea puree with a delayed-action kick. Served on the side is a plateful of injera, the soft sourdough crepe that serves as both bread and utensil. Don’t mistake it for a napkin – although you can use it as one if your fingers get messy. Which they will.
Single entrees are available for an average of $11, and range from accessible, newbie-friendly fare such as tibs and minchet abesh to more challenging dishes such as kitfo (raw beef spiced with a red pepper called mitmita) and dullet (mitmita- and jalapeno-spiked lamb tripe and liver).
With such hearty servings, appetizers are hardly necessary, but you can give your meal a traditional beginning with sambusa, a pastry shell encasing either lentils, onions and peppers ($2.50) or similarly spiced ground beef ($3.25).
Whatever you order, this is a meal that will stick with you for a while. Your belly will be full, and your fingers will smell fabulous.
Dukem Ethiopian Restaurant
Location: 1100 Maryland Ave.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily
Phone: 410-385-0318
Our meal for two: $25.99
The Latest Dish…
The Highlandtown/Patterson Park neighborhood is getting its fine dining back! The Parkside space, at 2901 E. Baltimore Street, wasn’t fated to remain empty for long. Three, named for its three owners, Michael Harmel, Richard Karoll and Jack Starr, should be open sometime in June. Although the three were formerly involved with such establishments as the Wharf Rat and One-Eyed Mike’s, their new place won’t be a tavern. Three will specialize in contemporary American cooking, and will feature the ever-present small plates.
