The Bottom Line
Pros
- You can eat with your hands!
- Communal eating style a plus for socializing, bonding and intimacy.
- Can sample most of the menu in one meal.
- Fabulous restaurant option for vegetarians.
- Great cocktails, decent wine list, and laid-back dress code (dress up or down).
Cons
- High oops factor: you're eating with your hands!
- Be prepared to wait for a table if you go after 7 p.m., Thusday to Saturday.
- Be prepared to wait for your meal, post-order.
- Service is wonky on a good day.
- Just a wee overpriced: you're paying for the novelty.
Description
- Location: 3706 St. Denis, between Cherrier and des Pins
- Get There: Sherbrooke Metro
- Phone: (514) 285-4628
Guide Review - Montreal Restaurants Review - Le Nil Bleu, an Ethiopian Restaurant in Montreal
You know, I don't care that I have to wait anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour for my order at le Nil Bleu. And at roughly $30 a head (make it $50 to $80 with taxes, tip, appetizers, dessert and moderate alcohol), I also don't care --well, actually, I kind of care -- that the price doesn't justify the ingredients and preparation involved. And so be it that I must ask, sometimes harass, my waiter to bring more injera, easily up the three times per meal (is it just me, or have they become progressively stingier with the sponge-textured crêpe since management opened the Kutuma Hotel above the restaurant in 2003).But this foodie/masochist keeps coming back because that signature Nil Bleu taste -- a sort-of-but-not-quite mix of Indian and Caribbean flavors -- meshed with the bonding pleasure of sharing the same dish with the whole table and laughing at any food-scooping mishaps is a uniquely fun eating experience. And from a psychological standpoint, it's the ideal environment to suss out a first date's coping skills.
So if you're a Nil Bleu rookie, know that you will wait and pay dearly for your meal. Know also that if you opt for the combined meat platter and combined vegeterian platter (one order of both are enough for two), you will have the opportunity to taste most of the meat menu items and all of le Nil Bleu's vegetarian main dishes. And trust me, you won't need any appetizers or dessert because you will be bursting with fullness.
Then there's the remarkably dim lighting and moist cloth napkins whose raison d'être become evident by the first scoop of luscious Yekik Alicha (tumeric-spiced yellow split peas with fresh ginger) and Key Watt (marinated beef in mouth-watering berbere sauce), two main dishes first-timers should jump on.
Final verdict? With friends, lovers and first dates, le Nil Bleu deserves a shot, at least once.
