Ras Dashen Ethiopian Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Seattle

I've been living within a 4 minute walk for over a year now, and only occasionally stopped by for drinks when the other Ethiopian restaurants were closed.

But... the atmosphere and design of the place is very cozy and personal. The bathroom? VERY large, and always kept clean.

As for the food... I ordered my first dish late last week: the first thing on the menu, Beef Tips. The menu is littered with typos all over the place, but the ingredients are easy to understand, and many are quite similar in description. Even so, don't let that deter you.

Those basic beef tips were wonderful, and two nights ago, I got "green chicken" (chicken tips cooked in spinach). Oh my god. I've gone out of my way while living in NJ to find a Senegalese restaurant, and their lamb + greens were on point... but the portions were tiny. Not so here. Whether you order food on a plate or to go, the presentation seems to always be neat, tidy, and on point.

Get in there the way the food is meant to be eaten. Screw a fork, use that signature bread to pick things up and sop up sauces. And if you need a good, solid trial run, you CANNOT go wrong with the Green Chicken. The spices are wonderful, the chicken is tender, and the spinach tastes totally fresh without being bitter in any...

Update for 6/24/2020: We are so lucky here in Seattle to have some good Ethiopian restaurants. Tried Ras Dashen and a few other restaurants in the last week (just for take away), and I think Ras Dashen is still the best. They promptly met me outside with the food (veggie combo, shiro wat, and some extra injera). The food was delicious, as usual. Their shiro tastes just like the shiro we had in Ethiopia.

I've been to a few of the Ethiopian restaurants around this area, and this ranks as the best!

We were there on a Saturday night, and there were few people there. (Why??!) I've also eaten here on a weekday night, and it was also nearly empty.

There are lots of choices for vegetarians. Our go-to is the veggie combo and the shiro wat, which is plenty for 2 hungry people. The lentil stews were well spiced (especially the shiro wat!) and had perfect consistency. The greens and salad were fresh and had a firm, crisp texture which went well with the injera.

The food and music videos playing brought back fond memories of our travels in Ethiopia.

We'll...

Absolutely great place to a quick bite or a family meal! How full you want to be ultimately depends on how much you order and trust me, it's really tempting to order more.

The injera blends all of the separate "dishes" together very well. The injera is an Ethiopian bread that's somewhat like a crepe but thicker and has the sourness from sour dough bread. And yet it is still fluffy and delicious! It soaks up all of the oils and juices from the meats and all else!

The vegetable options include 3 types of lentils (red, green, yellow), collard greens with and without meat, and the meats include a variety of beef, and a lamb dish (the meat in the center of the attached image). It's really difficult for me to describe how well they all taste, both individually and together. You really need to finish up the injera at the end!! Overall great food!!

Limited parking in front. Otherwise, it's...