By Taylor Gale

Located in Baltimore, MD, Dukem offers an eclectic menu that reflects authentic Ethiopian meals. I and my fellow VRG interns, Emma and Emily all tried Ethiopian food for the first time, together. If you can, I suggest going with friends or family when eating Ethiopian food. The portions are more than enough to share with one or two people. For appetizers, Emma, ordered the vegetable sambusa, a lentil pastry. Although, the order only includes two sambusas, they were huge. It is enough for a party of three or four to share, unless you are very hungry.

For our entrees, we ordered the special Dukem veggie combo (3), which includes seven items: spicy split lentils, yellow peas, greens, cabbage, shiro, salad, and chickpeas in spicy sauce. All of the veggie platters are similar. The only difference is the addition of certain vegetable options. For the most part, the items on the platter consisted of various baked vegetables and vegetable dips, such as the spicy split lentil. If you are not a fan of spicy food, do not fret. Most of the items we ate were not spicy, but one or two of the dishes were. While most of the ingredients are self-explanatory, in case you are curious, shiro is an essential ingredient in Ethiopian food. It is a stew made from chickpeas or broad bean meal.

For those who have never eaten Ethiopian food (like myself before this experience), it is advised to eat with your hands. You can ask for silverware, but it may appear as if you are unwilling to try another culture’s way of eating, plus it is a fun and interactive way to ingest your food. The ambiance of Dukhem also reflects Ethiopian culture. The music videos playing were Ethiopian pop music, which reminded me of Bollywood styled music and dance.

Not only was the food and entertainment wonderful, the servers were also very friendly and informative! When ordering, the three of us explained that, as a collective, we are vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free—a typical server’s worst nightmare. Immediately, our server pointed out to us what vegan options they offered and told Emily that they could make a gluten-free injera, which is a soft pancake-style bread. Score! The injera is placed under the entire vegetable platter, so if you are gluten-free, be sure to only eat the dips and not the injera underneath; or you could always request to have the platter’s injera be gluten-free as well.

Overall, our time at Dukem was a great experience. I highly recommend exploring cuisine outside of your comfort zone. It is a great way to learn and experience other cultures, and who knows, it may just become your favorite meal! For me, the injera and spicy split lentils were too good to not have again. Since our time at Dukem, I have had Ethiopian food three more times and plan on including Ethiopian food into my meal preps.

If you would like to check out what Dukem has to offer, you can visit their website at: http://dukemrestaurant.com/content/menu

For information about other veggie restaurants in the USA and Canada, see https://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php