"Rockville is by no means a center for Ethiopian food, so it is welcome to have this restaurant in the area. However, food is food, and one must be honest. The food is the same as other Ethiopian restaurants, nothing special, except that unlike many of them, they do note there is a vegan sampler. They also have vegan lentil sambusas, a beet salad (vegan) and a vegan broccoli appetizer. The sambusas had a bitter dark berbere sauce for dip. They'd be fine without the berbere dipping sauce, but the sauce moistened it a bit. The broccoli was rather salty and just tasted like steamed broccoli with some salt, oil and red pepper flakes not worth the price. With that said, it was comforting that they had a vegan sampler. The choices were standard fare for Ethiopian, with one exception: eggplant (bedergan)! That was a fun addition, but the flavor is just like other Ethipian dishes flavored with berbere and onions. The cabbage had a weaker flavor than I prefer, but I am glad it wasn't greasy. The red lentils/ key mesir was medicore not spicy enough and a bit too salty. The gomen was fresh in flavor and execution, and it was not as salty as the others. The ater kik alicha was the best in terms of salting, and it had a nice flavor without being too firm/ al dente that can often happen. There was no salad offered, so they must have forgotten. The injera was suitable in thickness and ability to stay together to serve the food. However, I do prefer a richer flavor (more fermented). Still, it was good. I appreciate the commitment to vegan options, but, I would likely kept going back to DC/ VA for vegan options unless I am stuck in Rockville and in need of injera/ Ethiopian food!"
