Das Ethiopian Cuisine

Das Ethiopian Cuisine at 1201 28th Street NW is on the residential block of 28th Street between N Street and O Street in Georgetown, in the area that has developed a small cluster of international restaurants serving the Georgetown community away from the main commercial corridors. The 28th Street address, which is shared with the nearby George’s King of Falafel at 1205, represents Georgetown’s more neighborhood-residential dining destinations rather than the tourist-facing M Street and Wisconsin Avenue establishments.

The Ethiopian culinary tradition that Das serves is one of the most distinctive in the world, organized as it is around the injera flatbread and the communal sharing of stews placed on top of it. The injera, made from teff grain through a fermentation process that can take several days, is simultaneously the plate, the utensil, and part of the meal. The spongy texture of a properly fermented injera absorbs the cooking juices and spices of the stews that sit on it, which means the injera that remains after the toppings have been eaten carries the flavors of everything that covered it.

The berbere spice blend, which is the foundational spice mixture of Ethiopian cooking, combines dried chilies, coriander, fenugreek, black pepper, korarima (Ethiopian cardamom), rue, ajwain, and additional spices in proportions that vary by household and region. The blend is used in the preparation of the doro wat, the braised chicken stew that is the most celebrated dish in the Ethiopian repertoire, as well as the beef and lamb preparations. The complexity of the berbere flavor, which has both the heat of the chilies and the aromatic complexity of the other spices, produces a flavor profile that is entirely distinct from the spice traditions of other cuisines that use some of the same individual ingredients.

Georgetown’s proximity to the large Ethiopian community of the DC metropolitan area makes the neighborhood a natural location for Ethiopian restaurants that serve both the diaspora community and the Georgetown dining public. Das Ethiopian Cuisine at 28th Street provides that service in a neighborhood setting. Hours run Tuesday through Saturday for lunch and dinner, and Sunday for a midday service. The Washington, DC metropolitan area has the largest Ethiopian diaspora population in the United States, with estimates ranging from 75,000 to 250,000 people, concentrated primarily in the Virginia suburbs but with significant presence within the city. This community has made Washington one of the most important centers of Ethiopian restaurant culture outside Addis Ababa itself, with a density and variety of Ethiopian restaurants that New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago do not match. Das Ethiopian Cuisine at 1201 28th Street NW serves this tradition in Georgetown’s residential fabric, where the Ethiopian restaurant format serves a dining community that is more diverse in its regular customer base than the Adams Morgan and U Street Ethiopian restaurant clusters.