Assab Eritrean (South African) Cuisine

Assab Sampler

I haven’t done a post in forever, sorry. I really have no excuse. My eating habits haven’t changed a bit. Halloween reminded me of a restaurant that makes me feel like a kid so I figure this is a perfect time to get back into the blogging game. For obvious reasons, Halloween always makes me reminiscent of my childhood days. This of course inspired me to write about a restaurant that always lets me re-live a childhood obsession- eating with my hands.

Assab Eritrean (South African) Restaurant is the one restaurant I go to where I am not required to use a fork. Or knife. Or spoon. You get it. In South Africa, food is eaten with inerja, spongy bread that closely resembles a crepe. Any dish you order gets served on top of a very large piece of the inerja and also comes with some inerja on the side. The inerja is the only tool provided to eat with. (Ok, I’m done saying the word inerja, but I wanted to really reiterate that this place does not give you silverware.) It’s a bit messy and not a very attractive way of eating, but it sure tastes great. The picture above doesnt do it justice, but I wanted to give you an example.   

South African food can best be described to people who have never tried it as spicy, exotic and flavorful. The best thing to order for your first time at Assab is a meat sampler and a veggie sampler. I’d describe each, but it’s definitely easier to just read the menu for this one. Click here for the menu link. All their meats are very tender. I’m pretty picky when it comes to meet, but all three options (lamb, chicken and beef) really are delicious. I’m not also not a huge vegetable lover (shocking), but they cook their veggie dishes to perfection and add so much flavor that I forget I’m even eating vegetables in the first place.  Please just trust me and order the samplers, even if something included sounds way out of your acceptable food ordering range. It won’t disappoint you.  

The food at Assab pairs well with a glass of their Honey Wine. I’m not a huge fan of sweet wines, but theirs isn’t overly sweet and does a good job of curbing some of the spice from the food. Assab is a great place to take someone to if you want to impress him or her. You will definitely seem all fun, cultured and cool for suggesting this restaurant. It’s a fun experience, guaranteed. If the lack of silverware thing scares you, they will give you a fork, but you’d only be ruining your own fun!