Walia Ibex
After the first week of arriving in Amsterdam, so in
September 2012, I made very good friends with Megan AKA Megzymoo etc. She lives
in De Pijp, as do I, and we both hit it off with a nice cold beer in Rembrandtplein
after she retaught me how to ride a bike (one of the scariest things about
living in NL- having to get back onto that childhood play thing as a competent
adult). On our way home she showed me where she lived so that we could meet
again. That fateful day led to two discoveries…. Taart van mijn tante and Walia
Ibex. We will return to the funky cake café on a later date- today’s post is
all about the Ethiopian!!
Situated on Eerste
Jacob van Campenstraat right opposite Marieheinekenplein, it has a perfect de
pijp centrality yet off the main street giving a little more of a quieter
eating experience; as it was, excellent for a Wednesday evening.
I had eaten Ethiopian before when I
was studying at the University of Leeds. I went to a talk by Oxfam discussing
land grabs and Ethiopia is a country targeted in that unjust mess. After lots
of interesting debates and discourse the evening was completed with live
African music and an amazing buffet put on by a local Leeds Ethiopian
restaurant, Merkato. For any Leeds people out there, click below to get the
address and read a review (they don’t have their own website), just lovely
people and exceptional food.
It was great!! I love spicy food and curry flavours, and it didn’t disappoint.
Having said that, the Ethiopian food I have tried has not been over spicy at
all. Comparing it to Indian curries, I would say the spiciest Ethiopian food
was about a Dopiaza. Perhaps thi sis typical or if I have just been choosing the
wrong things off the menu! Anyway, I happened to be with a vegetarian at the
time and sometimes a veggie can be in despair at buffet style events- ‘what if
I can’t eat anything’- Ethiopian food is traditionally vegetarian friendly
because of its Muslim, meat fasting connections, and so there was much to offer.
Of course, lots of meat dishes too.
Okay, so that was my first experience. The second,
and certainly not the last, was at Walia Ibex in Amsterdam.
Megz and me strolled into the restaurant at 20:15
and sat in a cosy window seat. There was only one other table occupied, 4
Dutchies chatting away, and we opened up the menu after being greeted by the
friendly owner. The first thing to contemplate unsurprisingly was what to
drink!! We wanted to try something that would go with the food and what do we
usually have with a good curry? A good beer! The menu gave us four options for
African beers- quinua, coconut, palm and banana. Flippin’ heck banana beer!
Underneath the list, Megan noticed in smaller writing, ‘please ask if you would
like to drink your beer out of a coconut’… yes please. So we did and it was
awesome. Throughout the night we tried the quinua, coconut and banana, and
personally the banana was the best. It wasn’t too sweet for my taste (maybe for
others) and I think that people who usually don’t like beer would actually
quite enjoy this one mainly because it wasn’t hoppy. The quinua was essentially
just a normal white beer- and coconut beer being drunk out of a coconut-
ingenious! 
When our food arrived the guy gave us a demonstration
of how to eat it! As you can see on the pictures, the food is placed on flat
bread called Ingera and we were given a couple more of the flat breads each to
use to eat with. He tore of a little bit of bread from his Ethiopian eating
demo kit and used it to pinch some food. We did the same and he was happy
enough that we could manage and started to walk back to the kitchen but not
before quickly turning around saying, ‘if you find it too difficult I can give
you a knife and fork!’
We started to eat, pinching bits of each other’s
plates (one of the best things about these kinds of food) and spreading the
food across the bottom piece of bread. The guy told us to do this as when we
got down to eating the last piece of bread, all of the flavours and juices
would have soaked in- he was not wrong. My chicken dish was quite spicy, yet
not over powering. Megan isn’t a big fan of too much heat and she tried some
with no difficulty. The mixed vegetable curry was chunky and textured making it
easy to grab between the bread, and the cottage cheese and spinach were perfect
compliments and found their way into our mouths with ease.
One of the funniest things about eating with the
bread was working out how to pace it-we didn’t want to run out the bread and
equally not devour all the curry leaving only bread left. I feel practice makes perfect here but we
managed well for a first sit down Ethiopian meal.
In the middle of the evening I glanced around the
room and enjoyed the decorations, elephants made out of wood, big green plants
with floppy leaves and bright yellow wall paint. It was a fun place to be
eating. On a door leading upstairs to a private area, I noticed a poster
advertising their homemade Ethiopian wine which was made out of honey. Well I
couldn’t go home without trying it so when the waiter came over to ask us how
it was all going I asked for a glass. When he brought it over I was surprised
to see a thick, opaque, yellow liquid in a wine glass. However, when I tasted
it there were amazing flavours of honey which reminded me of mead really. What
a find.
After the meal when we were paying, I had a jolly
good chat with the guy and found out all about the place. We only ever saw him
and we began to contemplate if he was doing all of the cooking as well. Turned
out that there was someone else in the kitchen, but everything was so chilled
out. All night we were given space and time for everything. I am never very
quick and choosing what to eat(!) and he was patient, letting us ask questions
and even demoed the eating technique. There was gentle African music playing in
the background and we weren’t forced to leave as soon as we finished, in fact
our plates were left untouched in front of us while we chatted away. I really
enjoy that relaxed feel.
I didn’t get the owners name, but they have been in
business for over 8 years and intend to stay. They do buffet meals, which he
agreed were lots of fun, and he explained how he made the honey wine. Just
lovely service by a family run restaurant where we felt entirely introduced to
the Ethiopian cuisine. They do not have a website at the moment so here are the
details:
Address: Eerste Jacob van Campenstraat 41, 1072 BD, Amsterdam
Phone: 020 671 3466
Opening Hours: Monday-Sunday 5pm-10:30pm
On an au pair wage (next to nothing) I felt that it
was a nice place to go to try something new and have fun for a special
occasion. For two drinks each, two Ingra and the food we paid 20.20 per person,
not including the tip we left. I can understand that for some people paying
that amount on a Wednesday night isn’t their ideal thing- but that is what I
like to spend my money on!!!
It was a quiet, chatty sort of evening and so if it
is a boisterous pre-party meal you are looking for, then I am not sure it is
the right place. However, walking past Walia Ibex on a Friday and Saturday
night, it is full to bursting.
Hope you can check the place out at some point and
there are a handful of other Ethiopian restaurants in Amsterdam as well. Let’s
enjoy those Ethiopian Eats.
Jo*
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