Benyam — Restaurant in New York

I was totally bummed out when the restaurant that was at this location before Benyam, La Nomade, closed. They had great lamb and chicken dishes, and on Saturday or Sunday you could get some wicked fish ball soup! If you ordered early enough. Then Benyam popped up. It took me a while to come in for the first time but eventually the art on the inside and the little stand of potted plants on the outside drew me in. I immediately regretted waiting so long. The food is phenomenal! It seems a little pricey but the ingredients are quality and the portions are good so you do get what you pay for. The fellas who work there, and the matriarch of the place, are always genuinely friendly and act like it’s their pleasure to serve you. No really! It’s kinda crazy how much love they put into the place and the food. My only complaint would be that when I call for take out (since I live across the street I always get take out) it takes a bit long. But then I go in and see Benyam serving all these happy people who have seemingly trekked uptown or in from out of town for some delicious food and I don’t mind the wait as much. It’s manna...

Benyam is simply incredible. The food (I got a veggie sampler, my partner got a lamb dish) was, to quote ourselves for the entire next day, "mind-blowing, so good, I can't believe that place was SO GOOD, I'm taking so many people there." I've had quite a bit of Ethiopian cuisine in the city, and always a veggie sampler, and this was the most flavorful one that I've had. They also had the best-cooked collards I've had on injera in my life. (edit: we got an appetizer that involved scrambled eggs and vegetables wrapped in injera and you should eat it immediately I cannot overstate how wonderful this meal was)

The owners are also incredibly friendly. I regret missing the gentleman with the hat's name, but he took the time to tell me about all of the art in the restaurant, most of which is done by family, and is incredibly cool. This is not even to mention how we were checked in on throughout our meal, in the most welcome way, not too much.

Lastly: I love misir wat. It's among my favorite foods. I don't believe I'll be going anywhere else for it if I have any say. Eighteen stars...

Best Ethiopian I’ve found in Manhattan, wish it were close enough to eat more regularly but I will always eat it any time I’m in the area. I found this place because it was near my COVID vaccination site and grabbed some takeout on my way home figuring I wouldn’t have the energy to cook dinner once my immune system started getting salty about the proteins in the shot. It’s really great, authentic Ethiopian. They were also selling berbere and mitmita, which I purchased and have been really happy with the quality. I ordered from them a few more times and the experience was consistently great, though I was bummed they never had sambusas. The only thing I dislike is their cheap styrofoam takeout packaging, which is awful for the environment. Prior to trying this place I’d been disappointed with the 4-star+ “authentic” Ethiopian restaurants I’d tried and had resigned myself to making sourdough teff injera and my other favorite dishes at home; this has been the only Ethiopian restaurant here that leaves me as happy as my own cooking, and I wish they had...