Ethiopian Food, Anyone?

So, we had our first experience with Ethiopian food. Well, it was my first experience. Come to find out Brian had it before while living in DC but he was holding out on me and didn't tell me he had ever had it until we were eating. Maybe because he knows his wife very well :). There is a surprisingly large Ethiopian community in San Diego. There are three Ethiopian restaurants, I think a community center (although I am having trouble finding information on it), and lots of churches. I would like to try out one of the evangelical Christian Ethiopian churches sometime (even though we have a different home church). So I loved the art work in the restaurant, the service was very friendly, but the food was a little rough. I'm really not that picky of an eater, but there are two things I really don't like: meat on the bone and spicy. Well, our food had both. We went on a night when there was a buffet and only a buffet. Some of the dishes weren't warm so that could have been part of the problem. The injera was okay and I loved all the varieties of veggies. Everything was a mushy consistency which surprised me. The flavors were unlike anything I have ever tried and I genuinely enjoyed the flavors but my mouth was on FIRE!!! The tej (honey wine) I had did help a little. Although I wouldn't say I enjoyed my meal, I look forward to eating Ethiopian food again and embracing more of this cultural aspect of our child's birth country - but I can't promise the Ethiopian food won't be followed up with a McDonald's drive though. P.S. Brian loved the food and I'm pretty sure his fingers (I did a no no and used a plastic fork) still smell like Ethiopian food. We need an Ethiopian to show us how to scoop using the injera without making a mess of ourselves.